PYRAMID. 



should be made at the apposite angle, 

 where il is probable the rise in the earth 

 has been less considerable ; and yet, to 

 arrive at any degree of accuracy, that 

 should be ascertained by digging. Stra- 

 bo mentions, that the stone which closed 

 the entrance to the apartments within the 

 pyramid, was situated nearly half way up 

 one of the sides ; were this the fact, a 

 very great rise in the neighbouring earth 

 must have occurred, as it now appears to 

 be not more than 100 feet from the base. 

 Herodotus informs us, that the great and 

 next pyramid, in size, were covered with 

 white marble ; and Diodorus and Pliny 

 supposed, they were wholly formed of 

 that rich material ; enough still remains 

 on both to confirm the truth of the former 

 assertion, which has escaped the labours 

 of the Arabs, to whose indefatigable 

 researches, to discover supposed trea- 

 sures within, we are indebted for the 

 finding the entrance to the passage, and 

 that the pyramid was intended as a se- 

 pulchral monument for the Egyptian 

 princes. 



Denon, who accompanied the ever-me- 

 morable expedition from France to Egypt, 

 is the last visiter of the pyramids, and to 

 him we are obliged for the following par- 

 ticulars of their present state. 



General Buonaparte had determined to 

 examine the great pyramids of Gizeh, 

 and ordered an escort of near 300 men. 

 Denon had the address to become one of 

 the party, and they proceeded on the un- 

 dertaking rather late in the day, owing to 

 the difficulty of assembling the persons 

 who composed it. Boats were procured 

 to convey them, and they passed through 

 the inundating trenches of the Nile to the 

 boundary of the desert, within half a lea- 

 gue of the pyramids. As they approach- 

 ed them, Uenon perceived that their slop- 

 ing and angular forms had the effect of 

 reducing their real height, which the eye 

 was thus prevented from measuring with 

 accuracy ; besides, as there are no other 

 objects in their vicinity, by which a com- 

 parison can be made, the mind is led to 

 think of nature's grandest production, the 

 mountain, and in consequence, the pyra- 

 mid shrinks into insignificance. This im- 

 pression was, however, very soon effaced, 

 for as Denon advanced, he saw an 100 

 persons assembled near the base, the de- 

 ception instantly vanished, a comparison 

 was formed, and the stupendous pile as- 

 sumed all its appropriate majesty. 



The party ascended a small heap of 

 rubbish and sand, the probable remains 

 of the trench of the first of these edifices 



which presents itself, and now conducting 

 to the opening through which it may be 

 reached ; this aperture, said by Denon to 

 be about 60 feet from the base, is hidden 

 by a general facing of stone, forming the 

 third or inner enclosure to the solitary 

 entrenchment surrounding the pyramid. 

 Large stones are laid horizontally on the 

 sides of the entrance, and above those are 

 others of enormous size, fitted at the ends 

 so as to lean against each other, by this 

 means rendering their fall or derange- 

 ment impossible, through the superin- 

 cumbent weight. Hence commences the 

 first gallery, with a direct ion towards the 

 centre and base of the monument ; this 

 gallery is now greatly clogged with the 

 drifted sand of the desert, and the rub- 

 bish originally made by the efforts to ex- 

 plore the secrets of the edifice, it is con- 

 sequently difficult of access. " At the 

 extremity of this gallery,'* says Denon, 

 " two large blocks of granite are met 

 with, which form a second partition to 

 this mysterious passage.'* The interrup- 

 tion made by those in the progress of past 

 research was such, that various fruitless 

 attempts have been made to surmount the 

 impediment, and some have even had the 

 folly to cut into the solid mass composing 

 the pyramid, " but this proving unsuc- 

 cessful, they have returned some way, 

 have passed round two blocks of stone, 

 climbed over them, and thus discovered 

 a second gallery, of so steep an ascent, 

 that it has been necessary to hew steps in. 

 the ground in order to mount it. This 

 gallery leads to a kind of landing-place, 

 in which is a hole, usually called the well, 

 which is the opening to an horizontal gal- 

 lery, leading to a chamber known by the 

 name of the queen's chamber, without or- 

 nament, cornice, or any inscription what- 

 ever. 



" Returning to the landing-place, an 

 aperture, in a perpendicular direction, 

 leads to the principal gallery, and this ter- 

 minates in a second landing-place, where 

 a third and last partition is situated ; as 

 this is constructed with a greater degree 

 of architectural care and propriety than 

 the rest of the building, it may be inferred 

 that the Egyptians considered it proper 

 to guard the immediate deposit of their 

 dead with peculiar attention. 



" Lastly comes the royal chamber, con- 

 taining the sarcophagus, a narrow sanc- 

 tuary, which is the sole end and object of 

 an edifice so stupendous, so collossal." 



We have thus enabled the reader to 

 compare the two latest accounts of the 

 pyramids of Egypt, and it will be found 



