216 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



dians, moved by the probability of getting no pay, 

 entered to clear it, and by degrees all came up with 

 me in a body. I got a glimpse of their torches be- 

 hind me just as I vs^as turning into a nev^ passage, 

 and at the moment I was startled by a noise which 

 sent me back rather quickly, and completely rout- 

 ed them. It proceeded from a rushing of bats, 

 and, having a sort of horror of these beastly birds, 

 this was an ugly place to meet them in, for the pas- 

 sage was so low, and there was so little room for 

 a flight over head, that in walking upright there 

 was great danger of their striking the face. It was 

 necessary to move with the head bent down, and 

 protecting the lights from the flapping of their 

 wings. Nevertheless, every step was exciting, and 

 called up recollections of the Pyramids and tombs of 

 Egypt, and I could not but believe that these dark 

 and intricate passages would introduce me to some 

 large saloon, or perhaps some royal sepulchre. Belzo- 

 ni, and the tomb of Cephrenes and its alabaster sar- 

 cophagus, were floating through my brain, when all at 

 once I found the passage choked up and effectually 

 stopped. The ceiling had fallen in, crushed by a 

 great mass of superincumbent earth, and farther 

 progress was utterly impossible. 



I was not prepared for this abrupt termination. 

 The walls and ceiling were so solid and in such 

 good condition that the possibility of such a result 

 had not occurred to me. I was sure of going on to 

 the end and discovering something, and I was ar- 



