' the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid. 91 
lit tlie bottom but loose stones and rubbish ; and was compelled, 
by the excessive heat and foul air, to reascend the shaft with all 
possible expedition ; but, before he reached the grotto, all his 
lights were extinguished in rapid succession^. Neither this 
experience of the enervating heat and impure air of these sub- 
terranean channels, (which have often been known to cause the 
stoutest man to faint, even in getting up as far as the gallery,) 
nor the various histories current in Cairo of persons who were 
supposed to have perished in these attempts, could deter this 
enterprising traveller from renewing his researches, with a de- 
gree of perseverance as unexampled as his success was unex- 
pected. Having remarked that the ground at the bottom of 
the Well gave a hollow sound under his feet, he was convinced 
that there must he some concealed outlet below; and having 
pitched his tent in front of the pyramid, he hired a number of 
Arabs to draw up the rubbish from the spot with baskets and 
cords. With the aid of an order from the Kiaya-Bey, and the 
payment of enormous wages, it is still,'’ says Mr Salt, almost 
inconceivable how he could so far surmount the prejudices of 
these people, as to induce them to work in so confined a space, 
where a light, after the first half hour, would not 'burn, and 
where, consequently, every thing was to be done by feeling and 
not by sight ; the heat at the same time being so intense, and 
the air so suffocating, that, in spite of all precautions, it was 
not possible to stay below an hour at a time, without suffering 
from its pernicious effects. At length, indeed, it became so in- 
tolerable, that one Arab was brought up nearly dead, and seve- 
ral others, on their ascending, fainted away, so that, at last, in 
spite of the command laid upon them, they almost entirely 
abandoned their labour, declaring, that they were willing tQ 
w^ork, but not to die for him.” 
* The language of our correspondent in describing his ascent of this shaft some 
time afterwards, in company with Mr Caviglia, even when a freer circulation of air 
had been effected, may convey some idea of the overwhelming fatigue which Mr 
Caviglia must have encountered in this first visit to the Well. Leaving the cham-^ 
her, we returned to the bottom of the Well, which we immediately began to ascend 
to the height of 200 feet ; and after which labour I should be inclined to consider 
the climbing of the most difficult chimney in Scotland a mere trifle. Covei’ed 
with dust, oppressed with heat and fatigue, w'e at last gained the top, where 
%imd it necessary to gnd bresUje a little*’’ 
