Cleopatra’s 'needle. 
695 
ing the preceding* night, several thousand tons of limestone had parted 
en masse from the main rock, and moved four or five yards forwards, 
pushing the earth before it with tremendous force, and leaving a horrid 
chasm, behind. This seems the more extraordinary, as there appears 
no adequate cause for such an effect. The rocks had not been worked 
for several years, and as the weather was perfectly dry at the time, 
it would seem that nothing but an earthquake could have produced 
the separation. In many similar situations, near the spot in ques- 
tion, the cottagers have erected theirVlwellings, in the full confidence 
that they could not have a surer foundation ; and nothing extra- 
ordinary had happened during the night in question, to warrant the 
supposition that an earthquake was the cause. The matter must 
therefore remain at present a mystery, until some geologist shall be 
able to give a satisfactory reason for so unlooked-for an event ; w hich 
created no little alarm among the cottagers in the neighbourhood, who 
had flattered themselves on the perfect security of the foundations 
of their humble dwellings. 
Cleopatra^s Needle, and Pompey's, Pillar. 
Cleopatra's Needles. — In ancient architecture, these are known 
as two obelisks, which stood towards the eastern part of the palace 
of Alexandria in Egypt. They w'ere constructed of Thebaic stone, 
and covered over with hieroglyphics, of which the meaning is now 
unintelligible. One of these is overturned, broken, and lying buried 
among the surrounding sands. The other is still entire, and exhibits 
an appearance as represented in the engraving. Each of these obe- 
lisks was of a single stone, about sixty feet high, by seven feet square 
at the base. Of this that stands, the workmanship and sculpture are 
superbly exquisite, and it is to be regretted that the numerous and 
diversified characters with which it is covered should remain com- 
paratively unknown. 
Pompeys Pillar. — Pompey’s pillar is a famous monument of anti- 
quity, coi;istructed of red granite, and situated on a rock, about a 
mile without the walls of Alexandria in Egypt. By the mensuration 
of Edward Wortley Montagu, esq. the capital of the pillar, which is 
Corinthian, W'ith palm leaves, and not indented, is nine feet seveii 
inches high ; the shaft sixty-six feet one and a quarter inch ; the 
base five feet nine and three quarter inches; the pedestal ten feet 
five and, a half inches ; the height from the ground ninety-two feet : 
though Dr. Pococke, by the shadow, determined the whole height to 
be one hundred and fourteen feet ; and its diameter nine feet and an 
inch. It is perfectly well polished, and only a little shivered on the 
eastern side. Nothing can equal the majesty of this monument; 
seen from a distance, it overtops the towm, and serves as a signal for 
vessels. Approaching it near, it produces, says Savary, an astonish- 
ment mixed with awe. One can never be tired with admiring the 
beauty of the capital, the length of the shaft, nor the extraordinary 
simplicity of the pedestal. This prodigious mass stands, as on a 
pivot, on a reversed obelisk ; and was erected, as many have supposed, 
iuther by Porapey, or to his honour. But as no mention is made of 
