126 GRAND CAIRO. 
A regular descent, by steps, has been cut to it, 
through the soft calcareous rock on which the 
Citadel stands, to the depth of two hundred and 
seventy-six feet. The mouth of the well is 
twenty-four feet in length, and eighteen in 
breadth \ As an example of human labour, 
Niehufir considers it to bo not at all comparable 
to the works of the antient Indians, who have cut 
^\io\e pagodas in the very hardest rocks". Yet 
it must be confessed that few similar designs 
have ever been attempted; and if the skill 
which has been shewn in conducting the 
excavation be taken into consideration, the 
perforations for admitting light all the w^ay 
down, and the general perfection of the work 
itself, it may be compared rather to the labours 
of the antient Egyptians, than to any modern 
vmdertaking. 
Other parts of this Citadel afford reason to 
believe that an establishment was made here 
semblables dans les ruines du vieux Cairo, au pied des montagnes vers 
lesquelles la ville s'^levoit depuis les bords du Nil, par un esp^ce d'en- 
viron trois-quarts de lieue. lis sont de meme creus^s dans le roc, et 
d'une profoudeur ^tonnaute." Descript. de V Egypte, torn. I. p. 269. 
a la Haye, 1 740. 
(1) A^orrftn's Travels, vol.1, p. 65. Lond.X'ibT. 
(2) A'jetti/o'i Travels, vol. 1. p. :)9. Edbib. 1*99. 
