IV. 
PYRAMIDS OF DJIZA. 177 
except dark floating spots, caused by the chap. 
shadows of passing clouds upon the sand. 
Upon the south-east side is the gigantic 
statue of the Sphinx, the most colossal piece of 
sculpture which remains of all the works exe- 
cuted by the Antients. The French have un- 
covered all the pedestal of this statue, and all 
the cumbent or leonine parts of the figure : these 
were before entirely concealed by sand. In- 
stead, however, of answering the expectations 
raised concerning the work upon which it was 
supposed to rest, the pedestal proves to be a 
wretched substructure of brick-work, and small 
pieces of stone, put together like the most 
insignificant piece of modern masonry, and 
wholly out of character, both with respect to 
the prodigious labour bestowed upon the statue 
itself, and the gigantic appearance of the sur- 
rounding objects. Beyond the Sphinx we 
distinctly discerned, amidst the sandy waste, 
the remains and vestiges of a magnificent 
building; perhaps the Serapeum. A sort of 
chequered work appeared in the middle of 
many of the stones belonging to this ruined 
edifice. It is unnoticed by every author who 
has written upon the Pyramids. Indeed, the 
observation of Geoffroy, as given in a Rapport 
VOL. V. N 
