230 PYRAMIDS OF SACCARA. 
to creep upon our bellies, to the distance of 
about sixty feet, when we came to a central 
place, where several passages diverged'. These 
were almost choked by sand, by a number 
of broken jars, and by a quantity of swathing 
and of embalmed substances, looking like so 
much tinder and charcoal dust, which had been 
taken out of those jars. As we followed the 
intricate windings of these channels, we came at 
last to a passage ten feet in height, and six in 
width, where the whole space was filled, from 
the floor to the roof, by the jars, in an entire 
state, as they were originally deposited. These 
have often been described. They were all 
lying horizontally, tier upon tier, the covers 
(l) " The well itself 15 about six feet square : the sand, and stones, 
and broken pottery, which are constantly falling, render the descent 
extremely inconvenient. At the bottom of it is a small bole, which, 
by those who are at all corpulent, is passed with very e;reat difficulty : 
indeed, each time it is necessary to clear the sand from the hole, 
which constantly iilk up the entrance. Here, having taken off our 
coats, with candles in our hands, our faces to the ground, our feet 
foremost, and an Arab pulling our legs from within, we worked our 
way through a passage about twenty yards in length, until we arrived 
at the place where the sacred birds are deposited. The whole is 
excavated out of the solid rock, and of an inconceivable extent. We 
did not wander far from the entrance, fearful of being lost in the 
labyrinth. To the right and left of the entrance are passages, which, 
as you advance, branch oft' in various directions." Squire's MS. 
Juurnal. 
