352 ALEXANDRIA. 
^yr\^- already describecl ^ among the ruins of another 
' , ' city, built also by the founder o^ Alexandria ; 
remaining, like this, alone, without any con- 
tiguous architecture serving to prove that a 
pillar of such vast dimensions belonged to any 
temple, colonnade, or other edifice of the antient 
city. It was before suggested, in the account 
given of that remarkable relic, that each of these 
columns may have supported a statue : but this 
notion of the use of a single pillar is not found to 
be warranted by any evidence on which we can 
rely. It is certain that some conspicuous relic 
was placed upon the capital of the Alexandrian 
Column ; a circular cavity having been there 
discovered, proving that there was formerly a 
projection for its support \ A question then 
naturally arises ; Whether the antient inha- 
bitants of Asia Minor, of Egypt, and of Greece, 
were accustomed to use pillars for other pur- 
poses than those of architecture ? This question 
(1) See Chap.VI. of the r/mv? Volume of these Travels, pp.188, 18c). 
Octavo Edition. 
(2) Norry describes a circular cavity, two inches deep, upon the 
summit j " which," says he, "gives reason to suppose that there has 
formerly been a projection on the top for supporting a stafue,- but this 
li merely conjecture." fSee "Rapport " ^'c. as before cited. J However, 
w-e have reason for more than conjecture upon this subject, as will be 
manifest in the sequel ; not indeed that a statice was here placed, 
whose pedestal would hardly have been circular, but a cinerary urn, 
for the foot of which a circular cavity is peculiarly suitable. 
