FROM RHODES TO THE CULPH OF GLAUCT7S. 
155 
gral parts, of the solid rock; neither would the interior liave 
been discerned, had it not been for a small irregular aperture, 
broken by the people of the country through one of the divi¬ 
sions hewn in imitation of pannels. Through this hole, barely 
wide enough for a person to thrust his head, we obtained a 
view of the interior. Here we perceived the same sort of chamber 
as in the others, but without the smallest joint or crevice, either 
belonging to the doors, or any where in its massive sides, by 
means of which a stone might be removed, or any opening ef¬ 
fected for a place of admission. This may be left for explana¬ 
tion by future travellers who visit Macri. It was to us altoge¬ 
ther incomprehensible; and therefore it is better to curtail the 
marvellous, than, by enlarging upon such a subject, to incur the 
imputation of writing a romance. Something like the curious 
cement, before mentioned,'* in the oracular cave to the west of 
the theatre, might perhaps, by its resemblance to natural stone, 
have deluded our observation, and thus concealed a secret en¬ 
trance to the tomb. There is reason to suspect, from the gene¬ 
ral appearance of their places of burial, that the Telmessensians 
were not more studious of beauty and elegance in their con¬ 
struction, than of preventing access to them afterward; and 
it is probable that, in certain instances, the c riiy clue to the in¬ 
terior was in possession of the priests, or of (he family to whom 
these sepulchres belonged. Hence may have originated the 
oriental tales of charms used in admission to subterranean caves, 
and chambers of the dead f 
1 endeavoured to delineate the next we visited, on account 
of its simplicity and beauty. The letters of an inscription in 
the front of it were rude, and barbarously engraven. The re¬ 
petition of the words the monvent is also re¬ 
markable. Wti!mu it had three soroi, one on each side of the 
chamber. One of the pannels in front was open ; the other 
never was intended to be so, the rock behind being plain and 
entire.} Of all these tombs, the most magnificent are those 
# See page U5 
f There is something of this nature in Gray’s translation of “ The descent of 
'Odin," from the Norse tongue. 
Facing to the northen clime, 
Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme ; 
Thrice pronounc’d, iu accents dread, 
The thrilling verse that wakes the dead; 
Till, from out the hollow ground, 
Slowly breath’d a sullen sound : 
“ What call unknown, what charms presume, 
“ To break the quiet of the tomb ?” 
* Hs length within, was five feet ten inches; and its breadth, five feet two inches. 
