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which it has been calculated is large enough 
to have accommodated forty thousand specta¬ 
tors. We next proceeded to some very exten¬ 
sive catacombs, through which we were piloted 
by a hermit, who had taken up his abode in 
a cell at the entrance, and without his 
guidance we should soon have lost our way 
in these dismal winding passages. They are 
formed in the solid rock, and have niches in 
the sides for the reception of bodies, but 
these have long been removed. Our her¬ 
mit endeavoured to make us believe that 
these caverns extended as far as Catania, 
about fortv miles ! Not far from the cata- 
combs is a tomb, which is shown as that of 
Archimedes; but there is some reason to 
doubt whether this be really the place where 
that celebrated mathematician and military 
engineer was interred. 
We finished our day’s excursion by paying 
