Chapter XIII: Part 13

It is supposed, that the inundation of the Nile surrounded the pyramids, so that they remained like islands. I cannot say that it was not so, for the situation of the pyramids is like an island of rocks, separated from those on the west only by a valley of sand, which might naturally have been accumulated by the wind in the course of so many centuries. I think we cannot have a stronger proof of this than the sphinx itself, the basis of which is so much below the present surface, that if all the sand around the pyramids were removed on a level with it, I have no doubt the Nile must run round them, which probably was the case in the early ages.

Having thus finished my operation on the second pyramid, I felt a great inclination to have a cursory view of the third. I observed, that some one had made an attempt to penetrate it by excavations on the east side. I commenced my labours on the north side, and, after removing a great quantity of materials, found a considerable accumulation of enormous blocks of granite, which had evidently formed the coating.—Proceeding yet lower, as I cleared away the rubbish I found that part of the coating still remained in its place down to the bases. The removal of these blocks would evidently have brought me to the entrance into the pyramid, but it required more money and time than I could spare.

By this time the consul, who was at Thebes, hearing of the opening of the pyramid, wrote to me, that he was coming down the Nile; and at the same time Lord Belmore and family arrived at Cairo. It is somewhat singular, and I mention it with much satisfaction, that his Lordship arrived at Thebes one month after my discovery of the celebrated tomb of Psammuthis, and was the first British traveller who entered it. On his return from Nubia, he arrived at Cairo a little more than a month after my opening the second pyramid, and was the first British traveller who entered this also. His Lordship and family had been at Thebes for some time, and had accumulated no small collection of antiquities; indeed, I esteem it the largest ever made by any occasional traveller. Dr. Richardson had taken the opportunity of observing the ruins of ancient Thebes at leisure; and I believe, by his minute remarks, he must have made himself well acquainted with many interesting points not yet explained, and I have no doubt his account will be highly interesting.

The Earl and family set off for Jerusalem by way of the Desert; and I prepared for my departure for Thebes, my old residence, which I knew better than any other place in Egypt. A few days after, the consul arrived, and, in half an hour after him, Colonel Fitzclarence, with despatches from India for England. The consul, Mr. Salt, would have been kind enough to have paid all the expenses I had incurred in opening the pyramid; but this I positively refused, as I thought it would not be fair and right that he should pay for what he had nothing to do with.

I had the pleasure of accompanying the Colonel in a visit to the pyramid, as described by himself in his account of his journey from India to England through Egypt. He had suffered many hardships on his journey, but did not appear fatigued in the least. His short stay in Cairo did not permit me to write a full account of my labours; but at night I made a hasty sketch as well as I could, and addressed it to the Antiquarian Society of London, which he was kind enough to take to England for me. Mr. Salt, the consul, took the same opportunity of sending an official account of my operations in Egypt and Nubia to the ministers in England, I suppose because he had no opportunity of sending any correct account before that time.

My next and principal object was to make a small collection on my own account, and to take drawings of the tomb of Psammuthis, with impressions in wax of all the figures, emblems, and hieroglyphics, the whole of which are in basso relievo; taking the colours exactly as in the originals, so as to enable me to erect a facsimile in any part of Europe. This project deserved my serious consideration, not only in calculating the time that it would require to complete it, but the expense I must incur. However, though I was only in Cairo, I did not want means of finding supplies for what I intended to execute, and in a few days all was ready for my departure on my third voyage up the Nile; when, having arranged my affairs with the consul, I set off for my old habitation among the tombs of Thebes.

END OF VOL. I.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFRIARS.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. ● The caret (^) serves as a superscript indicator, applicable to individual characters (like 2^d) and even entire phrases (like 1^{st}).