New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1857-07-06

themummies and seized few small ones IN thelr hands
they hastened out and left with Abdallah and my
two guides. Advancing over the mummies and up
the hill which they formed found that was IN one
Of the number of large chambers, Of the depth of
which it was, of course impossible to get any idea
as they were piled full of mummied crocodiles to the
very ceiling There was no means OF estimating the
number Of them. When l say there were thousands
of them shall not be thought to exaggerate after
describe the manner in which they were packed and
laid in.
Climbing to the top of the hill, and extinguishing
all light but one, which made Abdallah hold very
carefully began to throw down the top OF the pile
to ascertain Of what it composed and at length
made an opening between the mummes and the cell
ing, through which could 60 on further, descending
sort of hill Of these dead animals, such as had
come up. In this way progressed some distance, IN
gallery or chamber that was not less than twenty
feet wide, and probably twenty or thirty feet deep
The crocodiles were laid in regular layers head to
tail and tail to head First on the floor was layer
of large crocodies, side by side, each one mummied
and wrapped up in cloths. Then smaller ones were
laid between the tails, and filling up the hollows be-
tween them. Then and most curious OF all, the re-
naming interstices packed full OF young croco-
dies, measuring, with remarkable uniformity, about
thirteen inches in length, each one stretched out
bound to the sides like spints, and then wrapped
from head to foot in slip of cloth, wound round,
commencing at the tail, and fastened at the head.
Then small ones were made up in bundles usually
be slowed. 1 brought out more than hundred of
them, of which my friends in Egypt seized on the
most as curostes, but l succeeded in getting some
twenty or thirty of them to America with me.
This layer completed, q layer of palm branches
and thus continued to the ceiling. These palm
branches, stems and mummies, lie here in precisely
the state they were two thousand years ago.. NO
leaf of the palm had decayed. There could have
been no moisture from the mummies whatever; or,
if any, it had no effect upon the palm branches.
Among these crocodiles / found the mummies OF
many men.
Sitting down on the side of the hill, by the dim
cande-light, overhauled gods and men with sacrel
gious hands. It was strange wild and awful scene
Among all the pictures that my memory has treasured
Of wandering life have fearful and thrilling
as this. 1t was hel-a still, silent, cold he'll All
these bodies lay in rooms in close packages, like SO
many souls damned to eternal silence and sorrow in
this prison. Five bodies of men that drew out Of
the mass lay before me and cursed me with their
hideous stiffness and inacton. dared them to tell
me in words the reproaches OF which their silent
frowns were liberal; reproaches for penetrating
their abode and disturbing the repose OF twenty Or
forty centuries. szu
These were Of the poorest and most common sort,
destitute of any box Wound in coarse cloth, and
laid in the grave with the beasts that sacred to
their god. One l found afterwards in thin plain
box, but it contained indication of its period and
bore no marks of its owners name position, much
to my disappointment.
LET us go further" said to the guides at length
q There is no further.
was satisfied that the entrance we had effected
was not by the passage known to the Ancients and
that some other outlet lay beyond those chambers.
pushed my way over the piles of mummies to point
where another low passage went on, but it was too
difficult of exploration to tempt me into it. It may
lead to an outlet in the desert hitherto unknown or
that outlet may be long ago covered over by the shift
ing sands.
What was the object of all this preservation of
the Nile Monsters it is not within the scope Of this
volume to discuss. It is at least mystery, for we
know so little of the Egyptian theory Of hereafter,
that we cannot understand what part the birds and
beasts were to take in the resurrection.
crawled out as had crawed in. Before came
out from the chamber Of horror mime Tussaud's is
nothing like D laid the wreck of my brandy flask
porer will find it. The chances are that it will turn
up in the British or Prussan Museum as evidence of
the bad habits of the ancient Egyptians thus proved
to be strong in death.