The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1864-05-17
Letter from President Fairfield.
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SoOu reason, Tor tnat term lmplieS q
temple built in the native rock. This
is not so; but is artifcially constructed
of hewn stone. 1t. has several apart
ments, larger and smaller. In one OF
them, the walls of which were covered
with frescoes, we stopped to take our
lunch Upon leavingit, l observed a
partly buried stairway. at the foot O,
which was a small but irregular open
ing, almost filed with sand. Iasked
our guide what it was. "Oh, nothing!''
was his reply. "Well, / want to see it.''
!" No, no, it is impossible!" Seeingthat
the opening was well made ofShewn
stone, Iinsisted-.s Let me have a,can-
die and some matches, till / see what is
inside" "No, no. dangerous,-all
dark! snakes! snakes!r' "Let me have
a candle and some matches, two candles
if il is very darIsln--and with persist
ence and little authority / got. them,
the guide adding, "Well, Pve warned
you, you must not blame me-" Il de-
seended to make the explorations alone,
the rest of the party waiting for me-
Crawling in at the foot of the stairs, ]
lighted my candles carefully, and i'm a
STOPPING posture made my way twenty
feet. Then the hall was higher and
walked erect, down an inclined plane,
and through hall 100 feet long, s feet
wide and Z feet high, perhaps. This
led to room eighteen by twenty-five
feet, and in a large recess Mt the side OF
it was a sarcophagus, from which /
should judge some human remains had
been removed. Thus, on lower level
than the underground temple, was this
stairway, leading to apartments still
lower yet. So full is all this ground of
burying places, large. and small, and
such is the timidity of these native dra-
gomen, that would cheat you out of
half the sightseeing that comes in your
way. Very likely this "Rock Temple
was the private chapel Of some dignita-
ry, who was himself afterward buried
in the vault beneath. CEy
Mounting our donkeys we set out for
the Pyramids of Gazeh-the great
sight of the day, and indeed of whole
life. We left behind us those of SAX
hara, and still further back those OF
Dashoor, one of which is almost as
large as either of the two great pyra-
mids to which we were bound; but we
had not time to visit them, and must
therefore see the great pyramid of Che
ops; and follow the old advice Er
uao d;sce aes"-s'from one learn al. "
We had many times seen the Great
Pyramids before--seen them from the
citadel-seen them even before reach
ing Cairo, as we came in from Alexan-
dria. And now at Sqkhara, that we
were twelve milesiaway, they were so
distinctly and entirely in sight, that
they seemed within an hours walk
There is something here in the atmos-
phere, or in the level country, or both,
that greatly deccives one as to distance.
We found ont, however. that the sur
veyor's chain had not been at fault
Our donkeys were nearly three hours
in bringing us TO the foot of the little
eminence on which Cheops stands.
Stopping first to look into the i'm
mense tunnels near by, which only a
few years since were discovered, and
then to gaze at the Sphinx, once for all
carrying away, if possible, daguer-
reotypeupo the memory--I reverent-
ly drew near the great pyramid, which
ii had been one OF my life dreams to
look upon and to climb. There it was.
Moses saw it in his day, probably
Herodotus, the Oldest Of the Grecian
historians, left on record descrip-
tiQn. speak of the pyramid of Che
ops, the greater of the two large pyra-
mids; for this absorbed all my vision
and all my thoughts. It's nearest neigh
Dor is but little smaller; but as ''the
greater includes the less" knew it l
could comprehend Cheops, it would be
easy to take in the other.
/ found every thing exceedingly de-
ceptive: and even when stood near
the pyramid, its successive layers of
stone seemed to be only to II inches
thick. Had / not made the ascent, /
do not know that Ishould have discov-
cred at all to NY satisfaction that the
thickness really was from two to four
feet.
Originally, the shape Of this pyramid
was more perfect than at present: for
vandal hands have in former days
thrown off nine feet in thickness from
the entire outside of it, in order to get
stone for building Mosques. This leaves
the sides with steps as at first, but less
regular. The present base is 746 feet
Originally 764. The perpendicular
height has also been diminished about
20 feet--being originally 4s6, now 4e6.
The top has now a surface of 30 feet
square. The angle of inclination of
the sides is so degrees with the hori-
zon.
These are the figures, but they will
make little impression without few
comparisons or estimates for the pur-
pose of illustration. The width of the
College yard, from Hillsdalc street to
West street is fifty-six rods. The
length of one side of Cheops was or
iginally a little over forty-six. Suppose
the south side of it to stand on the line
of College street, it would reach across
the College yard within FIVE rods of
either side. The north side of the Py-
ramid would be upon the line of the
Stewards garden, or near it, and the
east and west sides would be parallel
with the sides of the College yard, and
five yards within. This viii give you
the surface covered by this immense
structure-being little more than l3
acres. The sides are moro than twice
as steep as the roof of the centre build-
ing, and the heighth about four times
that of the lantern on the dome. This
statement viii give you little idea of