Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1869-11-18

ny REV. D. A. RANDALL.

Is On we 60, now IIuIHH tnIVu6H
beauuliil pine grove, now passing az
Egyptian village, with Its low inut
houses, lazy men and dirty wctne'
and children. Soon we reach thu
boundary line where the xich syegefa
ton Of the valley Of the Nile, ana tn
ever-changing sands Of the grea'
'aIybiAn desert, side by side, apt EN-.
,.blems Of life and DEATH. keep up a
perpetual warfare with each other.
50 marked Is the boundary line, II
is,but q step from one to the other
The gray forms Of these gigantic sep
uIchral monuments are now Just be-
fore us. g They seem to rapidly in
crease in size as we approach them.
Alta distance they appear perfectly
smooth and pointed at the top; as
we approach them they assume a
more ragged outline; for the Caiiphs
fof former days have quarried from
their enormous sides, and taken about
thirty, feet from the top Of the largest
one. aasl g8i - fsg,~g st
a They stand at the foot Of the range
OF hills, behind which lies . vast
ocean Of desert sands. Upon this
rocky eminence they are elevated
about one hundred and ffty fec.
above the plain. When they were
built, Egypt swarmed with inhab-
itants, and they could not afford room
for them on the fertile lands Of the
valley; besides the dry sand Of the
desert was better place for sepuI-
-chres. Now we stand at their base;
let Us pause and contemplate. $40
The largest Of the tbreen now before
us, Chsops, Is the king Of all the
pyramids in point Of size. The fig
urcs are quickly given. The base,
each side 732 feet. But this Is not
the original size. AS we have said,
the vaudal hands of the old Caliphs
were laid upon it. They tore off the
granite easement that constituted the
smooth exterior, and then removed
layer after layer Of the huge lime
stone blocks to build their palaces
and mosques at Grand Cairo! They
seem to have quarried from 1t with
as little compunction Of conscience as
though IL had been only a bed Of ma
tive rock in the Hill side. e, .g@ar,
It's original base was 764 feet each
side, and it's hight little over $50
feet. But mere figures give no just
conception Of its immense magni-
tude. 1t is only by comparison that
we can appreciate this mountain
mass of stone. The present base
covers nearly thirteen acres, the
original base WAS about thirteen and
one-haIf acres. It IL only when We
begin 10 compare it with other struct-
ures that our establishment isexcited.
I Ifyou are q farmer, imagine lot Of
thirteen acres; many man who has
thirteen acres thinks he has quite q
farm. Or, II you live in the city,
Imagine good sized city lot, sixty
feet deep, On such lot you could
put a large block Of buildings, yet
the base Of Cheops would give you
eighty such lotsl A church fifty feet
by one hundred, ID q large church for
q city; and yet OF, the ground covered
by this enormous pyramid you could
place one hundred and thirty such
churches. if3t t1 -
+. Now imagine this great field of
thirteen acres covered over with huge
blocks Of stone, laid closely side by
side. Then begin end pile stone on
stone, drawing In each successive
layer a'littie, a. the farmer does his
sheAyes In finishing his grain stacks.
On you 20, piling them higher and
higher, III one solid mass, till you
reach the top Of the tsllest forest
trees; and yet you have only laid
f.s fopadstiop, Stone 10 lifted upon
Stone, layer piled upon layer, you
have oveyt6ppcd Bunker Hill Mon
ument, reached the hight OF the
tsiles9 church ateeples OF our csties;
and vt our oud.towering pile is not
half completed. Take one Of the
churches with aspire Of one hundred
and fifty feet, lana feay elurch stce-
pics are AZ tall us that,y then lift
sn0tlMr. church Of the Same hight,
and saIance II upon the top Of that;
then III another high in the air and
ret IL upon the topmost point OF that;
then the golden-tipped point Of this
last lspire ~ not ~ high, by more
than thirty feet sss thG original apex
0fthls enormous structure. Won ask
then, in astopisnslent, How were
they DulIt! no <EIe MI ST.
The stones were brought from the
opposite side OF tho valley Of the
Nile, twelve to fifteen miles distant.
The flfst Work was to build 4 giant
,causeway or road, over which to
transport the stopcs. Herodotuss says
one hundred thousand men were
employed ten years on this part Of
the work. After this preparatory
,s,nyis r,,,,,a ira 1Atd1ifyI6 ar tho rocky