Mexico weekly ledger., 1876-12-28
fly, where the zneighbering wallis meet.

The way up to this is by o passage
| about 48 feet long and 80 wide, formed
by this wall and another parallel one
on the outside, which seems to have
had no other purpose than the defense
Of this passage. This same door is
about 10 feet high and g wide. It is
forfned1of two stones set on end, each
3 feet wide and 6 deep; across the top
is a third Is feet long and 4'deep. On
this last stone, which in its middle is 6
feet high,s and which diminishes to-
wards the two ends, q triangular stone
high and IL Deep. On this two lions
are carved in low relief, standing on
their hind paws and resting on a cireu-
Tar altar, which is placed between them.
The altar is surmounted with a column,
having q capital formed of four circles
enclosed in parallel chaplets. Accord
ing TO Muller this column is the COM
mon symbolof ApolleAggieus, the pro-
tector. of portals. st.g 81
The bas-reliefs of the lions are exc
cuted with great grace and finish, and
as they are the sole remains of the
plastic, art of the heroic age of Greece,
they are Of immense interest to
archaeology. In the Intel and threshold
of the, great gate there car be plainly
seen the marks of bolts and hinges and
in the great stones of the pavement the
fruits of chariot wheels. There is a
Epostern gate on the northeast side,
seven feet high and four wide; it also
is formed of three stones, but is un-
sculptured. The whole surface of the
ground in the citadel is covered with
tiles and pieces of pottery, and, as 1
had an opportunity of remarking in the
case of ditch which a peasant dug,
debris of this kind was found even to q
depth of eighteen feet. Therefore there
can be no doubt of the fact that ancient
" all the Acropolis was inhabited, and
from its imposing and extensive posi-
| ton we must conclude that it contained
the palace of the family of Aureus.
J. ar AGAMEMNoN's TOMB.
l then turned to the treasury of Aga
memnon, commonly called the "Tomb
of Agamemnon, which lies about three
quarters of a mile from the citidel. 1t is
dug in the side of a little hill, facing a
deep ravine. A passage, lat feet long
and about 80 wide, formed of two par
allel walls, each 80 feet high and built
of hewn stones of about 3 feet by 2,
leads to the grand entrance, which is
| ID feet high, and, at the top, 6 wide,
but its width gradually increases, and
it is 9 feet at The base. This gate is
covered with one block of of beautifully
! hewn stone, 81 feet long and high,
above which there is a triangular open
ing of II feet high and the same width
Z =. = Al I a4 al fs-,.oos% 1-so~ ~,aIn
me climb this gate I found in the trian-
gular opening some traces which con-
vinced me that statues Or little columns
were placed there. There was former
ly on each side of the great gate a col
umn with base and capital, and en-
riched with elegant sculptured orna-
ments, which, according to Leake, had
no resemblance to any other sculptures
of ancient Greece, but which approach
ed the style of carvings at Persepolis.
In the great entry the marks of the
bolts and hinges of the doors are visi-
BILE, and on the same line with these
marks a series of little round holes OF
about an inch aud a half diameter and
half ar inch deep, and at the bottoms
Of these two little holes which evidently
held nails of bronze. The treasury con
tains two chambers, the first of which
is shaped like a cone, of so feet diam
eter and about the same height. 1t
communicates by a door with an inte-
rior chamber OF quadrangular shape,
which is only twenty-one feet in length
and width, and is roughly dug into the
rock. taaga s#s D. -
VIEW OF THE INSIDE.
This last was entirely dark, and, un-
fortunately, l had brought no matches
with me. I told the boy who had come
with me from Charvati to go and get
some, but he. assured me there was not
such a thing i'm the village. Being con-
WINGED that even i'm the houses of, the
.Peloponnesus there must be some
matches, I told him / would give him a
half drachma (eight cents) for three
matches. The boy stood sstupefied and
aghast at such liberality, but could not
bring himself to believe it at first.
Three times over he asked me if would
truly give him :" fifty 1efta" il he would
seek some mate hes twice gave him a
Eaimple affirmative answer, but the third
time I swore on the ashes of Agamem-
non and Clytemnestra. Scarce had |
calculated this oath than the youngster
made, off at full speed toward Charvati,
though more than a mile distant from
the treasury of A~gamemnon, and came
back ine hot haste with a bundle of
brambles in one hand and ten matches
in the other. I asked him why he
had broughtathrtse times the number of
matches 1 had told him to-. First he
gave me evasive answers; but being
pressed on the point, at last admitted
that he was afraid that some of the
matches would be bad, and that he had
brought ten instead Of three in order to
guarantee himself against ali chances
and to carry off the promised recon-
pense when he arrived. He soon kim
died fine fire in the chamber, making
light enough to the thousands of
bats which had established their dwell
lings there, and which made a loud
noise in their endeavor to escape. But,
blinded by the brightness of the blaze,