The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-11-29
The Crocodile Pits.

ago when ] was free to wander
over every sea and cOntinent-in the
days that look back, on with feelings
halfOf envy and half of wonder at myself
we lay on Manfalcot in a dreary
calm, friend and myself alone in a
ddbech, with our dragOman and his ruff
fianly crew. The calm had already
lasted three days, OF sucking oranges,
OF shooting pigeons, of smoking has
heesh-which had no other effect than
TO make us sick-we we're both tired,
and, lounging in our tiny cabin, we
even longed for the approach of that
khamsin wind which had for days been
threatening OH the western horizon.
"Hassan," said, "if you don't find us
something to do we'll throw you over
board"
After a moments pause llassan re-
piled :-"The crocodile caves of Maab-
dah are only a few miles away from
here in the desert"
We at once resolved TO visit these fa-
nous caves. The first point was TO
procure guides, for Hassan himself had
not made the journey. The object was
accomplished with some difficulty, but
at length we bribed two Arab boys to go
with us. The moon had already set,
and the dim Egyption twilight wrapped
the scene as, at the appointed hour, we
pulled across the river and landed on
the sand. In front of MS loOmed the
hills of granite, ground smooth by
whirling sand and furious winds; be-
hind, the swift Nile gurgling in its
narrow bed, Slowly the sky grew
darker, as the reflected moonlight died
from the horizon; the glimmering
mountains vanished; even the white
sand at our feet grew indistinct. Then
the wild geese began their morning
clamOr; a snowy ibis rustled past us,
ghostly in the darkness a desert fox or
jackal slipped noiselessly by.
The route lay through vast fields of
corn, such as border the Nile in Lower
Egypt. Here and there stood patch
of hemp or sugar cane, rather stunted,
but graceful in the drOop of grass-like
leaves. Then, as the sun leaped up
above the tall mountains with that ca
ger triumph characteristic of his rising
in this land, we skirted the mud huts of
a village, trOtted across strip of fertile
land, and, after following its edge for
few hundred yards, came to a smooth,
sandy gorge. No words can give an
idea of this valley of DISSOLUTION. Not
a tree, not blade of grass, concealed
the yellow, wind-wOrn stone.
At length we reached the top of a
ridge, and in few moments entered a
basin surrounded by sharp rocks. In
the centre thereof appeared an oblOng
hole. Our destination was reached.
Dismounting and tying our dOnkeys we
examined the entrance, which was
mere horizontal cutting in the rock,
like the mouth of well. One of the
Arabs expressed his willingness to en-
ter, the other prudently desired to re-
main above. Without accident we let
ourselves drop down the hole, and at
the bottom made a toilet suitable for
subterranean travel. Then one by one
we slipped under a massive block of
stone, which seemed each moment
about to fall and shut out the inquisi-
tive travellers forever-perhaps, also, to
shut few of them in. Lighting our
wax candles and STOPPING down we adj
vanced some eight feet into the cavern,
at which distance from the mouth
sudden lowering of the roof thrust us
down on our hands and knees. Still
the height of the passage diminished,
and at about forty feet from the en-
trance we were compelled to lie down
at full length and pull ourselves along
by hands and elbows. just as | began
to feel somewhat alarmed the roof
and we emerged into
chamber hung with fine stalactites.
Leaving this we were again compelled
to advance in snake-like manner.
Every yard the heat grew more sitting,
and that sickly smell of bats, which
every Nile traveller must recall so well,
in foul union with the odor Uf
confined air and the bituminous exhal-
ations of the mummies within. Att
length we emerged again from the
narrow passage into another chamber
filled almost to it's roof with vast masses
of stone. From rock to rock we eau
tiOusly crept, encountered by cloud
of bats, which darted straight at us,
beat our faces with their wings and
clawed themselves into our hair. Never,
| conceive, were men more frightened
than we, when this rustling tornado
enveloped us. Hassan sat down on a
stone and shouted to all his gods for
help. Our foes vanished as rapidly as
hey had appeared; like a leathery
they hustled through the
,averns, startling our Arab to such a
degree that he actually recalleda prayer
IA great feat for Fellah of the Nile. |
AS we advanced | felt something soft |
and clammy, and soon saw that the
loor over which l crept was ofkneaded
human limbs, and the substance upon
which my hand rested was the long
hair of woman. BY my knee lay the
tiny leg Of child. Heads and limbs
literally composed thatawful pavement,
mingled with strips of mourning cloth
md whole scalps of hair. Here the
yilded face of some priest or noble,
'hone out from the dusky recesses un-
Ter the liUht of orr candles. there ner-