The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1890-08-16
CROCODILE PITS.
TRIP THROUGH SOME AN.
GENT EGYPTIAN CAVERNS.
thousands of Giidrd and Torn
Fragments of Ancient People
The SarcOphagus OF the Priests
and Sacred Animals,

Inc SdTCophaSoS VI thC IEIcStS
and Sacred Animals,
The sudden demand for nummied cats
reminds me of visit paid many wears
AGO to the famous crocodile pits of
Maabdeh. 1t may safely be assumed
that those who have visited Maabdeh are
very few. 1t lies some distance from the
Nile, behind Manfaloot, where no one
stopped in the good Old dabeeh days, and
the modern steamers only touch; more
over. the pits are in the desert itself,
some hours ride. "Murray." prudent
rs usual, does not encourage the adyen-
turous.
The entrance of the pits is an oblonr
fssurc in the middle of a small plateau
among the mountains-thati is, no other
entrance was known in 1868. There are
facilities for descent. One may let ones
self fall sheer matter of nine or ten feet.
and Chamber up again with the help of a
donkey-boy's cumberland. do not re-
collect that the ugly possibilities of this
situation struck us all, but per-
haps some measures had been
taken to make sure that the boys did not
desert. One of them, indeed, headed
the advance; our dragoman had never
been down before The Arab began by
stripping completely, and ne advised us
to DO the same Then weighted a candle
each. and in single file dived into the
bowels of the rock At few feet dis
lance the passage narrowed rapidly until
there was only room to crawl along on
ones stomach. This first gallery may be
some fifty yards long; it opens on cham
ner spacious enough, but natural cavern
evidently. On the further side runs
another gallery as Cramped as the last,
heated like a furnace, reckipg with foul
air, vile stencil of bats, and pungent
fumes of bitumen. Then we understood
why the Arab had stripped. This fright
full passage may be one hundred yards
long, or the double of that or more-onc
is unused to measure distances crawling
like u snake on ones stomach. At the
end lies another chamber, of good
height, apparently, if the floor were
cleared; but the whole area is
blocked with enormous masses of stone
packed as close as they will stand, over
which one has to Chamber STOPPING. Here
myriads of bats aSsail the explorer, blow
ing out his candle instantly, clinging to
his hair and beard in ropes. a moment
more and they vanish with a soft rustic
of countless wings, such rs have heard
in other climes when the sand grouse fly
overhead at dawn and evening. On the
opposite side of this vault the first trace
of handiwork is observed-a square
doorway. | myself would have been
quite satisfied to drop the track of Mr.
Lcigh's footsteps at this point, but the
dragoman was interested now-taking,
perhaps, professional pride in putting
the business through successfully. He
could speak to the guide only.
So we went on, still upon our stomachs,
for an indefinite time, in an atmosphere
beyond analysis and heat beyond example
in the upper air. 1t was here, probably.
that Mr.. Lcigh's party broke down, for
think they did not reach the end. We
did. After some hundreds of yards. rs
1t seemed, slowly the passage height
ened-one could get upon ones knees;
and then the flooring changed from
smooth granite to soft. uneven compost.
l lowered my candle to observe. We
were crouching along over kneaded hui
man forms.
A very strange spectacle which seemed
to us an embodied nightmare under the
excitement of that awful journey. |
think | was almost dclirious. No scene
recurs to my memory now more fresh and
striking than that black cave. with
slender glow of candle-light here and
there and the half naked figures glistcn-
ing with perspiration stretched out above
pavement of heads and limbs. Many
OF the faces had been gilt, and they
shone Pickering, here and there, upon the
dusky mass. We could not get any ex-
PLANTATION of the extraordinary mangling.
The Arab said things had been so ever
since he could recollcct. 1t must be sup
posed that these were mummes of priests
and attendants buried with the sacred
reptiles in their charGc-great person.
ages, some of them. evidently. Their
families had been laid with them, for
There were rs many women. perhaps, rs
men, and Il great many children. Every
one had been stripped and torn to pieces,
all OF those on the surface al least, for a
hurried examination failed to show how
deep the serried pile of bodies lay.
Mingled with them were sheets and strips
OF cloth, fragments of sarcophagi and
quantities of women's hair in scalps-
wigs possibly. On the other side of this !
vault lie tie hindmost battalions Of the |
crocodile host-innumerable. Standing
on the human pavement there is just !
space enough above and in front to OBJ
serve the manner of their disposal, for
the topmost layer or two have been ,
pulled down. If it were not certain for
cther reasons that the present entrance !
is not that formerly used, the ar