The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-04-27


Chamber STOPPING. Hero myriads Of bats
assail the explorer, blowing out his candle
instantly, clinginQ 10 his hair and beard in
ropes. A moment more and they vanish
with soft rustic Of countless wings, such
- have heard in othsr Chimes when
a.. : ANA ON n. oDp. s
Of this vault the first trace. Of
handiwork il observed-a square door
way. myself would have been quite salts
ned to drop the track Of Mr.. Leigh's foot
steps at this point. But the draRoman
vas interested now-taking, perhaps, pro-
through successfully. He could speak with
the guide also. So we won't on, still upon
our stomachs, for an indefinite time, in an
atmosphere beyond analysis and heat be-
yond example in the upper air. It was here
probably that Mr.. Leigh party broke down,
for think they did not reach the end. We
seemed, slowly the passage heightened
one could get upon ones knees; and then
the flooring changed from smooth granite to
q soft, uneven compost. lowered my can
die to observe. We were crouching along
over kneaded human forms!
to us an embodied nightmare under the ex-
citement of that awful journey. think l
was almost delirious. 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
naasd figures ss with ration
and limbs. Many Of the faces had been
gilt, and they e6one Pickering, here and
there, upon the dusky mass. We could not
get any explanation Of the extraordinary
manRling. The Arab said things had
been 90 ever since he could recol-
lect. It must be supposed that these
ants burned with the sacred reptiles in their
charge-Rreat personages, some OF them,
evidently. Their families had been laid
with them, for there were as many
women perhaps as men, and great num-
Der of children. Every one had been stripped
surface, at least, for q 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 the hindmost battalions of the
crocodile host-innumerable. Standing on
the human pavement there is just space
enough above and in front to observe the
manner of their disposal, for the topmost
layer or two has been pulled down. If it
we're not certain for other reasons that the
present entrance is not that formerly used,
the arrangement Of these crocodile e mum
completely from door to arch and side to
side until the upper ones were removed
neatly aligned, tail to head, head to tail,
with palm leaves laid between and the
interstices filled up with countless null
t titudes Of young and eggs, these
each one in a strip Of cloth. Since
every. layer was piled to the roof, it is
manifest that those who arranged them
must have worked backwards: and since it
would be as easy to drag an elephant
through those passages as to drag the su-
perb specimens here-unequaled in my ex-
perience- alligators and crocodiles, they
must needs have been brought from the
other side: :''he demonstration is complete.
for we had the EXTREMIST difficulty in draw
ing behind us two heads chosen among the
smaller ones. Moreover. it is unlikely that
the bats used that long subterranean out
let; they are probably acquainted with q
better and nearer route. l fancy that the
enormous blocks of stone upon the floor
of the second chamber had been put there
after excavation, out of the way. No one
can form an idea how far the caverns ex-
tend. Removing the top layers as they
went, and crawling beneath the roof, Arabs,
we were told, had explored q vault beyond
this and found more crocodiles still on the
farther side. The mountain, they said, was
stuffed with them; and it Is possible. As
suredly the pits are mine of nitrate; and
this expectation of mummies for manure
may effect one good thing at least by caus-
ing them to be emptied. Treasures may lie
beyond the vaults where those myriads of
crocodiles are stored.