The morning call., 1890-08-03
CURIOUS
ANTIQUITIES.
A Visit to the Famous Crocodile
Pits at Maabdeh.
The Strange Spectacle Which Seemed as an
Embodied Nightmare Under the Excite
msnt Of an Awful Journey.

%.HE sudden demand for mummied
gBRS cats reminds me of visit paid many
.slYS years 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 Manfolcot, where no one
stopped in the good old dabeeh days and
the modern steamers only touch; moreover.
the pits are in the desert itself, some, hours
ride. Murray" prudent as usual. does
not encourage the adventurous. The editor
of the Egyptian Handbook" admits that
his brief remarks are not based on per-
sonal knowledge. and the errors therein
show that they are not based upon trust
worthy report. 1t is not unwarrantable
presumption. therefore. to fancy that these
curious antiquities are rather discussed
than known.
The entrance to the pits is an obong ifs
sure in the middle Of a small plateau among
the mountains-that Is, no other entrance
for descent One may let ones self fall
sheer a matter OF nine or ten feet and clam
Der up again with the help of donkey
BOYS cummerbund. do not recollect that
the ugly possibilities of this situation
struck us at all, but perhaps some measures
had been taken to make sure the boys did
not desert. One of them, indeed, headed
the adyance-our dragoman haG never been
down before. The Arab began by stripping
completely, and he advised us to do the
same. Then we lighted a candle each ana
in single file dived into the bowels OF the
rock. at few feet distance the passage
narrowed rapidly until there was only room
to crawl along on ones stomach. Inc hrst
gallery may be some fifty yards long. 1t
opens on chamber spacious enough. Dut
natural cavern evidently. On the further
side runs another gallery as cramped as the
last, heated like a furnace. reeking with
foul air. vile stencil of bats and pungent
fumes Of bitumen. Then we understood
why the Arab had stripped. Ihls frighttul
passage may be one hundred yards long, or
the double of that or more-one Is unused
to measure distances
CRAWLING LIKE A SNAKE
On ones stomach. At the end lies another
chamber, of good height, apparently. II the
door were cleared; but the whole area is
blocked with enormous masses OF stone
packed as close as they VIII stand, over
which one has to Chamber STOPPING. Here
myriads of bats assail the explorer. blow
ing out his candle instantly, elinging to his
hair and beard in ropes. A moment more,
and they vanish with soft rustic OF count
less wings, such as have heard in other
chimes when the sand grouse fly overhead
at dawn and evening. On the opposite
side of this vault the first trace OF handl-
work is observed-a square doorway. L
myself would have been quite satisfied to
drop the track of Mr.. Leigh's footsteps at
this point. But the dragoman was inter-
ested. now. taking, perhaps, a professional
pride in putting the business through
successfully. He could speak with the
guide, also. So we went on, still upon our
stomachs, for an indefinite time in an at
mosphere beyond analysis and heat beyond
example in the upper air. 1t was here
probably that Mr.. Leigh's party broke
down, for think they did not reach tho
end We did. After some hundreds OF
yards. as it seemed, slowly the passage
heightened-one could get upon ones
knees and then the flooring changed from
smooth granite to a soft, uneven compost.
| lowered my candle to observe. We were
crouching along over kneaded human
formsl
A strange spectacle, which seemed to us
as an embodied nightmare under the
excitement of that awful journey. [
think 1 was almost delrious. No
scene reeurs to my memory now more
fresh and striking than that black cave,
with a slender glow Of candle-light here
and there. and tue half-naked figures
glistening with perspiration stretched out
above pavement Of heads and limbs. Many
OF the faces had been gilt, and they shUne
Pickering, here and there, upon the dusky
mass. We could not get any explanation OF
the extraordinary managing: The Ara0
said things had been so ever since he could
recollect. 1t must be supposed that these
were mummies of priests and attendants
buried with the sacred reptiles In their
charge-great personages, some OF them,
evidently. Their families had been laid
with them, Tor there were as many women
perhaps as men, and great number Of
children. Every one had been
STRIPPED AND TORN TO PIECES,
All of those on the surface, at least, for
hurried examination failed to show how
deep the serried pile of bodies lay. Mingled
with them were sheets and strips of CLOTH
g ani md of
women's hair on scalps-wigs. possibly
On the other side of this vault lie the hind
ermost battali0ns 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 were not certain
for other reasons that the present entrance
is not that formerly used, the arrangement
of these crocodile mummies would prove
it. They filled the space completely
from floor 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 I'D with countless multi
tudes of young and eggs, these latter tied
In bundles and wrapped each one in strip
OF cloth. Since every layer was piled to
the roof it is manifest that those who ar
ranged them must have worked backward;
and since it would be as easy to drag an
elephant through those passages as to drag
the superb specimens here-unequaled in
my experience-of alligators and crOco-
dies they must needs have been brought
from the other side. The demonstration is
complete, for we had EXTREMIST difficulty in
drawing behind us two heads chosen
among the smaller ones. Moreover, 1t
is unlikely that the bats used that long sub
terranean outlet; they are probably ae-
quainted with better and nearer route. l
fancys 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
cayerns extend. Removing the top layers
as they went and crawling beneath the
roofs, Arabs. we are told. had explored
vault beyond this and found more crocO-
diles still on the further side. The noun
tain, they said, was stuffed with them, and
it is possible. Assuredly the pits are a mine
Of nitrate, says the writer. who furnished
the above facts TO the st. James Gazette,
and the 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.