St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-06-28
sET.WlTH HUMAN BODIES

-
SET.WlTH HUMAN BODIES.
Tiles Of Nummies In the Cave oi
Crocodiles. -.
.-------- -. .l-;--4-s q. !
A Reality which Rivals a.egaea's Wen
derrul Caves Of Ksr-Prsesss Daried
With The sacred Reptiles In
Their Chssg& -- -1..i
80. aH
The sudden demand for nnmmied catl
remiads ne of =. .yisit paid many years
ago 10 the :fanoas crocodile pits oi
Maabdeh. lit msy safely be assumed
that those who Nave visited Maabde
are very few n Mes some distance
from me Mfr. behind ManfalQot where
no one stopped in the good old dabeeh
days. and the ri0acrn steamers only
touch; m<r6Gpess st1e pits sre In the des-
ert itself soue-heuIs' ride. :, ~ASusray.
prudent 8. usxsL does not encourage
the slseptsasas1s, The editor Cf the
"Egypalaa Hand book admits that his
brief remarks 1re not based on personal
knowledge. and the errors therein
show that they are not based
upon = trustworthy report ..Iti;i il
not unwarrsptablc pResumptisn. there
fore, to fancy that these 8 very
curious antiquities are rather DIS
cussed than known. Ny own experience
WAS due 10 accident Dropping down
the Nile very.late in the spring of 1858
our dabeeh,Was becalmed of Mantolcot.
and the odragomsa.;; badeersd BY two
young RrisOns to find them sport, un-
willingly NAMED che pits Of Maahdeh.
He prcbSsed simply to ride thither and
returnt-tliat,' indeed, is. . days journey.
But as if chanced, tho legend of the
pits har been familiar to me - long as
l can recollect. In the beginning of
this century certain Mr.. Leigh, NJ r.,
explored them with most disastrous re-
salts. His narrative may be found ina
quaint old rhlds book called Winter
Evenings. y extracted. doubtleseF fren
some record awbichl l.Aever came ACROSS.
Murray" gives no reference to the
story. eADyssre6UflebtSOn .csnf not be
trusted. d tell Whist shsppeued TO Nj.
Leigh precisely; but I know that one
Of his AfUhuFefs. Died in fhe-cavern,
another xas lost ., third esRped
after awful suffering. and finally they
had to run the gauntlet of an infuriated
populatios g the kiyer sida whesce the
Pasha, or somebody, sept them prison
ers to Cairo. On the whole, it WAS .
very striking .adyenturc, . sspecial IA
vor;fa -4ISAur q ut..,o,.x, -, .hn.r~h~
dragomM suggested In this casual way.
. visit to the crocodile pits Of Maabdeh.
1t seemed yeEy st<aQae ! sapd thriAiagIte'
my mind d-as though ~. ,AaA proposed .
trip 70. .iaiFyiend by ssssssioA szuax.
OF course, his modest programme was
decided;.xe would foilOse the steps OF
the unfortunate member OF PSrliament
to the bitter end. Our Aeonxn -
came sefRus how. He. urged that Il.
was much too late in the day for start
ing. and We had 70 submit; doubtless.
the good man hoped . wind would
spring W in the night, but he .was dis
appointed Long befsre dawn ON the
morrow lsassee out Aad in the afternoon
We reached the spot 80 -. ="
The entrance Of the pits Is An oblon1
nssure In the middle of . small plateau
among the mountains: that is, no, other
entrance was known in 1868 There ars
NO facilities for descent; one may let
oneself fall sheer ., matter Of nine or
ten feet and Chamber up again with the
help Of donkey boys cummerbund. I
do not recollect that the ugly possibii-
ties Of the. situation struck us at IN,
but perhaps some measures had beepj
taken to make sure that the boys did not
desert. One of theln, indeed. headed
the advance; our dragvmsn had never
been down before. The, Arab besansby
stripping completely, and he advised Us
to do the same. Then We liehsed HI
candle each. and in single Ale dived In
to the bowels OF the rock. At . few feet
distance the passage narrowed rapidly
until there was only room to crawl along
on ones stomach. This first gallery may
be some nifty yards long; it opens. On
. cham9ars spacious enough. bat .
natural cavern evidently. On the fur
ther side runs another gallery -
cramped as the last, heated like =
furnace. reeking with foul air, Vile
stencil Of bats, and pungent. fumes Of |
bitumcn. Neh We understood why the |
Arab had stripped. This MRhtfnx pas
sage may 30 one hundred yards long. or
the soluble OF that q, mope-onev Is pm
used to measure diss6nceSr aw1fnR like |
sake on ones stomach. AT the end |
lies anotlQs chaNiAet, 9M guod n3{kht 4
apparently. IL the >Aooes Apere cieSrcd; |
out the whole ares lis blocked With !
enormous masses --Q stone packed -
eiose Is they Will stand, over which one
mas to Chamber stoopiae. Here nJriads
oi oats assail the explorer. blowing out
ms candle instantly J. .clinging to his hair
and beard in ropes A moment morn.
And they eheA viii 80 1d}tH AJ
countless iats sscA e IstaSekhAaA !
"a other clipss xhen -tha- a-sand-Ssease,9
~ overhead at dawn and evening. On
Inc opposite side of this vahlA the flpBlt
race OF handiwork is observed-a square
4 n4eeafsveuld bSve beSA.k
auite satisfied to drop the track Of Mr..
.e'Sns foqRt0s !! Ills petqts Rt tie
ffet tested now-taking,
pernaps Gf4felpnal pride In putting
me ousiness t6rodEh successfully. He
'ouid speak with the guide aasot IS I;
70 went on, still Upon ouS stomaehs.
OF an indefinite time. IN IA atmosphere !
'eyona analysis apd heat beyond ex-
'uple in tAssufpa ik.. Il wss here,
'looaoiy, that Mr.. Leigh's party broke
lown' Tor | think they aid not reach the
mo; We did. Alter some hundreds OF
ards, As it seemed. slS1ay the passage
one could get mon
mes knees; ard tllen. ZthS .l,S{f6k II
hanged from smooth granite to . soft,
luC ven connOat loueo1od ~..~ n>>ll> Il