founders ascertained. The explorations of Colonel Vyse, Perring, and
recently of Lepsius, have brought to light the remains of no less than
_sixty-nine_ pyramids, extending in a line from Abouroash to Dashoor.
These, by the discovery of the names of their founders, are proved to
have been a succession of royal mausolea, forming the most sublime
Necropolis in the world. The size of each different pyramid is supposed
to bear relation to the length of the reign of its builder, being
commenced with the delving of a tomb in the rock for him at his
accession, over which a fresh layer of stones was added every year until
his decease, when the monument was finished and closed up. Taking the
number of these Memiphite sovereigns and the average length of their
reigns, the gradual construction of the pyramids would, therefore, it is
presumed, extend over a period, in round numbers, of some _sixteen
hundred years!_ Imagination is left to conceive the antecedent period
required for the slow formation of the alluvial valley of the Nile until
it became fit for human habitation, whether it was first peopled by an
indigenous race, or by an Asiatic immigration, already bringing with
them from their Asiatic birth-place the elements of civilization, or
whether they grew up on the spot, and the long, long ages that might
have elapsed, and the progress that must have been made, before
monuments so wonderful could have been erected.

[Illustration: THE PYRAMIDS.]

Such is the latest theory, we believe, of the construction and import of
the pyramids.

The entrance to the great pyramid is about forty feet from the ground.
At the entrance, the stones follow the inclination of the passage:
there are a few foot-holes to aid you in descending the slippery blocks.
Stooping down at the entrance of the low passage, four feet high, we
began the sloping descent into the interior. This first passage
continues on a slope, down to a subterranean room; but at the distance
of 106 feet, a block of granite closes it; and an upper passage ascends
from this point at an angle of 27 deg.. Climbing by a few steps into the
second passage, you ascend to the entrance of the great gallery. From
this point a horizontal passage leads into what is called the Queen's
Chamber, which is small, and roofed by long blocks, resting against each
other, and forming an angle: its height to this point is about twenty
feet. There is a niche in the east end, where the Arabs have b