travelling a long distance to see; for upon examination they discovered
that its walls, as high up as the light of the torches would enable them
to see, were most elaborately sculptured in high relief with figures of
men, women, animals, trees, representations of spacious landscapes with
buildings, and even the sea, with either the rising or the setting sun
partially obscured by clouds. And the remarkable thing about these
sculptures was that they were very much more finely and artistically
executed than those outside; the representation was much more true to
nature; the details of clothing were rendered with the most minute
elaboration and exactitude; and there was also evidence of a knowledge
and understanding of perspective. For the first quarter of an hour or
so of their inspection they were unable to obtain any clue to the
purpose to which this enormous chamber had originally been put, or the
reason which could induce a person--or, rather, a number of persons, for
no single individual could possibly have produced the whole of that
work, even if he had devoted an entire lifetime to it--to spend time in
laboriously executing such work in a situation where it would seem that
it could be seldom or never seen. But by and by, when the explorers
arrived at the far end of the chamber, they saw that it was neither more
nor less than an immense temple; for there, in the very centre of the
wall, was a most beautifully and elaborately sculptured niche, within
which was enshrined a lifesize figure, in black marble, of a man, in the
carving of which the unknown sculptor seemed to have reached the very
summit of perfection of his art. For with the most scrupulous and
precise fidelity he had succeeded in reproducing every minutest detail,
the texture and wrinkles of the skin, the finger and toe nails, the
course of the veins, and even the curls in the long hair, bushy beard,
and drooping moustache. The figure had originally been executed nude;
but, whether from considerations of modesty, or for the glorification of
the idol, it had afterwards been clothed in a most elaborate costume
consisting of a tunic, confined to the waist by a belt, a cloak, and
sandals. The tunic was made of a kind of fine canvas that crumbled away
when touched; the mantle was of feathers of the most gorgeous hues; and
the sandals were of some delicate kind of leather dressed with the hair
on; and they, as well as the tunic and belt, were encrusted with