. The
substructions of this famous labyrinth still exist, and Milizia says,
"as they were not arched, it is wonderful that they should have been so
long preserved, with so many stupendous edifices above them." The Cretan
labyrinth was built by Daedalus on the model of the Egyptian, but it was
only a hundredth part the size; yet, according to Diodorus Siculus, it
was a spacious and magnificent edifice, divided into a great number of
apartments, and surrounded entirely by a wall. What would the ancients
say, could they see our modern imitations of their labyrinths?

THE CATACOMBS OF EGYPT.

There are numerous catacombs in Egypt, the principal of which are at
Alexandria; at Sakkara, near Cairo; at Siut, near the ancient Lycopolis
or City of the Wolf; at Gebel Silsilis, on the banks of the Nile between
Etfu and Ombos, the site of one of the principal quarries of ancient
Egypt; and at Thebes. Many of these are of vast extent, and were
doubtless formed by quarrying the rocks and mountains for building
materials. They consist of grottos, galleries, and chambers, penetrating
often to a considerable distance, the superincumbent mass being
supported by huge pillars of rock; or the galleries running parallel,
with masses of solid rock intervening for supports. Many of these
chambers and grottos contained multitudes of mummies, probably the
bodies of the less wealthy; many were evidently private family tombs of
wealthy individuals, some of which are of great magnificence, adorned
with sculptures, paintings, and hieroglyphics. The Arabs for centuries
have been plundering these abodes of the dead, and great numbers of the
mummies have been destroyed for fuel, and for the linen, rosin, and
asphaltum they contain, which is sold to advantage at Cairo. An immense
number of them have been found in the plain of Sakkara, near Memphis,
consisting not only of human bodies, but of various sacred animals, as
bulls, crocodiles, apes, ibises, fish, &c.; hence it is called _The
Plain of the Mummies_. Numerous caves or grottos, with contents of the
same kind, are found in the two mountainous ridges which run nearly
parallel with the Nile, from Cairo to Syene. Many of these tombs and
mummies are two or three thousand years old, and some of them perhaps
older.

Among all the wonderful subterranean monuments of Egypt, the Catacombs
of Thebes are the most extraordinary and magnificent. These consist of
the Necropolis, or city of the dead, on