Papers On The Great Pyramid.

sunk , at each corner , sockets ( to receive the corner stones ) , of Avhich that at the northeast is remarkable for its greater size , and for its being the first discovered by the French savants in 1797 . It is an irregular square , 137 ' 8-in . by US-in ., and cut 7 ' 9-in . deep in the rock . Some amongst those French Academicians had most probably been correctl y instructed , for they prosecuted their search first Avhere it Avas most likely to be rewarded . The account of their discovery , as recounted in " Antiquites , Description , " vol . ii ., p . G 3 ,

is translated by Prof . Smyth , as folloAvs : —'' They recognised perfectly the esplanade upon which tho Great Pyramid had been established , and discovered happily , at the north-east angle , a large IIOIIOAV socket worked in tho rock , cut rectangularly and uninjured , Avhere the corner-stone had been placed . " They shortly afterwards discovered a corresponding socket at the northwest angle . By this important discovery the original base line AA'as determined ; and when , in 1837 , Col . HoAvard Vyse so happily exposed to the light tivo of the original casing-stones in situ , the height of the building in its perfect state was recovered .

. Concerning these casing-stones , Prof . Smyth says : — " The extreme value residing in these angular relics Avas not only because they Avere of the number of the original casing-stones , ancl actually in situ and undisturbed , ancl therefore sliOAving Avhat Avas once the veritable outside of the Great Pyramid , Ariz ., smooth , polished , dense , Avhite lime-stone , almost like marble , in a sloping plane ; but because they exhibited such matchless Avorkmauship : as correct and true almost as modern Avork by optical instrument makersbut performed in this instance on blocks of a height of nearly 5 feeta

, , breadth of 8 feet , and a length , perhaps , of 12 feet , with the finest of joints , said to be no thicker , even including a film of Avhite cement , than ' silver paper . ' " * Concerning the exquisite Avorkmanship of the early masons there is something more to be said , when the internal construction of the Pyramid comes under notice . Prom the esplanade , Avhich appears to have encircled the building , ran E . N . E . " the causeAvay , or raised road , by AA'hich stones , ready prepared , as in the case of the Jerusalem Temple ,

could be brought from the river to the site . ' t But if the dimensions of the exterior have exercised the abilities of engineers not a little to determine , the construction of the interior has given scope to endless speculations and theories Avide as the poles asunder . What is there , then , to be seen ? Very little indeed , it Avould appear , on a mere cursory observation . A long , slant tunnel of narrow dimensions—about 4-ff . hig h by

3-ft . 6-in . Avide—descending from the entrance , 49 feet above the ground , and near tho centre of the northern face , leads into a chamber heAvn in the solid rock ( 100 feet beloiv its surface ) , Avith a finished ceding , but a rough ancl exceedingly uneven floor . " This subterranean chamber had been begun to be carved out , deep in the heart of the rock , with admirable skill . For the workmen , having cut their Avay doAvn to the necessary depth by the passage , commenced with the chamber ' s ceiling , making it exquisitely smooththough 46 feet long b 28 broadthenshaking doAvn the Avails therefrom in

, y ; , vertical planes , there was every promise of their having presently , at that notable 100-foot depth inside the otherwise solid limestone mountain , a rectangular IIOIIOAV , or chamber , AA'hose Avails , ceiling , and floor should all be perfect , pattern planes . But Avhen they had out doAviiAvards from the coiling to a depth of about 4 feet at the Avest end , and 13 feet at the east end , they stopped in the very midst of their work . A small , very smallbored Avas pushed on iuto the rock merela few feet further toAvards

, passage y the south , ancl then that AA'as also left unfinished ; a similar abortive attempt Avas likewise made doAviiAvards , though with still less result ; and the Avhole floor , from one end of the chamber to the other , was left thus a lamentable scene of up-aud-doAvn and fragmentary confusion . Verily ( seeing that the Avhole light of day Avas reduced down there to a mere star-like point at the end of the long entrance-passage ) , verily , it was the true locality of ' the stones of darkness ancl the shadoAV of death . '"!