THE PYRAMIDS.
H ugh was so very anxious to see the pyramids, that every one agreed to visit them from Cairo, instead of from the boat on the voyage up the Nile, which was to be as far as the second cataract; but neither the children nor their mother were to go. The latter was not strong, and she thought it best to keep the children with her. Lucy would very much have liked to see the pyramids as well as Hugh, but the ride from Cairo was too long for her.
Our donkeys were ordered early, and we set off in high spirits. As we drew nearer and nearer to the pyramids we realised more and more their immense size. Their grandeur impressed us very much, and we shall none of us forget the thrill of awe we felt when we first saw their base and their gigantic size.
DONKEY-BOYS AT CAIRO.
They are the oldest monuments in the world. Jacob, Joseph, Moses looked upon them. They are the grandest work of man in lasting endurance. The workmen who laboured at them have been dead and forgotten for thousands of years. But their work lives, and will live for hundreds of years to come; probably till the Great Day when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the earth and everything on it shall be burned up and melt with fervent heat. No other work of man has been so enduring.
The pyramids are supposed to be the tombs of the Pharaohs, kings of Egypt.
We went first to the Great Pyramid, or Pyramid of Cheops. We were attended by Arab guides, who carried wax candles, and undertook to show us everything. We went down a sloping passage till we came to a large block of granite. A narrow way has been made round this block, and by it we reached the other side and came to an ascending passage. This was very low, so low that even Hugh could not stand upright in it. This brought us to the great passage, from which a gallery led to a room called the Queen's Chamber. The ceiling is painted, and the masonry very beautiful.
Here we rested for a little while, and then went back to the great passage. We still had to ascend to reach the King's Chamber. The passage being cased with polished granite, we found it very slippery. Indeed, Hugh and I were continually sliding backwards, and found a special difficulty in getting on.
