Its length is 76 ft., and its width varies from 3 ft. to 4 ft. 6 in. There is a sharp rise of 6 ft. going west, at about half-way along its length.
At the eastern end it lies between two large boulders, the one on the north side being 12 ft. long and 10 ft. high. This boulder has fallen from the position it occupied at the time of the ancients, and is come 6 ft. further south, destroying and blocking up the west entrance to the Eastern Temple. The boulder on the south side is 8 ft. long and 14 ft. high, and up against it, and projecting into the passage, was once a rounded buttress, traces of which now only remain.
At 22 ft. going west is another large boulder, which forms the south side of the passage for a further 24 ft. This rock beetles right over the passage, and the open space under the boulder has been carefully walled up. At 48 ft. the south side is formed for a further 14 ft. by a low wall, in which are enclosed two boulders. On this side wall are the remains of a path leading from the passage to South Enclosure C, but a portion of this has crowned in and disappeared.
The north side of the passage from its eastern end is formed by the boulder, 12 ft. long, just described, and for a further 35 ft. by a step-back wall 8 ft. high, along the summit of which was a path with steps leading into the Eastern Temple, but now blocked up by large scales of granite which have fallen from the face of the cliff above.
The western extremity of this passage is formed by two boulders, one on either side, the one on the south side leaning up against the one on the north side, thus forming a natural arch 14 ft. long and 10 ft. high, the path descending about 4 ft. in passing through the archway, and rising sharply again where it emerges on the opposite end of the archway into Cleft Rock Enclosure, and runs for 27 ft. further west into the enclosure, where it ends on the south side in a rounded wall 5 ft. high. Large rocks form the north side. In the archway and on the south side under the boulder is a rock hole 5 ft. broad, 4 ft. deep, extending under the base of the boulder for 6 ft.
In the passage are traces of steps, but the passage has been greatly damaged by falls of large slabs from the cliffs.
CHAPTER XVII
THE ACROPOLIS RUINS
(Continued)
Eastern Temple—Ancient Balcony—Balcony Enclosure—Balcony Cave—Gold Furnace Enclosure—Upper Gold Furnace Enclosure—Pattern Passage—Recess Enclosure—North Plateau—North Parapet.