FOOTNOTES:
[13] One hundred and fifty feet above the level of the surrounding desert.
[14] The learned Romish Cardinal, remarkable for his knowledge of languages, speaking and writing no less than twenty-one.
[15] “It is, it is.”
CHAPTER XIII.
THE VILLAGE OF SAKHARA—SHEIK’S HOUSE—THE BRICK PYRAMIDS—MUMMIES—THE SACRED IBIS—RETURN TO CAIRO—AN AGREEABLE BILLET—PREPARATION FOR A VOYAGE—DISAPPOINTMENT—A PARTING—THE LAST JOURNEY ACROSS THE DESERT—A DILEMMA—BEDOUIN ARABS—NO. 4 STATION—DEPARTURE FROM CAIRO—DINNER AT MR. L.’S—ALEXANDRIA.
Sakhara, within a short distance of the ruins of ancient Memphis, is about fifteen miles beyond the Pyramids of Ghizeh, and as we had not started until after mid-day, it was evening by the time we reached the village. The only place of entertainment, if indeed it can be so styled, is at the house of an aged Sheik, who accommodated us for a trifling gratuity, with four walls and a ceiling. The only thing which could pretend to be an article of furniture was a rough old table, whose legs were stuck tight into the mud floor. Here we deposited our cloaks and liarfs,[16] and then repaired to the house-top, where the old Sheik was plucking the two freshly killed fowls which were to serve for our supper. His daughter, a comely girl of fourteen, with a pair of eyes that might almost have resuscitated a mummy, rendered doubly attractive as they were, by a judicious application of kohl at the lids, concocted a mess of mish-mish, over a charcoal fire, and seemed delighted at the avidity with which we devoured it, for our long ride had produced a most enviable appetite. Our meal over, we smoked and talked until one by one our Arab hosts had disappeared, and we were left to the enjoyment of our mud divan. It was, however, long ere sleep deigned to visit us. We were besieged by a legion of fleas and musquitoes, whilst bats came wheeling in at the open windows, scraping our faces as they skimmed over us.
We were up with the daylight, and mounting our donkeys, trotted merrily through the palm-groves on to the desert. The Pyramids of Sakhara stand among a sea of ruins; the ground is cut up and excavated in every direction, and the discovery of hitherto unopened tombs is of constant occurrence. We passed one of these on our way to the chief Pyramid, and as the old Arab who was grubbing his way in, was most anxious that we should take a peep, we slid down the sand to the entrance, and wriggled ourselves through on our backs, into a chamber about twelve feet square, from which the sand had been removed to a depth of four feet. Here we all lay in profound darkness, until our guide had struck a light, and we could then perceive that the walls were covered with hieroglyphs, and bi-coloured frescoes, bearing an appearance of extreme freshness, the lapse of time having failed to diminish their brilliancy. We gazed and wondered, but feeling that this was indeed the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, inasmuch as we all lay gasping on our backs, half-buried in sand, and almost choked with smoke, we made as hasty a retreat as the mode of egress would allow, bestowing a few paras on the old Arab, and cheering him with the assurance that he might eventually arrive at something valuable, if he should escape burying himself alive in the attempt, a consummation which a trifling sand-slip might at any time effect.
The Pyramids of Sakhara differ from those of Ghizeh, both in shape, and in the material of which they are composed. When viewed from a short distance off, their appearance is anything but graceful, as the sides, instead of tapering gradually to the apex, are carried upwards about a third part of their height in a perpendicular direction, and are then rounded off towards the top. They are built of brick or clay moulded into blocks, and sunburnt, and though it seems hardly fair to assert this to be a perishable material, after having stood as it has, the lapse of so many centuries, it is certain that it is fast crumbling to dust under the rude finger of time.
We made a halt at the entrance on the south side, formed by a breach rudely excavated in the brick-work, at a depth of several feet below the level of the surrounding sand. There being nothing in the interior to repay the trouble of a long crawl upon hands and knees, we rested awhile among the ruins at the entrance, and opened our wallets. Whilst refreshing ourselves, one of the guides who had quitted us to visit and rifle a neighbouring tomb, brought us, carefully poised upon his head, a well-conditioned mummy. For this relic we paid two piastres, and amused ourselves by carefully unrolling it, but no sooner did our employment become known, than mummies came pouring in upon us from all quarters, and we had some difficulty in making our escape from this novel and unpleasant market. As we were leaving the place, a large fox made his appearance close to us. We gave chase immediately, but he took to the Pyramid, which he mounted in good style, and then, coolly turning round to look down upon us, took refuge in some crevice, and was lost to us altogether.