DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0218
176
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
and shade. For a time the lofty apex of the Second
Pyramid shone alone in the clear blue sky, (like the top-
gallant sails of a ship of war,) far above the clouds that
shrouded its mighty bulk, which by degrees slowly ap-
peared in all its grandeur; and soon afterwards the
southern front of the Great Pyramid, glittering with the
morning sunbeams, was displayed in full majesty as the
light vapours melted away from its enormous space.
Owing to the oblateness of their forms, the want of
proper objects of comparison, the proportionate small-
ness of the stones, with which they are built, and many
other adventitious circumstances, the exaggerated and
undefined expectations of travellers are often disappointed
in the hasty survey generally taken of these monuments;
and they are consequently considered rude and misshapen
masses of coarse masonry, without symmetry or beauty,
and alone wrorthy of notice from their extraordinary size.
A more deliberate examination, however, never fails to
alter and correct these opinions; and it was universally
acknowledged by those who remained for any length of
time at Gizeh, that the more carefully and frequently
they were inspected, the more extraordinary their gran-
deur appeared, and also the striking effects which under
the varying influence of the atmosphere they continually
presented. Pre-eminent in dimensions and antiquity over
all other buildings in the world, they are alike admirable
for the excellence of their masonry, the skill and science
displayed in their construction, and the imposing majesty
of their simple forms.
As the lower entrance into the Second Pyramid could
not be discovered, fires were lighted in the reascending
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
and shade. For a time the lofty apex of the Second
Pyramid shone alone in the clear blue sky, (like the top-
gallant sails of a ship of war,) far above the clouds that
shrouded its mighty bulk, which by degrees slowly ap-
peared in all its grandeur; and soon afterwards the
southern front of the Great Pyramid, glittering with the
morning sunbeams, was displayed in full majesty as the
light vapours melted away from its enormous space.
Owing to the oblateness of their forms, the want of
proper objects of comparison, the proportionate small-
ness of the stones, with which they are built, and many
other adventitious circumstances, the exaggerated and
undefined expectations of travellers are often disappointed
in the hasty survey generally taken of these monuments;
and they are consequently considered rude and misshapen
masses of coarse masonry, without symmetry or beauty,
and alone wrorthy of notice from their extraordinary size.
A more deliberate examination, however, never fails to
alter and correct these opinions; and it was universally
acknowledged by those who remained for any length of
time at Gizeh, that the more carefully and frequently
they were inspected, the more extraordinary their gran-
deur appeared, and also the striking effects which under
the varying influence of the atmosphere they continually
presented. Pre-eminent in dimensions and antiquity over
all other buildings in the world, they are alike admirable
for the excellence of their masonry, the skill and science
displayed in their construction, and the imposing majesty
of their simple forms.
As the lower entrance into the Second Pyramid could
not be discovered, fires were lighted in the reascending