DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0199
160
APPENDIX.
apartments in the interior of this monument," ' and that, having
failed, as might have heen reasonably expected, in cutting- through
the hlocks of granite, " assistito da quella costanza che gli e
tutta propria, immagino di aprire un nuovo sentiero nella pietra
calcarea aderente al granite"5 This excavation he followed up
in his last operations to the extent altogether of thirty-six feet
without any beneficial result, and the work was accordingly dis-
continued on the 13th of February. When this channel was
ultimately opened from above, it appeared that, like that to the
south, it had no communication with any other chambers,—a fact
directly at variance with M. Caviglia's conjectures, formed "after
years of labour and study;" which intense application might have
been spared, if he had taken an excursion over the exterior of the
pyramid, where the forced mouth of the northern air-channel,
and the aperture of the southern, were plainly to have been seen.
I have already mentioned that the one Avas discovered accidentally
by Mr. Perring, and the other in one day by Abd El Ardi. In-
deed, whoever has examined these extraordinary buildings must
be aware how idle it is to talk of secrets and of study, about what
there is little or no analogy, or data, to go by. Proofs are not
wanting, that most of the discoveries at the Pyramids (excepting
those of the Caliphs, who appear to have possessed some know-
ledge of their interior formation), have been the result of conjec-
ture, and many of mere accident. It is only necessary to instance
M. Caviglia's interesting discovery in 1817, of the communication
between the upper and lower passages by means of the well. It
is 191 feet 6 inches in depth, and it had been examined in 17C4
by Mr. Davison for 155 feet, so that the space of 36 feet 6 inches
was all that remained unexplored at that time; and a good deal
of sand was removed by the French in 1800. The difficulty of
respiration, however, of course remained the same till the lower
passage had also been cleared out.6 And it seems, by Mr. Salt's
account, that, notwithstanding his perseverance and industry,
M. Caviglia failed entirely in his attempt to penetrate through
the well, and was obliged to give up the operation as hopeless;
4 It is scarcely possible to enter the King's Chamber without observing the two
air-channels. Greaves, who travelled in 1638, describes the opening of that to the
south to have been forced, and also to have been blackened with smoke.
5 See page 166.
e It is surprising that the French did not attempt this; but they appear to have
been most unaccountably ignorant that the entrance-passage went on beyond the
forced communication with the ascending passage to the chambers above.
APPENDIX.
apartments in the interior of this monument," ' and that, having
failed, as might have heen reasonably expected, in cutting- through
the hlocks of granite, " assistito da quella costanza che gli e
tutta propria, immagino di aprire un nuovo sentiero nella pietra
calcarea aderente al granite"5 This excavation he followed up
in his last operations to the extent altogether of thirty-six feet
without any beneficial result, and the work was accordingly dis-
continued on the 13th of February. When this channel was
ultimately opened from above, it appeared that, like that to the
south, it had no communication with any other chambers,—a fact
directly at variance with M. Caviglia's conjectures, formed "after
years of labour and study;" which intense application might have
been spared, if he had taken an excursion over the exterior of the
pyramid, where the forced mouth of the northern air-channel,
and the aperture of the southern, were plainly to have been seen.
I have already mentioned that the one Avas discovered accidentally
by Mr. Perring, and the other in one day by Abd El Ardi. In-
deed, whoever has examined these extraordinary buildings must
be aware how idle it is to talk of secrets and of study, about what
there is little or no analogy, or data, to go by. Proofs are not
wanting, that most of the discoveries at the Pyramids (excepting
those of the Caliphs, who appear to have possessed some know-
ledge of their interior formation), have been the result of conjec-
ture, and many of mere accident. It is only necessary to instance
M. Caviglia's interesting discovery in 1817, of the communication
between the upper and lower passages by means of the well. It
is 191 feet 6 inches in depth, and it had been examined in 17C4
by Mr. Davison for 155 feet, so that the space of 36 feet 6 inches
was all that remained unexplored at that time; and a good deal
of sand was removed by the French in 1800. The difficulty of
respiration, however, of course remained the same till the lower
passage had also been cleared out.6 And it seems, by Mr. Salt's
account, that, notwithstanding his perseverance and industry,
M. Caviglia failed entirely in his attempt to penetrate through
the well, and was obliged to give up the operation as hopeless;
4 It is scarcely possible to enter the King's Chamber without observing the two
air-channels. Greaves, who travelled in 1638, describes the opening of that to the
south to have been forced, and also to have been blackened with smoke.
5 See page 166.
e It is surprising that the French did not attempt this; but they appear to have
been most unaccountably ignorant that the entrance-passage went on beyond the
forced communication with the ascending passage to the chambers above.