DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0295
256
APPENDIX.
Mr. Davison's account of the examination of the well is con-
tained in a letter, dated 23d November, 17G4, of which the follow-
ing is the substance. A lantern having been lowered, he went
down, by the help of a rope, to the bottom of the first shaft, twenty-
two feet deep ; after which, he descended, perpendicularly, to the
depth of five feet, when he came to the second shaft, the mouth
of which was stopped up by a large stone, so as barely to allow of
a passage. Upon letting down the lantern still further, he per-
ceived that the shaft was oblique, and at the depth of twenty-nine
feet he came to a grotto fifteen feet long, four or five feet wide,
and about six feet in height. Thence he proceeded ninety-nine
feet in a shaft, which at first was inclined, but became, towards the
bottom, almost perpendicular. When at the total depth of one
hundred and fifty-five feet, the passage was blocked up with sand
and rubbish ; and he found the remains of a ladder that had
belonged to Mr. Wood,6 who had, sixteen years before, got down
as far as the grotto. The lower part of the shaft was so full of
bats, that it was extremely difficult to preserve a light.
On the 8th of July, 1765, Mr. Davison went with M.
Cousigny (consul at Rosetta), M. Meynard (a French merchant),
and other persons, to the Great Pyramid, to explore an opening
in the great gallery, which he had seen on a former visit, and
which led to the chamber eventually called by his name." In
proceeding there for this purpose, he incidentally observed, upon
arriving at the forced junction between the descending and
ascending passages, that the entrance passage did not terminate
at this point, but went on in a right line into the Pyramid. The
rains that had fallen during the winter had washed away part of
the sand, and made this circumstance more apparent. He post-
poned, however, the immediate investigation of this subject, and
proceeded to the original object of inquiry in the great gallery.
He ascended, by the help of ladders, to the entrance, which was
0 The same person who went to Palmyra. I cannot meet with any account of
his travels in Egypt.
7 The " Quarterly Review'' remarks, that this chamber had only been adverted
to by Niebuhr and Brace. Thevenot mentions an aperture, said to have been in
the Queen's Chamber, which he could not find, and which required a ladder, and
may have been a mistake for this—the description would, indeed, also apply to the
Pyramid at Dashour. Niebuhr was informed of the passage by M. Meynard,
who accompanied him to Gireh, in 17G1, and described the chamber to him,
and had possibly, therefore, been in it, and probably gave an account of it to
Mr. Davison.
APPENDIX.
Mr. Davison's account of the examination of the well is con-
tained in a letter, dated 23d November, 17G4, of which the follow-
ing is the substance. A lantern having been lowered, he went
down, by the help of a rope, to the bottom of the first shaft, twenty-
two feet deep ; after which, he descended, perpendicularly, to the
depth of five feet, when he came to the second shaft, the mouth
of which was stopped up by a large stone, so as barely to allow of
a passage. Upon letting down the lantern still further, he per-
ceived that the shaft was oblique, and at the depth of twenty-nine
feet he came to a grotto fifteen feet long, four or five feet wide,
and about six feet in height. Thence he proceeded ninety-nine
feet in a shaft, which at first was inclined, but became, towards the
bottom, almost perpendicular. When at the total depth of one
hundred and fifty-five feet, the passage was blocked up with sand
and rubbish ; and he found the remains of a ladder that had
belonged to Mr. Wood,6 who had, sixteen years before, got down
as far as the grotto. The lower part of the shaft was so full of
bats, that it was extremely difficult to preserve a light.
On the 8th of July, 1765, Mr. Davison went with M.
Cousigny (consul at Rosetta), M. Meynard (a French merchant),
and other persons, to the Great Pyramid, to explore an opening
in the great gallery, which he had seen on a former visit, and
which led to the chamber eventually called by his name." In
proceeding there for this purpose, he incidentally observed, upon
arriving at the forced junction between the descending and
ascending passages, that the entrance passage did not terminate
at this point, but went on in a right line into the Pyramid. The
rains that had fallen during the winter had washed away part of
the sand, and made this circumstance more apparent. He post-
poned, however, the immediate investigation of this subject, and
proceeded to the original object of inquiry in the great gallery.
He ascended, by the help of ladders, to the entrance, which was
0 The same person who went to Palmyra. I cannot meet with any account of
his travels in Egypt.
7 The " Quarterly Review'' remarks, that this chamber had only been adverted
to by Niebuhr and Brace. Thevenot mentions an aperture, said to have been in
the Queen's Chamber, which he could not find, and which required a ladder, and
may have been a mistake for this—the description would, indeed, also apply to the
Pyramid at Dashour. Niebuhr was informed of the passage by M. Meynard,
who accompanied him to Gireh, in 17G1, and described the chamber to him,
and had possibly, therefore, been in it, and probably gave an account of it to
Mr. Davison.