vailing with the Arabs to continue the work, and was himself attacked with spitting of blood, and other symptoms of impaired health. Still, however, persevering in his researches till he had excavated the passage to a distance of 200 feet, his labors were rewarded with the discovery of a door-way on the right side, from which a smell of sulphur was soon perceived to issue. Recollecting, that in his first visit to the pyramid, he had burned some sulphur at the bottom of the well, for the purpose of purifying the air, he conceived the probability of there being a communication by this door-way with the well. This conjecture was soon realised by the discovery that the channel opened directly upon the well, where he found the baskets, cords, and other implements, which had been left by the workmen. The opening of this communication afforded a complete circulation of air along the new passage, and up the shaft, so as greatly to facilitate his future operations. This new passage, however, did not terminate at this door-way; but, continued twenty-three feet farther, in the same line of inclination, till at length it took a horizontal direction for the space of above twentyeight feet, and then opened into a spacious chamber immediately under the centre of the pyramid, and 100 feet below the base. This chamber, with the greatest part of the passage leading to it, is all cut out of the solid rock upon which the pyramid is built, and which projects into the body of the pyramid about eighty feet above the level of its external base. The chamber itself is sixty feet long, twenty-seven broad, with a high but flat roof; and, when first discovered, was nearly filled with loose stones and rubbish. The platform of the floor is irregular, nearly one-half of its length from the entrance being quite level, and about fifteen feet from the ceiling; while, in the middle space, it descends five feet lower, where there is an opening or hollow, resembling the commencement of another shaft or well; and thence, to the western end, it rises so much that there is scarcely room, at the extremity, to stand upright between the floor and the ceiling. Some Roman characters, rudely formed, and marked by the flame of a candle, were observed on the walls; but the mouldering of the rock had rendered them illegible. There was no vestige of any sarcophagus; and it is supposed that this receptacle of the dead had been spoiled of its contents by the early Arabs, under Al Mamoun, the son of Haroun al Raschid. On the south side of this chamber is an excavated passage, just sufficient to admit a person creeping along on his hands and knees, and continuing horizontally for the space of fifty-five feet, when it seems to terminate abruptly. Another passage, at the east end of the chamber, commencing with a kind of arch, runs about forty feet into the solid body of the pyramid. Dr. Clarke says of the above well, We threw down some stones, and observed that they rested at about the depth which Greaves has mentioned (twenty feet); but being at length provided with a stone nearly as large as the mouth of the well, and about fifty pounds in weight, we let this fall, listening attentively to the result from the spot where the other stones.rested. We were agree ably surprised by hearing, after a length of time which must have equalled some seconds, a loud and distinct report, seeming to come from a spacious subterraneous apartment, accompanied by a splashing noise as if the stone had been broken into pieces, and had fallen into a reservoir of water at an amazing depth.' Thus,' continues the doctor, does experience always tend to confirm the accounts left us by the ancients! for this exactly answers to the description given by Pliny of this well.' Now it is quite obvious, from Messrs. Davison and Caviglia's better' experience,' that Dr. Clarke's large stone' could not, by any possibility, travel an inch beyond the bottom of the first shaft, or about twenty feet; unless we are to suppose that, on reaching the first bottom, it took a horizontal roll due south eight feet, dropped down the second shaft of five feet; then took a second roll of about fixe feet, and finally tumbled down the third shaft: but even thus there would be no 'splashing,' though the inundation of the Nile was nearly at its height;' as the new chamber discovered by Caviglia, which is even lower than the bottom of the well, is thirty feet above the level of the Nile at its greatest elevation. Mr. Caviglia next proceeded to examine the chamber discovered by Mr. Davison, immediately above the king's chamber, and found the dust and bats' dung with which the floor was covered, increased to the depth of eighteen inches. He describes the sides and the roof of this upper apartment as coated with red granite of the finest polish, but its floor is very uneven, in consequence of its being formed by the individual blocks of granite which compose the roof of the chamber below. It is only four feet high; and it is not easy to conjecture for what purpose it could have been intended. Nothing was discovered by Mr. Caviglia that could lead to a solution of the long contested question respecting the original design of these recesses; but it is still considered as the most probable opinion that they were principally intended to secure the remains of the founder, or of the priests; and it is also conjectured that, among the contents of the sarcophagus, discovered in the pyramid of Cephrenes, some human bones may have been mixed with those of the cow. Few subjects have occasioned more speculalation than the intent and use of the Egyptian pyramids. About forty years since, a German professor published a volume to prove that these majestic remains of the most remote antiquity are nothing more than basaltic eruptions, magnificent sports of nature, and so many incontrovertible proofs of the general derangement which has taken place on the globe! It is, indeed, a remarkable example of human vanity that these buildings, reckoned among the wonders of the world, should not have preserved more certain data of their origin. Pliny mentions a number of authors who in his time had written concerning them; and all, he informs us, disagree in their accounts of those who built them. Some modern writers maintain that they were erected by the Israelites, under the tyranny of the Pharaohs, and allege to this purpose the testimony of Josephus, Antiq. lib. i. cap. 5. According to Herodotus, and to Diodorus, the first pyramid was erected by Cheops, or Chemmis, a king of Egypt, who is said to have employed 360,000 men for twenty years in the structure. Cephrenes, brother and successor to the former king, is said to be the founder of the second pyramid; and the third is said to have been built by Mycerinus, the son of Chemmis, according to Diodorus; or, according to Herodotus, of Cheops. However, Herodotus says, that some ascribed the last to Rhodope, a courtezan, and the other two to the shepherd Philittion. The learned Greaves places the three kings who erected these pyramids in the twentieth dynasty; Cheops having begun his reign in the year 3448 of the Julian period, 490 years before the first Olympiad, and 1266 years before the Christian era. He reigned fifty years, says Herodotus, and built this pyramid, as Diodorus observes, in the 180th Olympiad; whereas he might have said 1207. Cephrenes, the builder of the second, reigned fifty-six years; and Mycerinus, the builder of the third, seven years. Bryant ascribes the structure of the pyramids to the Cuthites, or Arabian shepherds, who built Heliopolis, and who were the giants and Titans of the first ages. The general opinion with regard to their intention and use is, that they were sepulchres and monuments of the Egyptian monarchs. This is expressly affirmed by Diodorus and Strabo, and the opinion is confirmed by the Arabian writers. The reason, says Greaves, of their erecting these magnificent structures is founded in the theology of the Egyptians, who, as Servius shows in his comment upon Virgil (Eneid, lib. iii.), believed that as long as the body endured so long the soul continued with it; and this was also the opinion of the Stoics. Upon this principle, that the bodies might neither be reduced to dust by putrefaction, nor converted into ashes by fire, they embalmed them, and laid them up in these stately repositories, where they might continue free from injury. Many, however, have objected to this account of the pyramids, and are of opinion that they were originally intended for some nobler purpose. If Cheops, says Dr. Shaw, or any other person who was the founder of the great pyramid, intended it only for his sepulchre, what occasion was there for such a narrow crooked entrance into it; for the well, as it is called, at the end of the entrance; for the lower chamber; for the long narrow cavities in the walls of the upper room; or, for the two anti-chambers and the lofty gallery, with benches on each side that introduce us into it. As the whole of the Egyptian theology was clothed in mysterious emblems and figures, it seems reasonable to suppose, he adds, that all these turnings, apartments, and secrets in architecture were designed for some purpose of religion, and that the deity, which was typified in the outward form of this pile, was to be worshipped within. Major Fitzclarence, in his journey over land from India, reached Cairo shortly after the opening of the pyramid of Cephrenes had been accomplished by Belzoni; and, with the zeal and enterprize of his profession, he determined to enter into the pyramid and examine for himself, the wonders of the central chamber, so recently laid open. With less reverence, perhaps, for the august repository of the mighty dead than might have been felt by a contemporary of the Pharaohs, he brought away a few fragments from the domus exilis Plutonia, and among the rest some small pieces of bone, one of which proved to be the lower extremity of the thigh bone, where it comes in contact with the knee joint. This singular curiosity was presented by major Fitzclarence to his royal highness the prince Regent, who submitted it to the inspection of Sir Everard Home. Sir Everard, entertaining no doubt of its being part of a human skeleton, took it to the Museum of the College of Surgeons, that, by adjusting it to the same part of different sized skeletons, he might be enabled to form some estimate of the comparative stature of the ancient Egyptians and modern Europeans. On a closer and more laborious examination, however, the fragment was found to agree with none of them; and it finally appeared that, instead of forming any part of the thigh bone of a human subject, it actually made part of that of a cow. The large sarcophagi, instead of being the depositories of the remains of the kings of Egypt, would hence appear to have been hollowed out and sculptured with such extraordinary skill and pains to receive the mortal exuviæ of the tutelary deities; and those immense masses in which they were entombed to have owed their boundless cost and magnificence to a reverential regard for the brutish forms' of Apis or Osiris. Probably also the kings of Egypt would order their bones to be placed with those of their gods, and thus give rise to the tradition delivered to us by Herodotus. Some have supposed that these stupendous monuments were erected by the Egyptians as temples or altars to their god Osiris or the sun. It was natural, say they, to build them in that shape which the rays of the sun display when discovered to the eye, and which they observed to be the same in terrestrial flame, because the circumstance was combined in their imaginations with the attribute which they adored. If they were temples dedicated to the sun, it seems a natural consequence that they should likewise be places of sepulture for kings and illustrious men, as the space which they covered would be considered consecrated ground. This hypothesis is common, and is not contradicted by the present reasoning. But considering them as altars, and, as most travellers agree that they terminate in a square horizontal surface, they venture to assert that, in great and solemn acts of adoration, the Egyptians constructed fires, the flames of which, terminating in the vertex of the pyramid, completed that emanation of their deity which they admired and adored. The learned Bryant, having settled them to be temples consecrated to the deity, had no difficulty in transforming the sarcophagus into a water-trough to hold the sacredelement drawn up from the Nile-a conception about as felicitous as that which would have converted the supposed sarcophagus of Alexander into a bathing-tub; a proof of which was in the holes in the bottom to let out the water! Dr. Clarke rejects entirely all that the Greeks have told us respecting the names of their founders, and the circumstances under which they were erected; and has recourse, as he tells us, to Arabic or Jewish tradition, to prove that some of these vast piles were raised by the Israelites during their abode in Egypt, and that the particular pyramid which is now open was the tomb of the patriarch Joseph. Its being now open is, of course, accounted for by the fact that his bones were removed by his countrymen on their departure for Canaan! On the whole,' say the Quarterly Reviewers, 'we can find no reason for depriving Cheops, Cephrenes, and Mycerinus of the wicked renown of having raised the useless and oppressive piles which bear their name; and though it is impossible to say when the first pyramids were erected, and whether some of them may be or may not be the work of the Israelites, it is utterly unlikely that any of them were raised by this people on their own account, or in honor of the patriarch Joseph.' Before we take leave of these vast piles, we must advert to a circumstance which is too remarkable to be passed over. In all the pyramids that have been opened, which at Gizeh and Saccara amount at least to six, the entrance has been found at or near the centre on the northern face, and the passage thence to proceed invariably in a slanting direction downwards; the angle of the inclination being always the same. Greaves, in his Pyramidographia, makes that of Cheops 26°, and Caviglia 27°, which, he says, is common to all the sloping passages within the pyramid of Cheops. He found the same angle on opening one of the small pyramids to the south of that of Mycerinus, at the end of the passage of which were two chambers, leading one out of the other, both empty. Belzoni estimates the sloping passages of the pyramid of Cephrenes at 26°. This coincidence cannot be referred to accident, and the able Reviewer, just quoted, suggests that these passages might have been used to correct their measurement of time. The adits, as we have observed, are invariably inclined downwards, in an angle of about 27°, more or less, with the horizon, which gives a line of direction not far removed from that point in the heavens where the north polar star now crosses the meridian below the pole. The observation of the passage of this or some other star across this part of the meridian would give them an accurate measure of sidereal time: a point of the first importance in an age when no other instruments than rude solar gnomons, or something still more imperfect, were in use. Indeed, we know not of any method that could more effectually be adopted for observing the transit of a star with the naked eye than that of watching its passage across the mouth of this lengthened tube; and some one or more of these luminaries, when on the meridian below the pole, must have been seen in the direction of the angular adits. Dr. Young, how ever, observes that the observation of the polestar was at least extremely ill contrived for the determination of time, on account of the very slow apparent motion of that star. The pyramids of Saccara, though second only in importance to those of Gizeh, so nearly resem ble them in every particular as to need no separate description. At Dashouv is a large pyramid of brick, called by Herodotus the pyramid of Asychis, and on which he reports was the following remarkable inscription:-'Do not compare me with the pyramids of stone; for I excel them as much as Jupiter excels the other gods: for those who built me thrust poles into a lake, and, collecting the mud which adhered to them, they made bricks of it, and thus they constructed me.' See EGYPT, SPHINX, and THEBES. PYRAMUS, in ancient geography, a river of Cilicia, which rises on the north side of Mount Taurus, and runs into that part of the Mediterranean anciently called the Pamphylian Sea, between Issus and Magarassus. PYRAMUS, in fabulous history, an unfortunate youth of Babylon, who fell in love with Thisbe, whom, as their parents disapproved of their union, he appointed to meet with in a wood; but, finding her veil all bloody, concluded she had been torn to pieces by a wild beast, on which he killed himself; and Thisbe soon after coming to the spot, and finding him dying, fell upon his sword also. Ovid celebrates their unfortunate love. PYRE, n. s. Lat. pyra; Gr. πυρ. A pile to be burnt. When his brave son upon the fun'ral pyre He saw extended, and his beard on fire. Dryden. Divination was invented by the Persians, and is four kinds of divination, hydromancy, pyromancy, seldom or never taken in a good sense; there are aeromancy, geomancy. Ayliffe. Pyrites contain sulphur, sometimes arsenick, alWoodward. ways iron, and sometimes copper. With tender billet-doux he lights the pyre, Let earth dissolve, yon ponderous orbs descend, Young. PYREJA, or PYRATERIA, in antiquity, temples consecrated to the sun, wherein a perpetual fire was kept. They were large enclosures built upon high eminences, without any covering. The Guebres, or worshippers of fire in Persia and the East Indies, have still these pyreia. PYRENAEUS, in fabulous history, a king of Thrace, who during a storm gave shelter to the nine Muses in his palace; but afterwards attempted to offer them violence, upon which the goddesses took to their wings and flew away; and Pyrenæus, attempting to fly after them from the top of a tower, fell and was killed. PYRENE, an ancient town of Gallia Celtica, near the source of the Istor: also a fountain near Corinth. PYRENEES, Department of the Lower, is formed out of the former provinces of Navarre and the Bearn, France, and derives its name from its being situated at the western extremity of the Pyrenees. The principal place of this prefecture is Pau; it is divided into five arrondissements or subprefectures, containing a total population of 399,454 souls, on an area of 3492 PYRENEES. square miles, and yielding a territorial revenue of 15,392,000 francs. These are subdivided into forty cantons and 655 communes, and form three electoral arrondissements, which send three members to the chamber of deputies. It is in the eleventh military division, having a royal court at Pau and a bishopric at Bayonne. This department is bounded on the north by the Landes and the Gers; on the east by that of the Upper Pyrenees; on the south by the Pyrenean Mountains, which separate it from Spain, and on the west by the ocean. The surface of this country, generally mountainous and unequal, presents a great variety of productions, and agreeable and diversified scenery. It abounds with rising grounds, covered with vines yielding excellent wine, beautiful valleys affording good pasturage, and uncultivated and wild plains. On the southern side runs a range of high mountains covered with wood, terminating westward in the Pyrenees; these diminish gradually in elevation till they are lost in the sea. The soil is naturally dry and barren, and yields its produce only by dint of labor. The small plains and valleys produce. rye, wheat, barley, oats, millet, and maize, on which the people chiefly subsist; hay, and very soft and fine flax, which serves for the manufacture of the Bearn linens. Great quantities of chestnuts are gathered here. Game of all kinds abounds, and the forests furnish wood for masts, timber, and building. The climate is very temperate in the plains, but cold in the mountains; yet every where very healthy. Horses and mules are used in agriculture, but the produce is insufficient for its inhabitants. There are 112,225 hectares of forests (chestnuts, oaks, pines, and firs), and 16,700 of vineyards, yielding on an average sixteen francs seven centimes per hectare of arable land. The productions are corn of all sorts, chestnuts, excellent fruit and wines, fine linen, gall nuts, salt and fresh water fish, particularly salmon, tunnies, turbots, lampreys, pilchards, and excellent trout, horses for cavalry, mules, sheep, and small horned cattle, and pigs. There are mines of silver, iron, and copper, and quarries of marble of every color, granite, slate, marl, sulphur, and cobalt; mineral waters at Laurens, at Aas, and at Cambo, and a royal stud at Pau. The manufactures chiefly consist in Bearn linens, cotton, handkerchiefs, table linen, woollen counterpanes, twine, coarse serge, stuffs for hoods, Tunisian caps, carpets, quills, chocolate, Andaye brandy, and cream of tartar; besides cotton spinning factories, tan-yards, manufactories of white and chamois leather, dye-houses, papermills, and dock yards for ship building. A considerable trade is carried on in these articles, as well as drugs, liquorice juice, resinous matters, timber, salt, fine wool, Bayonne hams, &c. The chief rivers are the Adour, the Bidassoa, the Bidouze, the Nivelle, the Nive, and the gave d'Aleron, navigable; the Rixe, the Laran, the Luy de Bearn, the Luy de France, the Gabas, the Gaves de Pau, d'Aspe, d'Ossau, and de Mauleon. It is crossed by the great roads of Mont de Marsan, Auch, Tarbes, and Bayonne. PYRENEES, DEPARTMENT OF THE UPPER, is formed out of the Bigarre, a dependency of the 279 former province of Gascony, and takes its name This country is covered with lofty mountains, Beside the above-mentioned productions, buckwheat and maize are grown here; mulberry trees, potatoes, figs, and herbs of different kinds; honey and wax are made; there are good fresh-water fish, particularly trout; horses suited for light cavalry, many mules and asses, a fine species of horned cattle, numerous flocks of sheep, shepherds' dogs remarkable for their size and extraordinary strength, pigs, goats, poultry, especially geese, bees, &c. Iron mines are found; and quarries of asbestos, granate, ochre, marble, There are establishments of mineral waters at granite, marle, fullers' earth, potters' clay, &c. Bagnères de Bigorre, Barèges, Cauterets, Luz, Manufactures are carried on here, of boltingCadeac, Capoerne, Siradan, and St. Marie. cloths, twine, serge, linen cloths, light stuffs, crapes, shawls, cudgels, agricultural instruments, cutlery, nails, leather, coarse paper, and brandy; and there is a considerable trade in excellent butter, cheese, honey, provisions of all kinds, sheep and lambs, pigs, hams, poultry, wood, timber for coopers, hoops, wooden shoes, &c. The principal rivers that water this department are the Adour, the Garonne, the Neste, the Gers, the Gave de Pau, the Arros, and the Estreux; len stuffs and caps, corks, forged iron, and leaand it is crossed by the great roads of Pau, ther; and a trade is carried on in all the above Auch, and Mont-de-Marsan. PYRENEES, DEPARTMENT OF THE EASTERN, is formed out of the ancient province of Roussillon, and takes its name from the eastern part of the Pyrenean Mountains, among which it is situated. The principal place of this prefecture is Perpignan, and it is divided into three arrondissements or sub-prefectures; containing a population of 133,446 souls, on a superficial extent of 1908 square miles; and yielding a territorial revenue of 7,351,000 francs. These are subdivided into seventeen cantons and 248 communes, and consist of two electoral arrondissements, that send two members to the chamber of deputies. It forms part of the tenth military division, in the diocese of Carcassonne, and has a royal court at Montpelier. This department is bounded on the north by that of the Aude; on the east by the Mediterranean; on the south by the Pyrenean Mountains, which divide France from Spain; and on the west by the department of the Arriege. This country is intersected with lofty mountains, which join on the Pyrenean chain, and are the highest of all the range between the Mediterranean and the Ocean. They are covered with snow and ice, and give rise to a great number of rivers, which, on account of their great declivity, are destitute of water for one part of the year; but in the rainy season, or when the snows are melted, they become impetuous torrents, the overflowing of which often causes dreadful ravages. The surface is divided into three great basins by the Tet, the Tech, the Agly, and the Aude, and generally affords a fertile soil, suitable for every purpose of agriculture. There are commonly two harvests in those lands which are watered. The hedges are formed in a great measure of pomegranate trees; orange and citron trees flourish every where in the open field; and the hills and uncultivated parts are covered with thyme, rosemary, creeping thyme, lavender, juniper, and mulberry trees. The climate is rather warm; the winter here is a kind of spring; the heat is sometimes very great in summer, and in some cantons the air would be rather unhealthy, were it not often purified by a wind from the north-west called tramontane. The soil is cultivated with mules, and yields a full supply for its inhabitants: there are 47,229 hectares of forests, chiefly firs, pines, and beech; and 35,500 hectares of vineyards, yielding an average produce of sixteen francs thirty centimes on each hectare of arable land. The productions are wheat, barley, millet, maize, vegetables, melons, excellent fruits, flax, hemp, oak, kermes, wood, salt-marshes, wine, fine honey, mulberries, olives, lavender, &c., small game, sea fish in abundance, mules, some cows, numerous flocks of merino sheep (famed for the flavor of their flesh and the fineness of their wool), poultry, bees, silk-worms, cachemire goats, &c. There are also mines of iron, antimony, and coal, and quarries of white and colored marble, limestone, &c. They have hot baths at Arles, Molitg, Lapreste, Escaldes, and Vernet. The manufactures consist of common cloth, wool articles. The principal rivers that water the department are the Tet, the Tech, the Gly, the Cantarana, the Reart, and the Segrè; and it is crossed by the great roads of Narbonne, Figuières, and Pay◄ arda. PYRENEES, a great chain of mountains separating France from Spain, and extending from the port of Vendres on the coast of the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean near Fontarabia. It is about 210 miles long; its direction is nearly from S. S. E to N. N. W.; and both on the side of Spain and that of France it consists of several parallel ridges, varying in breadth from sixty to 120 miles. On the side of France these mountains project several branches, which run through those departments that are on the Spanish frontier. The two most considerable of these are that which crosses the departments of the Arriege and the Aude, and unites with the Alps near Castelnaudary, and that which, crossing the departments of the Upper Pyrenees and the Gers, terminates on the borders of the departments of the Landes and the Gironde. Next to the Alps these are the highest mountains in Europe; they rise gradually to the top, which serves as a point of demarcation, and at the two extremities sink in elevation down to the level of the Ocean and the Mediterranean. The highest summits of the chain are, according to M. Humboldt, the top of Nethon about 10,722 feet above the level of the sea, Posets 10,584 feet, Mount Perdu 10,576, Le Cylindre 10,374, the pic-duMidi 8958, and Canigou 8946 feet. The Pyrenees are less steep on the French side than on that of Spain; the most elevated summits are covered with snow during a great part of the year, and at the height of 7200 the snows never melt, but occupy a zone of from 3000 to 3600 feet, that resists all the rays of the sun; on the north and west, however, they almost always melt. From Marbore to Maladetta there is a great number of glaciers, which the eye can distinguish afar off by their bluish tint, by their even appearance, and by the clefts which cross them. The air of the higher mountains is as unwholesome as that of the lower ones is healthy. In the month of May impetuous cataracts precipitate themselves on all sides from the tops of the Pyrenees, and inundations caused by the sudden melting of the snows and the abundant rains soon fill up all the close valleys. Trees broken by the violence of the winds often choke the course of the torrents, or, carried away themselves, drag with them the crops and the houses hanging on the declivity of the mountains. Enormous masses of rocks, which appeared immoveable, are now dashed from steep to steep, carrying every thing before them. To these avalanches we may add those which are occasioned in the winter by the abundant snows, which the storms loosen from the summits and precipitate into the ravines, and which increasing in size as they advance, and dragging with them masses of stone and earth, sometimes form bridges over the torrents and fill up the valleys. Often they are accompanied with a tremendous hissing; nothing |