Vyse II · p. 88

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88           OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH .


     As    I had at length discovered the entrance of the
Third Pyramid , I was anxious to finish my operations as
soon as possible , and employed        parties      by day and by
                                                                      1
night at the Third and Eighth Pyramids .              A number of
parallel                           of the Second Pyramid ,
            ridges , to the westward

however , excited my attention , and       I
                                        conceived that they
might have been the burial - places of the common people ,

like those at Tarquinia , in Italy . Some of them were in
consequence cut through, but they were found to be com-
posed      of stones and sand , and their origin was not
discovered .

     I sent Ibrahim , the Copt , to inform the Shereef of
Mecca , that the Third        Pyramid was opened , and , as      I
have already mentioned , to request the assistance of the             1

Cadi to read the inscription . The Shereef returned for
answer , that the Cadi was at Alexandria , but that he
himself would come on the following day to the Pyramids .
I also sent to Cairo for people who understood antient
Arabic characters , but      I could not prevail upon them to
attend .
     Mr. Brettel arrived .     We examined the interior of the
Third Pyramid , and also measured the subterraneous
passage near the temple of the Second          .-
                                           ( See July 31. )
    In the course of the day , the entrance into the Eighth
Pyramid was found eight feet nine inches above the base ,
in the centre of the northern front .          It had an incline of
34.5 ; but was choked up with sand , so that the candles
would not burn , and the examination of it was necessarily
postponed .      I then entered the Ninth , which has been
already described .     ( See July 29. )