Adjoining the Pyramid of Cephrenes on the south, are the ruins of a large enclosure, formed of huge stones; while on the north and west are scattered a great number of tombs, of heavy and solemn architecture, forming entire streets. In these the stones are also large; they had flat roofs, above which rose a parapet with heavy mouldings; some are in good preservation, but most have suffered greatly from the hand of time, or, more probably, of human violence; the roofs having fallen in, and the sands of the desert having entered and filled them up. Their inner walls are covered with stucco, on which are painted numerous figures of men and beasts, in procession or engaged in religious sacrifices, or in agriculture. We opened a passage into one of them, and were glad to find in it a refuge from the fierce sun, which now seemed to be shedding fire upon us and upon the glowing sands all around. The tomb consisted of three chambers--two in good preservation, and one uncovered; all of them ornamented in the manner just described; it was large enough for all our party, except the Arabs, who seemed to care little for the sun. Our hampers being dragged in, we enjoyed here a comfortable meal; after which, retiring to the outer chamber and making a pillow of the sand, I gazed on the dim figures traced on the wall, and indulged in antiquarian reveries. CHAPTER VIII. Some interesting facts in our own country in connexion with these Pyramids. Pyramids of Micocatl in Mexico, and of Quanhuahuac and Cholula. Their history. Notices of a deluge, and confusion of languages, in the picture writing of Mexico. Pyramids in the Polynesian islands. “High Places” of Scripture. Temple of Belus. Universality of this kind of structure explained. Our western mounds. View from the Pyramids of Ghizeh. The Sphinx. Visit to the plain of Memphis, and the Military and Naval School at Toura. We are stretched on the sand in a tomb at Ghizeh, gazing on the solemn and dreamy figures every where painted on its walls. They carry our thoughts back to the ancient days, and a spirit of musing steals gently over us. What is the origin of the Pyramids? Nay, start not, kind reader, for I am not going to enter into a disquisition on this worn-out subject, or to rake up old theories, but to mention a few circumstances connecting it with our own country, which have always appeared to me to be extremely interesting, and which do not seem to have received the attention that they deserve. It would be somewhat strange if the obscurity which has hung over these monuments from the earliest times should be cleared away by discoveries in this new country of ours.