Altogether, it was one of the most skilful, ingenious, and well-planned robberies ever committed in this country. The most singular part of the robbery is that, although an outside watchman was employed to guard the premises, no one was seen to enter the bank, or the basement of the building; neither was any one seen to leave the premises at any time of the night or morning when the robbery took place. XVIII. THE EARLIEST EXCAVATIONS. GRAVES AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION.—DIFFERENT MODES OF BURIAL.—TOMBS.—THE MOST EXTENSIVE TOMBS.—OBJECT OF THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT.—A VISIT TO THE GREAT PYRAMID AND ITS DESCRIPTION.—DIFFICULTIES OF CLIMBING.—THE TOMBS OF THEBES.—A FAT AMERICAN’S ADVENTURE.—ENTERING THE TOMB OF ASSASSEEF.—RECITING POETRY UNDER DISADVANTAGES.—SWALLOWING A BAT.—JACK’S DISGUST.—FATE OF A FAT MAN.—STUCK IN A PASSAGE-WAY.—HOW THE ARABS REMOVED HIM. There is little or no reason to doubt that the earliest excavations ever made by human hands were for purposes of sepulture. The burial of the dead, or rather the disposition of their bodies, has been a necessity in all countries and all ages since the days of the Garden of Eden. Some nations have practised cremation, and there are many arguments in its favor; but with most of these nations it was the custom to gather the ashes of the dead into urns, which were buried with much formality. Among some of our western tribes of Indians the bodies of the dead are placed on scaffoldings of poles several feet high, and there left to the action of the elements. This practice had its origin in the absence of all tools suitable for digging in the earth, and possibly from a vague theory that the body of the deceased should be raised towards the home of the Great Spirit beyond the skies. Some of the ancient nations had a theory concerning cremation, which was, that the flame, rising towards heaven, carried the spirit of the deceased and enabled it to reach the mansions of the blest. On the same theory the Chinese write or print their prayers on paper, and then burn the paper; the flame carries the prayer upward, and as light and heat come from the Controller of the universe, they are considered the proper vehicles for the transmission of appeals to his mercy, his pity, and his infinite love. [Illustration: AUSTRALIAN NATIVES BURNING THEIR DEAD.] [Illustration: AN INDIAN BURIAL PLACE.] [Sidenote: EARLIEST FORM OF SEPULTURE.]