They were in the centre of what was probably the richest gold quartz mine in the world. The excavators, satisfied with the wealth which had been already extracted, had carved this monument on the still-teeming mine, thinking to consecrate it probably in this fashion from covetous hands. There were hundreds of shelves, and the greater number of them were occupied by sarcophagi, also carved elaborately. Whatever the upper chamber had been used for, the meaning of this place was at once apparent to our heroes. They had not only discovered a gold-mine, but also a hall of the dead. In front of them, in the upper end of the apartment, were placed, or rather cut out, like the column, two great statues in a sitting posture, and between them a broad table of polished quartz. One of these had the body of a woman, with the head covered. In her right hand was held a pair of scales. The other was shaped like a man, with the head of a bird, which was turned in her direction. "This beats all I ever saw," said Ned, in an awestruck whisper. "We must come here again. Meantime, we must try to find our way down further." None of them suggested food, although it had been hours since last they dined. They were too greatly excited over this strange discovery. Round the chamber they paced, seeking for an outlet without success. The only opening they could see was the one down which they had come. At length Clarence saw, at one side of the table, and close to the feet of the woman statue, a large bronze ring that had been covered over with dust. "Hallo, boys, here seems something made to lift! Bear a hand, and see if we can hoist this particular slab." Several of the Kaffirs leapt forward and pulled at the ring individually without success. Finding that not even the strongest among them could make the slightest impression, Ned ordered the rope used for the "tug-of-war" to be produced and inserted into the ring. This was done, and twenty-four of the men took each end of it--twelve to a side--and ranged themselves down the hall. "Now, steady, lads, and all together--pull." This was effective at the second pull. Those watching had the satisfaction of seeing a large slab slowly lift up from the floor until it rose on end, and fell backward with a loud crash. But their satisfaction was short-lived, for hardly had the echo of the crash ceased, than, with loud yells, the entire company were flying pell-mell towards the stairs in a panic. From the cavity emerged, with loud hisses and gaping jaws, a number of the largest pythons ever seen out of a drunkard's delirium. Gorgeous-tinted and shining, they reared out one after the other, trailing their long bodies over the carved floor, until there were at least fifty of them, twenty to fifty feet in length, and with girth enough to have swallowed a buffalo easily.