opening to be enlarged, and soon discovered
the entrance to a long corridor, whose walls
were covered with sculptures and hieroglyphical
paintings. A deep fosse and a wall
barred the farther end of the cave ; but
he broke a passage through, and found a
second vault, in which stood an alabaster
sarcophagus, covered with hieroglyphics. He
took possession of this, and sent it safely to
Europe. His own account of these difficulties
is extremely interesting:—

"Of some of these tombs many persons could
not withstand the suffocating air, which often
causes fainting. A vast quantity of dust rises, so
fine that it enters the throat and nostrils, and
chokes the nose and mouth to such a degree,
that it requires great power of lungs to resist it
and the strong effluvia of the mummies. This is
not all; the entry or passage where the bodies
are is roughly cut in the rocks, and the felling of
the sand from the upper part or ceiling of the
passage causes it to be nearly filled up. In some
places there is not more than the vacancy of a
foot left, which you must contrive to pass through
in a creeping posture, like a snail, on pointed and
keen stones, that cut like glass. After getting
through these passages, some of them two or three
hundred yards long, you generally find a more
commodious place, perhaps high enough to sit.
But what a place of rest! surrounded by bodies,
by heaps of mummies in all directions; which,
previous to my being accustomed to the sight,
impressed me with horror. The blackness of the
walls, the faint light given by the candles or
torches for want of air, the different objects that
surrounded me, seeming to converse with each
other, and the Arabs with the candles or torches
in their hands, naked and covered with dust,
themselves resembling living mummies, absolutely
formed a scene that cannot be described. In
such a situation I found myself several times, and
often returned exhausted and fainting, till at last
I became inured to it, and indifferent to what I
suffered, except from the dust, which never failed
to choke my throat and nose; and though, fortunately
destitute of the sense of smelling, I could
taste that the mummies were rather unpleasant to
swallow. After the exertion of entering into such
a place, through a passage of fifty, a hundred,
three hundred, or perhaps six hundred yards,
nearly overcome, I sought a resting-place, found
one, and contrived to sit; but when my weight
bore on the body of an Egyptian, it crushed it like
a band-box. I naturally had recourse to my hands
to sustain my weight, but they found no better
support; so that I sunk altogether among the
broken mummies, with a crash of bones, rags, and
wooden cases, which raised such a dust as kept me
motionless for a quarter of an hour, waiting till it
subsided again. I could not remove from the
place, however, without increasing it, and every
step I took I crushed a mummy in some part or
other.  Once I was conducted from such a place
to another resembling it, through a passage of
about twenty feet in length, and no wider than
that a body could be forced through. It was
fed with mummies, and I could not pass without
putting my face in contact with that of some
decayed Egyptian ; but as the passage inclined
downwards, my own weight helped me on:
however, I could not avoid being covered with bones,
legs, arms, and heads rolling from above. Thus I
proceeded from one cave to another, all full of
mummies piled up in various ways — some standing,
some lying, and some on their heads."

Afterwards, Belzoni travelled to the shores
of the Red Sea, inspected the ruins of Berenice;
then returned to Cairo, and directed
excavations to be made at the bases of the
great pyramids of Ghizeh; penetrated into
that of Chephren—which had hitherto been
inaccessible to Europeans — and discovered
within it the sacred chamber where repose
the hallowed bones of the bull Apis. The
Valley of Faioum, the Lake MÅ“ris, the ruins
of Arsinöe, the sands of Lybia, all yielded up
their secrets to his dauntless spirit of research.
He visited the oasis of El-Cassar, and the
Fountain of the Sun; strangled in his arms
two treacherous guides, who tried to assassinate
him; and then left Egypt, and returned
to Padua with his wife.

The son of the humble barber had now
become a rich, and celebrated personage. A
triumphal entry was prepared for him; and
the municipal authorities of his native city
met him at the gate, and presented him with
an address. Manfredini was commissioned
to engrave a medal which should commemorate
the history of the illustrious traveller.
England, however, soon claimed him; and on
his arrival in London, he was received with
the same honours as in his own country.
Then he published an account of his travels,
under the following title: "Narrative of the
Operations and recent Discoveries in the
Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Cities of
Egypt and Nubia, &c."

In 1822, Belzoni returned to Africa, with
the intention of penetrating to Timbuctoo.
Passing in the following year from the Bight
of Benin towards Houssa, he was attacked
with dysentery; was carried back to Gato,
and thence put on board an English vessel
lying off the coast. There, with much firmness
and resignation, he prepared to meet
his end. He entrusted the captain with a
large amethyst to be given to his wife, and
also with a letter which he wrote to his
faithful companion through good and evil
days. Soon afterwards, he breathed his last.
They buried him at Gato, at the foot of a
large tree, and engraved on his tomb the
following epitaph in English—-

"Here lies Belzoni, who died at this place, on
his way to Timbuctoo, December 3rd, 1823."

Belzoni was but forty-five years old when
he died. A statue of him was erected at
Padua on the 4th of July, 1827. Very
recently the Government of Great Britain
bestowed on his widow the tardy solace of a
small pension.

Giovanni Belzoni, the once starving mountebank,
became one of the most illustrious men
in Europe!—an encouraging example to all
those, who have not only sound heads to
project, but stout hearts to execute.