coat, or cherry red. In plunging it he was anxious that no part of the blade should touch the composition but at the instant the whole was immersed. It lay in the trough a few minutes to cool. He then took it out and laid it upon the coals, fanning it an instant to set the grease that stuck on it on fire, and when it smoaked no longer, he let it again grow cool, and then scraped off gently with the back of a knife, the ashes of the stuff that still adhered to it. The charcoal employed was in pieces of from half to three quarters of an inch square, more or less; the best sort is made of deal, and it must be fresh or virgin, for it will not do if it has been lighted and extinguished. I observed that he fanned the blade more at the thicker parts than towards the point. The composition in the trough serves for a great number of blades, and is better the older it grows, requiring only to be replenished as the quantity dimi nishes. The blade having been a little crooked in the tempering, it was straightened, and then gently passed on a circular whetstone. It was then polished. He laid it on a board, with a piece of wood forcibly rubbed emery powder and oil on it, and lastly, burnished it with a bit of iron till it was quite bright, and could not be distinguished from a common English sabre. The operation of polishing took up five or six hours. He then made use of lime to take off the oil, and was extremely careful not to touch it with his hands, as its being perfectly free from grease is essential to its taking well the Giohar. To secure that point further he rubbed tobacco ashes and water on it. He then prepared a horse bucket full of clear water, and a small Turkish leaden drinking cup (porcelain or glass would do as well, but no other metal than lead). In this cup he dissolved in a few minutes a little zagh* and pure water. Then with the ends of his fingers he basted the blade with rapidity up and down, and seemed anxious that it should be served all equally, and as much as possible at once. Every two or three minutes he washed the blade with the water in the bucket, and repeated the operation of the zagh water eight or ten times, that is until he perceived the Giohar did not become more distinct after fresh tending with the zagh. He then wiped it dry and oiled it; and when this last operation is performed in the winter, the water in which the zagh is dissolved should have the chill taken off. The names of the different sorts of Damascus blades are as follow, classed according to their relative value:-1. Kermani Daban. 2. Lahori Kará Khorasán. 3. Lahori Neiris. 4. Dishi Daban. 5. Herkek Daban. 6. Elif Stambool. 7. Eakd Sham. 8. Barjaz The zagh made use of by the sword-cutlers here is procured from the mountains of the Druzes, and from no where else; it is produced by a mineral spring near a place called Ghazir. Korun Hindi. There are swords also like Persian gun barrels, only plated or cased with the sort of steel that takes the Giohar; but they are easily distinguished by carefully examining the back of the sword. The art of founding the metal of which the Persian blades are made is lost, although it is still met with in lumps, which show from their form that they were cast in moulds.* Khorasan. 9. Sari Hindi. 10. stone, called here Kibreet ul Gemel, sal ammoniac, and common salt mixed with water in the following proportions: of the first, one hundred and eighty drachms; of the second, twelve; and of the third, fifteen drachms. When it is of the consistency of stiff clay, let it be plastered, or laid on, so as to cover the whole surface of the barrel an inch or more in thickness; but particular care must be taken, that in making the clay adhere closely to the barrel, not the least air is suffered to intervene, because wherever there is a globule of confined air on the barrel, there it will come in contact with the composition, and consequently not be acted on by the corrosive qualities of the clay. It must be laid on wet, and suffered to continue a sufficient time, more or less according to the state of the atmosphere. In the experiment I made, it was exposed to the air in the shade of a room in the middle of summer for twenty-four hours. The operator told me, that in winter it should be placed in a moderately warm atmosphere. These moulds are worked into blades for swords, daggers and knives, but are sometimes not sufficiently malleable for any purpose, probably because the art of properly working them is also lost with that of their original cast or composition, for it appears not to be a simple of uncompounded metal. Directions for renewing the water of Persian gun-barrels. Take a barrel that has lost the regularity of its water by use or rust, and have it scrubbed bright with scowering paper, or any other means, until it has the appearance of common iron. Force a stick into the muzzle of sufficient strength to hold the barrel up, that the necessity of touching it during the operation may be avoided. A paste must then be made of a kind of brim It may be doubted whether the Persians ever possessed the art of smelting the fine metal of Damascus blades. It is not probable that so lucrative a knowledge would have become entirely extinct, whilst we know that the Wootz of India is brought to England in lumps cast in hemispherical moulds.-Ed. The art of composing (for it is certainly a composition) the steel of Persian sword blades is undoubtedly lost, but I have been told, that the iron of their gun and pistol barrels is still manufactured in some towns of Persia and Turkey. I was assured, that it is done by entwining together certain proportions of steel and iron drawn out, to great length, and again drawn out, and so on till the two metals become incorporated, which on undergoing the opera tion above described, shows not on its surface the waving flowery grain by which it is distinguished. If that is the case, it would seem, that the clay corroding only the impure particles of the composition, leaves the veins of steel in all their doublings exposed to the view, and in a slight degree to the touch. PYRAMID OF CHEFREM OPENED BY M. BELZONI. (From the same.) "On my return to Cairo, I again went to visit the celebrated pyramids of Ghiza; and on viewing that of Cephrenes, I could not help reflecting how many travellers of different nations, who had visited this spot, contented themselves with looking at the outside of this pyramid, and went away without inquiring whether any, and what chambers exist within it; satisfied, perhaps, with the report of the Egyptian priests, that the pyramid of Cheops only contained chambers in its interior. I then began to consider about the possibility of opening this pyramid. The attempt was perhaps presumptuous; and the risk of undertaking such an immense work without success deterred me in some degree from the enterprize. I am not certain whether love for antiquity, an ardent curiosity, or ambition, spurred me on most in spite of every obstacle, but I determined at length to commence the operation. I soon discovered the same indications which had led to the development of the six tombs of the kings in Thebes, and which induced me to begin the opera, tion on the north side. It is true, the situations of the tombs at Thebes, their form and epochs, are so very different from those of the pyramids, that many points of observation made with regard to the former, could not apply to the latter; yet I perceived enough to urge me to the enterprize. I accordingly set out from Cairo on the 6th of February 1818, under pretence of going in quest of some antiquities at a village not far off, in order that I might not be disturbed in my work by the people of Cairo. I then repaired to the Kaiya Bey, and asked permission to work at the pyramid of Ghiza in search of antiquities. He made no objection, but said that he wished to know if there was any ground about the pyramid fit for tillage; I informed him that it was all stones, and at a considerable distance from any tilled ground. He nevertheless persisted in inquiring of the Caschief of the province, if there was any good ground near the pyramids; and, after receiving the necessary information, granted my request. "Having thus acquired permission, I began my labours on the 10th of February, at a point on the north side in a vertical section at right angles to that side of the base. I saw many reasons against my beginning there, but certain indications told me that there was an entrance at that spot. I employed sixty labouring men, and began to cut through the mass of stones and cement which had fallen from the upper part of the pyramid, but it was so hard joined together, that the men spoiled several of their hatchets hatchets in the operation; the stones which had fallen down along with the cement having formed themselves into one solid and almost impenetrable mass. I succeeded, however, in making an opening of fifteen feet wide, and continued working downwards in uncovering the face of the pyramid; the work took up several days, without the least prospect of meeting with any thing interesting. Meantime, I began to began to fear that some of the Europeans residing at Cairo might pay a visit to the pyramids, which they do very often, and thus discover my retreat, and interrupt my proceedings. "On the 17th of the same month we had made a considerable advance downwards, when an Arab workman called out, making a great noise, and saying that he had found the entrance. He had discovered a hole in the pyramid into which he could just thrust his arm and a dejerid of six feet long. Towards the evening we discovered a larger aperture, about three feet square, which had been closed in irregularly, by a hewn stone; this stone I caused to be removed, and then came to an opening larger than the preceding, but filled up with loose stones and sand. This satisfied me that it was not the real but a forced passage, which I found to lead inwards and towards the south; the next day we succeeded in entering fifteen feet from the outside, when we reached a place where the sand and stones began to fall from above. I caused the rubbish to be taken out, but it still continued to fall In great quantities; at last, after some days labour I discovered an upper forced entrance, communicating with the outside from above, and which had evidently been cut by some one who was in search of the true passage. Having cleared this passage I perceived another opening below, which apparently ran towards the centre of the pyramid. In a few hours I was able to enter this passage, and found it to be a continuation of the lower forced passage, which runs horizontally towards the centre of the pyramid, nearly all choked up with stones and sand. These obstructions I caused to be taken out; and at half-way from the entrance I found a descent, which also had been forced, and which ended at the distance of forty feet. I afterwards continued the work in the horizontal passage above, in hopes that it might lead to the centre; but I was disappointed, and at last was convinced that it ended there, and that to attempt to advance in that way would only incur the risk of sacrificing some of my workmen; as it was really astonishing to see how the stones hung suspended over their heads, resting, perhaps, by a single point. Indeed one of these stones did fall, and had nearly killed one of the men. I, therefore, retired from the forced passage, with great regret and disappointment. "Notwithstanding the discouragements I met with, I recommenced my researches on the following day, depending upon my indications. I directed the ground to be cleared away to the eastward of the false entrance; the stones incrusted and bound together together with cement, were equally hard as the former, and we had as many large stones to remove as before. By this time my retreat had been discovered, which occasioned me many interruptions from visitors, among others was the Abbé de Forbin. "On February 28th, we discovered a block of granite in an inclined direction towards the centre of the pyramid, and I perceived that the inclination was the same as that of the passage of the first pyramid, or that of Cheops; consequently I began to hope that I was near the true entrance. On the 1st of March we observed three large blocks of stone one upon the other, all inclined towards the centre; these large stones we had to remove as well as others much larger as we advanced, which considerably retarded our approach to the desired spot. I perceived, however, that I was near the true entrance, and in fact, the next day, about noon, on the 2nd of March, was the epoch at which the grand pyramid of Cephrenes was at last opened, after being closed up for so many centuries, that it remained an uncertainty whether any interior chambers did or did not exist. The passage I discovered was a square opening of four feet high and three and a half wide, formed by four blocks of granite; and continued slanting downward at the same inclination as that of the pyramid of Cheops, which is an angle of 26 deg. It runs to the length of 104 feet 5 inches, lined the whole way with granite. I had much to do to remove and draw up the stones, which filled the passage down to the portcullis or door of granite. which is fitted into a niche, also made of granite, I found this door supported by small stones within 8 inches of the floor, and in consequence of the narrowness of the place, it took up the whole of that day and part of the next to raise it sufficiently to afford an entrance; this door is 1 foot 3 inches thick, and together with the work of the niche, occupies 6 feet 11 inches; where the granite work ends; then commences a short passage, gradually ascending towards the centre, 22 feet 7 inches at the end, on which is a perpendicular of 15 feet; on the left is a small forced passage cut in the rock, and also above, on the right, is another forced passage, which runs upwards and turns to the north 30 feet, just over the portcullis. There is no doubt that this passage was made by the same persons who forced the other, in order to ascertain if there were any others which might ascend above, in conformity to that of the pyramid of Cheops. I descended the perpendicular by means of a rope, and found a large quantity of stones and earth accumulated beneath, which very nearly filled up the entrance into the passage below which inclines towards the north. I next proceeded towards the channel that leads to the centre, and soon reached the horizontal passage. This passage is 5 feet 11 inches high, 3 feet 6 inches wide, and the whole length, from the above mentioned perpendicular to the great chamber, is 158 feet 8 inches. These passages are partly cut out of the living rock, and at half-way there is some mason's work |