Tour to the sepulchres of Etruria, in 1839 . self in rectangular stone. Each sidewas three hundred feet long and fifty high, andwithin the basement he made an inextricable laby-rinth, into which if any one ventured without a clue,there he must remain, for he never could find theway out again. Above this base stood five pyra-mids, one in the centre and four at the angles, eachof them seventy-five feet in circumference at thebase, and a hundred and fifty feet high, tapering tothe top so as to be covered by a cupola of this there hung by chains a peal of bells,which, when agitated by
Tour to the sepulchres of Etruria, in 1839 . self in rectangular stone. Each sidewas three hundred feet long and fifty high, andwithin the basement he made an inextricable laby-rinth, into which if any one ventured without a clue,there he must remain, for he never could find theway out again. Above this base stood five pyra-mids, one in the centre and four at the angles, eachof them seventy-five feet in circumference at thebase, and a hundred and fifty feet high, tapering tothe top so as to be covered by a cupola of this there hung by chains a peal of bells,which, when agitated by the wind, sounded to a greatdistance. Above this cupola rose four other pyra-mids, each a hundred feet high, and above theseagain, another story of five pyramids, which toweredto a height so marvellous and improbable, thatVarro hesitates to aflirm their altitude. And inthis he was wise, for he had already said more uponthe subject than sober men could credit. The alti-tude Varro gives is 250 feet upon a base of 50 x^y-i^-^^-cci^p^z^ ^r,/:,.. CLusiuM. 465 feet; and though I used to think that any measure-ment added to this must be extravagant, it appearsthat buildings of this height and higher are exist-ing at this very day in China. The great porcelaintower at Nankin, which has been visited by someof our countrymen, rises aloft 884 steps, built in ninestages, and there are bells jingling upon the roofsat every stage. There is, therefore, nothing incredi-ble in the height nor in the bells, nor in the bronzeroofs of Porsennas tomb, especially amongst apeople who excelled all others in their manufactoryof bronze ; and we must remember that this tombwas built to rival the great works of the kings ofEgypt; works of which the king of Chiusi doubt-less had plans, and he succeeded so well in his de-sign, that this extraordinary tomb was consideredone of the wonders of the world, even in those daysof giant masonry and cyclopean , any one who has seen the tomb of Aruu
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublisherl, booksubjecttombs
