Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/101

 CATACOMBS 93 climber ; its food consists of small animals and birds ; its depredations among game are fre- quently very great. There are no long-tailed wild cats in North America ; the animal called wild cat here is a species of lynx. (See LYNX.) The catamount is the couguar of authors. (See COUGTTAE.) There are several small species of cats in the East Indies : the Sumatran cat, F. minuta (Temm.) and F. Javanensis (Horsf.) ; the Bengal cat, F. Bengalemis (Desm.) ; Di- ard's cat, F. Diardii (Desm.) ; and the Nepaul cat, F. Nepalemis (Horsf.). CATACOMBS (Gr. Kara, downward, and {;///3of, a hollow place), subterraneous places for bury- ing the dead. The catacombs of Egypt, from their vast extent and elaborate decorations, both of architecture and painting, are perhaps more remarkable than any others. The entire chain of mountains in the neighborhood of Thebes is mined by an immense number of these subter- ranean tombs. Those of the The ban kings, originally 47 in number, are the most ancient of all, some having been begun 4,000 years ago. Most of them have been defaced, but a few still exist to bear witness to their pristine magnificence. They occupy a deep ravine, flanked by the bed of a torrent in the centre of the mountain Libycus, and, lying some 6,000 to 7,000 paces from the banks of the Nile, were reached by an artificial passage. Proceeding along the valley, the visitor discovers openings in the ground, with a gateway in a simple square frame, each gateway being the mouth of a gallery leading to the royal sepulchre. Forty paces within is another gateway open- ing to a second gallery 24 ft. in length, and on each side of this are small chambers. A third gallery succeeds, communicating with a cham- ber 18 ft. square, and from this is an entrance to another gallery 64 paces in length. This in its turn connects with several small apartments, beyond which lies a saloon 20 ft. square, con- taining the royal sarcophagus. The whole ex- tent of excavation in this single tomb is upward of 225 paces. All the sarcophagi of the kings have long since been violated, and the bodies The Catacombs of Thebes, Egypt. (From a Photograph.) destroyed, doubtless for the sake of plunder ; but M. Denon, the French traveller, found the fragments of a mummy in one of the royal tombs. Robbed as they have been, these tombs still preserve their wonderful paintings, after in some cases a lapse of 4,000 years. The more costly of the catacombs are covered in the whole extent of their interior by hieroglyphics and pictures, generally in fresco ; and in all, un- less wantonly injured by the Arabs, the colors are as fresh as if laid on but yesterday. The catacombs of the opulent Thebans were lower on the mountain than the royal sepulchres, and in proportion to the extent of their excava- tions they are more or less richly decorated, the hues of the paintings are brilliant, and the sculptures elegantly defined. Innumerable sub- jects are displayed in these tombs, one cham- ber being devoted to warlike representations, and another to husbandry or agriculture. Eve- ry ordinary occupation or amusement is exhib- ited, hunting, fishing, feasting, &c. Many of the figures are colored yellow on a blue ground, exhibiting homage paid to monarchs, execu- tions, religious or funeral processions, and in short every phase of human life. In some of the scenes gangs of African negro slaves, col- ored black, and accurately drawn in all leading characteristics, such as thick lips and woolly hair, are represented. In a group of a double file of negroes and Nubians, bound, and driven before the chariot of Rameses II., at Ipsam- bul, are delineated with perfect accuracy all the characteristics of the modern Ethiop. The paintings in the Egyptian catacombs also exhibit figures of colossal or pigmy size, as well as hawk-headed and fox-head- ed deities. The complete history of the ancient Egyptians may be read in these paintings, as every action of their lives is rep- resented, with accompanying furniture, even down to the playthings of infants. "The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyp- tians," by Sir Gardner "Wilkinson (5 vols., London, 1847), contains many hundreds of drawings and colored plates directly copied