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I descended the celebrated catacombs orrthe road to Orleans , from 80 to 100 feetdeep, and winding in broken galleries andrugged passages for the space of ( threeleagues under this quarter of the town.
T * ‘O
“ Hie specus horrendum et saevi spiracula Ditis“ Monstratur.”
Here the thermometer of Fahrenheitstands at 53° all the year round. A smallportion of these subterraneous caverns hasbeen made use of, of late years, as a Re-ceptacle for the bones which have beenremoved from the various cemeteries in theneighbourhood, and the remains of ..twomillion, eight hundred thousand bodies, arehere ranged in regular order against thewalls of the cavern, in rows of alternatebones and skulls. Many are also piled intothe form of altars, at which, on particulardays, service is performed and mass sung;an d a tablet is placed in the centre 'of eachof the collections, bearing some memorialof the place from whence they were taken.On entering the portal of the cavern set
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