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DOOR OF A STRONGHOLD 223
stone had gone, but parts of its recesses remained.
A complete specimen was said to exist somewhere in
the cUfF, but I was unable to find it. Several are
known of elsewhere, so it may be supposed that at
one time all important entrances were closed by this
contrivance. The passage I saw which had been
closed thus was about five feet high, and less than a
yard in width. Ten or twelve feet inwards from the
face of rock was a deep vertical recess on each side
of the tunnel, and apparently a similar but shallow
horizontal recess, or groove, had extended across the
floor at right angles to the tunnel. In this groove
a flat circular disc of stone, like a great millstone,
perhaps more than a foot in thickness, had stood on
edge. When not in use it remained in one of the
recesses : to close the entrance it was rolled out along
the lower groove till it covered the whole width of
the tunnel, and when blocked in position there from
within no force short of powder could remove it. It
would seem to have been a little less in diameter than
the height of the passage, or one cannot understand
how it was got into place.
I saw much less of these old excavations than I had
hoped ;
but that was only because of a curious and
inveterate disinclination on my part against entering
them alone, or even with Ighsan. I never went far,
and always made sure that the line of retreat was
open. My chief desire was for some one to remain
outside who could be trusted. In Ighsan I had
great faith already, but not yet to the point of leaving
him on guard without while I went alone with
strangers into the dark subterranean dwellings of a
mysterious race. If he went in with me, then more
than ever I felt the need for comrades who should
remain in the open air. My instincts demanded a
party for such places, and after the first few visits I
gave up the idea of exploring these caves alone.