Marble MOUNTAINS. Of these there are great numbers in Egypt, from which, though immense quantities have been carried off for the multitude of great works erected by the ancient Egyptians; yet in the opinion of Mr Bruce, who passed by them in his journey to Abyssinia, there is still a sufficient supply to build Rome, Athens, Corinth, Syracuse, Memphis, Alexandria, and half a dozen more of such cities.
The first mountain of this kind mentioned by Mr Bruce is one opposite to Terfowey, consisting partly of green marble, partly of granite, with a red bluish upon a gray ground, and square oblong spots. Here he saw a monstrous obelisk of marble very nearly square, broken at the end, and nearly 30 feet long and 19 feet in the face. Throughout the plain there were scattered small pieces of jasper, with green, white, and red spots called in Italy diaspuro sanguineo; and all the mountains upon that side seemed to consist of the same materials. From Mr Bruce's description of these mountains, it would appear that they are composed of serpentine, and not of calcareous marble.