"Presently you shall see," and once more she took his hand, for the slope was sharp and slippery.
On we went, always descending, for perhaps four hundred yards, our footfalls echoing loudly in the intense silence, and our lamps, round which the bats circled in hundreds, making four stars of light in the utter blackness, till at length the passage widened out into what appeared to be a vast circular arena, with a lofty dome-like roof of rock.

Maqueda turned to the right, and, halting before some objects that glimmered whitely, held up her light, saying, "Look!" This was what we saw: A great stone chair and, piled upon its seat and upon its base, human bones.

Amongst these was a skull, and on it, grotesquely tilted, a crown of gold, while other ornaments--sceptres, rings, necklaces, weapons and armour--were mingled with the bones.

Nor was this all, for in a wide circle round the chair were other skeletons, fifty or more of them, and amongst them the ornaments that their owners had worn.
Also, in front of each stood a tray of some metal, which we afterwards discovered to be silver or copper, and heaped upon it every kind of valuable, such as golden cups and vases, toilet utensils, necklaces, pectorals, bracelets, leglets, earrings and beads that seemed to be cut from precious stones, piles of ring money, and a hundred other things such as have been prized by mankind since the beginning of civilization.
"You understand," said Maqueda, as we stared, open-mouthed at this awful and marvellous sight, "he in the chair was the king.

Those about him were his officers, guards, and women.