How a roof could be supported without reasonable vertical
resistance, and without arch resistance, I am unable to say; and it is
wholly improbable that the walls in a building of its dimensions could,
without an arch, support a roof. The Hellenes, you recall, were very
artful in hiding from observation the arch, though they frequently
employed it. I admit that I must have greatly bored old man Peters over
this subject of architecture; and as I myself know next to nothing of
the subject, technically, and he knows absolutely nothing of it,
technically or otherwise, and as he took no interest in the ruins even
when they were before his eyes, you will understand that my information
concerning these ruins is not very clear. It was also utterly impossible
for me to gain from the old man data upon which to base an opinion as to
the style of architecture of these structures. The buildings generally
were very large, very beautiful, and constructed in a style entirely
distinct from any known ancient style--that is, for instance, they were
not Hellenic, or Egyptian, or Assyrian, or Roman. This much the
Hili-lites knew and said. Then, further, there were inscriptions in
characters unknown to the world at the time of the barbarian overflow
into the Roman Empire, and also unknown to Pym.
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