e of the door were two other frescoes,
somewhat similar in general appearance to those already described. On
the upper panel was a horse with a boy on his back, and a panther
sitting on the ground behind him; while on the lower panel there was a
huge standing panther or leopard, with his long tongue hanging out of
his mouth, and a couple of dogs beneath him, one lifting up its paw,
and the other trying to catch the protruded tongue of the panther. All
the figures in the four frescoes were painted in the same bizarre
style of red, yellow, and black characteristic of the first fresco
described; and they had all the same Oriental border of lotus flowers.
They had evidently all the same symbolic import; for the sphinx
guarded the gate of the unseen world, and leopards or panthers were
frequently introduced into the paintings of Etruscan tombs as
guardians of the dead.

Passing through the doorway I entered an inner and smaller chamber,
whose only decoration was six small round discs on the opposite wall,
each about fifteen inches in diameter, painted in little segments of
various colours,--black, blue, red, yellow, and gray. What they were
meant to represent no one has satisfactorily explained. Above them I
observed a number of rusty nails fixed in the wall, and traces of
others that had fallen out around the doorway. On these nails were
originally suspended various articles of household economy or of
personal ornament; for the Etruscan sepulchres were always furnished
with such things as the tenants took delight in when living. For a
proof of this nothing could be more satisfactory than a thorough study
of Inghirami's voluminous work. Indeed, all ancient nations buried
their dead not only with their weapons and armour, but also with their
most precious possessions; and in proportion to the rank and wealth of
the deceased were the number and value of the offerings deposited with
him in his tomb. We are amazed at the variety and preciousness of the
golden ornaments found by Dr. Schliemann in the tombs at Mycenae; and
every Etruscan cemetery that has been opened has yielded an immense
number of most precious articles, which the devotion of the survivors
sacrificed to the manes of their departed friends. It is to this
propensity that we owe all our knowledge of this mysterious race. But
the fact, as Mr. Dennis says, that the nails in the interior of this
tomb were empty, and that no fragments of the objects suspended were
fou