The man-hunt in the Paris Catacombs was one of the strangest episodes of the Versaillist occupation. The battle in the streets having terminated, the surviving Communists sought safety in flight. Some escaped to the sewers, some to the “Quarries of America,” and some to the Catacombs. Into all these asylums the troops penetrated in pursuit. The Catacombs were reached by the gate at the Barrière d’Enfer, a guard being placed at the other gate opening on the plain of Montsouris. Then, armed with torches, the soldiers cautiously descended into the immense ossuary. It is unnecessary to describe the details of the struggle so singularly located in the abode of peace, where, as an inscription over the entrance proclaims in Latin: “Over these bounds they wait expecting the blessed life !”
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, New York, NY, July 22, 1871
