THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN structure excavated was a kind of house, which " appeared to have " been destroyed by the hand of man," and there they found a green, enamelled terra-cotta plaque, and a serpentine ichneumon, but nothing further. At this point Ferlini left Stefani, and, taking one hundred men, he set out for the pyramids on the hill, about three miles distant. He began to work on the east side of the hill, and attacked one of the small pyramids at its foot. Having removed the pyramid proper, he found some flat slabs of stone at the level of the ground, and removing these he found beneath them a flight of steps cut in the sandy soil. Further digging brought to light a second and then a third flight of steps, but as it was becoming dark Ferlini decided to postpone his examination of the tomb until the next day. The next day he sent for Stefani, who had found meanwhile nothing but a small glazed figure, and adding Stefani's workmen to his own, he began to clear the tomb out in a systematic manner. He tells us that the people who were employed on this work were 350 in number, but it is difficult to understand how so many men could be occupied in connection with what was a very small monument.

The steps having been cleared, Ferlini was able to enter a small cavern wherein he found the bones of a camel, of a horse, and of some small animals, which he thought might have been dogs, a camel saddle, a horse saddle, and some metal bells, on which were inscribed figures of birds and of gods. At the end of the cavern was a large stone, and when this was removed he saw the outline of an oval opening, cut in the rock, but carefully plastered over. This opening formed the entrance to a second chamber, in which Ferlini saw lying a mass of human bones piled one above the other. Besides these there was nothing in the chamber. The clearing out of the chamber was only accomplished with difficulty, for no man could endure for long its suffocating atmosphere which was exceedingly hot and damp.

Whilst Ferlini had been excavating one pyramid, Stefani attacked another, and in due course he found the flight of steps, and the chambers, which closely resembled those described above, and a number of bodies. One of these was covered by a stone, and as the workmen were digging by the side of it, one of them struck with his pick a round object, as large as an ostrich's egg, 288 I