FERLINI'S ''FIND ' fifteen days. Thence he proceeded to Cairo by the ordinary route, and, having obtained the balance due to him of his salary, and permission to depart, he returned with his spoil to his own country.

Such is, in brief, the narrative of the excavations made at the Pyramids of Meroe by Ferlini as told by himself. It has been condensed from an account of his excavations and travels written in Italian, and published at Bologna in 1837, under the title " Cenno sugli scavi operati nella Nubia." To this work he added a Catalogue of the objects which he found, and one plate on which several of them are depicted in outline. In 1838 a French translation of the narrative appeared at Rome, entitled " Relation " Historique de Fouilles operees dans la Nubie par le Docteur "Joseph Ferlini de Bologne;"~ appended to this was a French translation of the Catalogue, and descriptions of the deserts of Korosko, Sennaar, and Kordofan. Here and there the French translation contains modifications of the statements made in the Italian original, and certain additions. As these pamphlets are somewhat rare, the portions which relate to Ferlini's excavations at the pyramids of Meroe are reprinted in the Appendix at the end of this chapter.

The narrative of Ferlini is certainly circumstantial, but it leaves many points unexplained, and the reader is left without guidance in his difficulties. There is no doubt that Ferlini and Stefani excavated four small pyramids at Meroe, and it is pretty certain that they pulled down the pyramid marked F in Cailliaud's plan, because the tradition which was common in the neighbourhood when Lepsius was in the Sudan, and is still repeated, says that they did. That treasure, consisting of necklaces, bracelets, rings, and other articles of jewellery, was found during the excavations may also be true, but Ferlini's statement that the greater number of the objects which he describes in his Catalogue were found in a chamber five feet high and six or seven feet long, ' Catologo della Raccolta dei Monumenti Antichi la maggior parte d'oro tiovati nella cuspide di una delle Piramidi della Citta di Meroe in Etiopia di stile Egizio-Etiopico.

- The title continues :—" suivie d'un catalogue des objets qu'il a trouves "dansl'une des quarante-sept pyramides aux environs de I'ancienne ville de " Meroe, et d'une description des grand deserts de Coruscah et de Sinnaar."

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