SULB (SOLEB) went at once to look for these, but when we came to the place they were nowhere to be seen. Looking round we saw that several large blocks and slabs of stone showed signs of having been recently broken, and the fractures were so clean and freshlooking that they might have been made only the day before. The Inspector began to ask questions of the natives who were with us, and little by little he learned that during the last two years parties of men had come in boats, and had carried away many loads of stone to be used in erecting Government build-VIEW OF THE RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF 8ULB.

[From a photograph by J. \V. Crowfoot, Esq.

ings. These men had naturally rejected the blocks which were weathered badly or soft, and they selected the hardest and firmest for removal ; when the blocks were too large to haul away they broke them into pieces of a size convenient for transport and stowage in the boats. The sculptured slabs which I had seen there were about 4 feet long and 3 feet wide, and as they were made of good, hard sandstone, they were undoubtedly chosen by the men who came with the boats, and were broken and carried away first of all. The natives of Sulb were powerless to prevent this work of destruction, even if they had wished to do so, because there were officials of the Government with the boats, and they had 447