GAZIRAT AL-MALIK decided to remove the stele and take it by boat to Sarras, whence we should be able to transport it by rail to Khartum. To have left the monument where it was would have been a mistake, for though it was heavy, weighing about one ton, a dozen determined men could have turned it over and over until its own weight took it down the hill, in which case it would certainly have been broken to pieces, and fanatical people are to be found in the Sudan, even under British rule. We therefore brought up our planks and rope, and, having lashed timbers under it, we turned on all the men to pull it over the crest of the hill, and down the west side, and along the plain to the high river bank. In this way we spent the whole of a long afternoon, but by sunset the stele was down on the river bank, through which, having cut a gap, we lowered it by ropes on to the soft gray sand near the water's edge. The men worked splendidly, and the Inspector increased their wages for the day. Our next difficulty was to find a boat in which to carry it to Sarras, for the owner of the solitary boat in the place strongly objected to allow it to be used for this purpose. Under the influence of a promise of liberal pay and a few emphatic remarks by both of us, he withdrew his opposition, and we built a staging of railway sleepers across his boat and dragged the stele on to it. We next took steps to move the statues of Osiris and Usertsen III. out of the reach of the waters of the inundation, and then our work on the Island of Gazirat al-Malik was ended. We questioned the natives carefully with the view of finding out if there were any other antiquities on the Island, but we had exhausted its resources in this respect. A native said there was ' writing " on a rock at its southern end, but when we went to the place we only found z. graffito hammered on the stone by an official, who was either stationed on the Island or landed there under the XVIIIth Dynasty.

Before we left the Island of Gazirat al-Malik the Inspector paid the inhabitants for the damage which we had done to the crops on the river bank by dragging the stele over them, and for the use of the boat, and for every service the men had rendered, and we made presents to the shekh and the men and women who had served us personally whilst we were there. Some of them asked 493