fine alabaster vases, and in one of these we were startled to find a liquid, like honey or syrup, still unsolidified by time.  Boxes of exquisite workmanship stood in various parts of the room, some resting on delicately wrought legs.  Now the eye was directed to a wicker trunk fitted with trays and partitions, and ventilated with little apertures, since the scents were doubtless strong.  Two most comfortable beds were to be observed, fitted with springy string mattresses and decorated with charming designs in gold.  There in the far corner, placed upon the top of a number of large white jars, stood the light chariot which Yuaa had owned in his lifetime.  In all directions stood objects gleaming with gold undulled by a speck of dust, and one looked from one article to another with the feeling that the entire human conception of Time was wrong.  These were the things of yesterday, of a year or so ago.  Why, here were meats prepared for the feasts in the Underworld; here were Yuaa’s favourite joints, each neatly placed in a wooden box as though for a journey.  Here was his staff, and here were his sandals,—­a new pair and an old.  In another corner there stood the magical figures by the power of which the prince was to make his way through Hades.  The words of the mystical “Chapter of the Flame” and of the “Chapter of the Magical Figure of the North Wall” were inscribed upon them; and upon a great roll of papyrus twenty-two yards in length other efficacious prayers were written.

But though the eyes passed from object to object, they ever returned to the two lidless gilded coffins in which the owners of this room of the dead lay as though peacefully sleeping.  First above Yuaa and then above his wife the electric lamps were held, and as one looked down into their quiet faces there was almost the feeling that they would presently open their eyes and blink at the light.  The stern features of the old man commanded one’s attention, again and again our gaze was turned from this mass of wealth to this sleeping figure in whose honour it had been placed here.

At last we returned to the surface to allow the thoughts opportunity to collect themselves and the pulses time to quiet down, for, even to the most unemotional, a discovery of this kind, bringing one into the very presence of the past, has really an unsteadying effect.  Then once more we descended, and made the preliminary arrangements for the cataloguing of the antiquities.  It was now that the real work began, and, once the excitement was past, there was a monotony of labour to be faced which put a very considerable strain on the powers of all concerned.  The hot days when one sweated over the heavy packing-cases, and the bitterly cold nights when one lay at the mouth of the tomb under the stars, dragged on for many a week; and when at last the long train of boxes was carried down to the Nile en route for the Cairo Museum, it was with a sigh of relief that the official returned to his regular work.