given word we proposed to rush
the place. But the enemy was too quick for us, and after the briefest
scrimmage, and the exchanging* of a harmless shot or two, we found
ourselves in possession of the tomb, and were able to pretend that we
were not a bit frightened.

*Transcriber's note: Original text read "exhanging".

Then into the dark depths of the shaft we descended, and ascertained
that the robbers had not effected an entrance. A long night watch
followed, and the next day we had the satisfaction of arresting some of
the criminals. The tomb was found to penetrate several hundred feet into
the cliff, and at the end of the long and beautifully worked passage the
great royal sarcophagus was found--empty! So ended a very strenuous
season's work.

If the experiences of a digger in Professor Petrie's camp are to be
regarded as typical, they will probably serve to damp the ardour of
eager young gentlemen in search of ancient Egyptian treasure. One lives
in a bare little hut constructed of mud, and roofed with cornstalks or
corrugated iron; and if by chance there happened to be a rain storm, as
there was when I was a member of the community, one may watch the frail
building gently subside in a liquid stream on to one's bed and books.
For seven days in the week one's work continues, and it is only to the
real enthusiast that that work is not monotonous and tiresome.

A few years later it fell to my lot to excavate for the Government the
funeral temple of Thutmosis III. at Thebes, and a fairly large sum was
spent upon the undertaking. Although the site was most promising in
appearances, a couple of months' work brought to light hardly a single
object of importance, whereas exactly similar sites in the same
neighbourhood had produced inscriptions of the greatest value. Two years
ago I assisted at an excavation upon a site of my own selection, the net
result of which, after six weeks' work, was one mummified cat! To sit
over the work day after day, as did the unfortunate promoter of this
particular enterprise, with the flies buzzing around his face and the
sun blazing down upon him from a relentless sky, was hardly a
pleasurable task; and to watch the clouds of dust go up from the
tip-heap, where tons of unprofitable rubbish rolled down the hillside
all day long, was an occupation for the damned. Yet that is excavating
as it is usually found to be.

Now let us consider the other side of the story. In the Valley of the