ost like a fleur-de-lis, was attempted, in
company with the two-leaf and some unidentified flower.

Most interesting of all were the beautiful inscriptions on stone and
marble, recently been found in the tomb of the Forty Saints. Some had
already been covered again by the sand, but we dug them out afresh and I
photographed them. They were in fair preservation. They bore Arabic
characters, and were apparently dedicated in most laudatory terms, one
to "the Pomp of the country, Sun of righteousness and religion, and the
founder of a mosque"; the other commemorated the death of a great Amir.
As, however, there appears to be some difficulty in deciphering some of
the very ancient characters I will refrain from giving any translation of
them for fear of being inaccurate. The photographs given of them facing
pages 218, 220, 222, are, however, quite clear enough for any one
interested in the matter to decipher them for himself.

These tablets were most artistic and beautifully carved, and one had a
most charming ornamentation of two sprays of flowers in each of the two
upper corners. The second inscription had much more minute writing on it,
and was of a finer design and cut, but was, unfortunately, rather worn.
It had evidently been subjected to a long period of friction--apparently
by sand. The natives had made a sort of altar with this last inscription
and some cylindrical sections of columns carved out of beautiful marble,
white or most delicately variegated.

There were also various other large pieces of marble and stone, which had
evidently formed part of a very fine and rich building, as well as a very
ancient fragment of a red baked earthenware water-pipe. Many of the
pieces of marble in the heap contained ornamentations such as successions
of the heart pattern, graceful curve scrolls suggesting leaves, and also
regular leaf patterns. One stone was absolutely spherical, like a cannon
ball, and quite smooth; and some stone implements, such as a conical
brown hammer and a pestle, were very interesting.

On the white marble columns stood two charming little oil lamps, of a
most graceful shape, in green earthenware, and in digging we were
fortunate enough to find a third, which is now in my possession. They can
be seen in the illustration (facing page 218), although I fear not at
their best, being so small. They were not unlike the old Pompeian lamps
in shape, and certainly quite as graceful. The wick used to be lighted a