Column at Alexandria. 5 



important discovery made by the late Lieutenant-Colonel Squire, 

 of some remaining characters upon the pedestal, while Mr. Ha- 

 milton, and his companion Major Leake, were in Upper Egypt." 

 On the contrary, I believe that if these gentlemen had never 

 returned to Alexandria, Colonel Squire would have done as little 

 after March 1802, as he had done in the six months preceding. 



During my residence at Alexandria, in the spring of 1806, 

 Mr. Salt dedicated many days to the deciphering and 

 drawing of the inscription. This drawing was unfortu- 

 nately lost after my return to England, but from memory I 

 was enabled to state * that the pillar was unquestionably dedi- 

 cated to Diocletian, and that the three first letters of the name 

 of the prefect were HOC, as had been originally stated by 

 Pococke. On the appointment of Mr. Salt to fill the station of 

 His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General in Egypt, I most par- 

 ticularly requested him to re-copy the inscription. I have now 

 the pleasure of forwarding to you the result of his labour, by 

 which are ascertained the three words left undeciphered by 

 Messrs. Leake, Squire, and Hamilton, viz., TIMIWTATON 

 ANIKHTON, and the name of the Prefect FIOCIAIOC. 



Colonel Leake conjectured the first word to be TIMItOTA- 

 TON, and the deciphering of the Ml before the (a) has proved 

 it to b so. Jaubert had asserted it was OCIWTATON. 

 Chateaubriand had suggested CO<l>C0TATON. 



The second word had been ascertained by Mr. Salt in 1806, 

 and it had been communicated to Colonel Leake and others, yet 

 many years afterwards Chateaubriand had recommended 

 AYrOYCTON; and Dr. Clarke, CEBACTON. The 

 second investigation of Mr. Salt has confirmed his first. 



The third word may be considered as the most important, as 

 it ascertains the name of the Prefect who dedicated the pillar 

 to be nOCIAIOC and not HOMnHIOC as conjectured 

 by Dr. Raine ; nOCTOMOC, as conjectured by Dr. Clarke ; 

 or nOAAIWN, as conjectured by Chateaubriand. 



Dr. Clarke has attempted to establish, that the beginning of 



• Valentia's TraveU, Vol. HI. page 464.— London, 1809. 



