218 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson on the Nile, and 



dromos ; but that was of little importance : the main point M'as 

 to ascertain whether the slope of the dromos corresponded 

 with that of the desert, and this I proceeded to examine. I 

 therefore dug to the base of Avhat I supposed to be part of a 

 similar colossus at F, 300 feet behind the colossus H, which, 

 however, proved to be a group of statues, a circumstance par- 

 ticularly fortunate for my purpose, as they were found to be 

 standing erect in their original position. Their total height 

 was 8 feet 1 inch from the base to the top of the shoulder, the 

 part above that being bi'oken off; they projected 2 feet 10 

 inches above the level of the alluvial deposit, so that it had 

 accumulated in this part only 5 feet 3 inches. This satisfac- 

 torily settled the question I had in view, and gave, in a dis- 

 tance of 300 feet, a difference of 1.7 to 1.9, being an average 

 of 20 inches in 300 feet, or a decreasing I'atio of 1 inch in 15 

 feet, for the talus of the sloping desert plain on which they 

 were placed. 



According to this ratio, the basement of the temple it- 

 self should stand very little below the level of the alluvial 

 deposit, which indeed agrees with fact, though, as may be 

 supposed, the slope of the desert is not quite so uniform as 

 to accord with the mathematical calculation of an uninterrupt- 

 ed line. It suffices for our purpose to have ascertained that 

 this gradual slope does exist, and that the colossi and the 

 temple standing upon it are buried in alluvial deposit in an 

 inverse ratio as they approach the edge of the desert, and the 

 only inference necessarily is, that the alluvial soil now reaches 

 farther inland towards the desert than it did when these mo- 

 numents were erected. We do not know how far the outer- 

 most colossi were at that time beyond the line of the alluvial 

 deposit ; the only conclusion is, that they were above its level, 

 and that the dromos or paved street was also above the high- 

 est water-mark, though it is not possible to fix any exact point 

 from which to calculate the annual increase of the perpendi- 

 cular stratum of sand. Of this we may at least be certain, 

 that all the deposit now existing between the colossi H I and 

 the edge of the desert behind the temple, a total distance of 

 1900 feet, has been brought there since the reign of the third 

 Amunoph, or within a period of 3260 years. 



What has been said, I tnist, fully demonstrates these pro* 



