320 WOMAN IN SCIENCE 



self tells us, "to cross the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the 

 Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and the deserts of Elam 

 three times in less than a year ; to pass whole weeks with- 

 out undressing; to sleep on the bare ground; to struggle 

 nights and days against robbers and thieves ; to cross rivers 

 without a bridge; to suffer heat, rain, cold, mists, fever, 

 fatigue, hunger, thirst, the stings of divers insects; to lead 

 this hard and perilous existence without being guided by 

 any interest other than the glory of one's country." 1 



In spite, however, of all the opposition which they en- 

 countered among the fanatical Mussulmans of Arabistan 

 and of the dreadful sufferings incident to living in a desert 

 where it was at times impossible to secure the necessaries 

 of life, their mission was successful, and their account of 

 their finds in the ancient capital of Elam was as thrilling 

 in its way as anything reported of the excavations at Troy 

 or Pompeii. Their splendid collection of specimens of an- 

 cient Persian art and architecture, now on exhibition in 

 the Museum of the Louvre, testifies to the successful issue 

 of their expedition and to their indomitable energy in con- 

 ducting researches under the most untoward conditions. 2 



iSee Mme. Dieulafoy's graphic account of the expedition in a 

 work which has been translated into English under the title, At 

 Susa, the Ancient Capital of the Kings of Persia, Narrative of 

 Travel Through Western Persia and Excavations Made at the Site 

 of the Lost City of the Lilies, 1884-1886, Philadelphia, 1890. 



See also her other related work crowned by the French Academy 

 entitled, La Perse, La Chaldee et la Susiane, Paris, 1887. 



2 Among the specimens secured were two of extraordinary beauty 

 and interest. One of them is a beautiful enameled frieze of a lion 

 and the other, likewise a work in enamel, represents a number of 

 polychrome figures of the Immortals the name given to the guards 

 of the Great Kings of Persia. Both are truly magnificent specimens 

 of ceramic art, and compare favorably with anything of the kind 

 which antiquity has bequeathed to us. Commenting on the pictures 

 of the Persian guards, Mme. Dieulafoy writes: " Whatever their 

 race may be, our Immortals appear fine in line, fine in form, fine 

 in color and constitute a ceramic work infinitely superior to the bas- 

 reliefs, so justly celebrated, of Lucca della Bobbia." Op. cit., p. 222. 





