72 DI CESNOLAS DISCOVERIES AT CURIUM. 



when the second room had some two thoiTsand baskets of earth removed, a 

 third doorway, and, of course, a third room, were discovered similar to the- 

 first two ; and a week afterward a fourth room was still brought to light. 



"For more than a month twelve men were working continu- 

 ally, removing the earth from these four roOms, which was carried 

 up to the surface; and when the work was completed, each room 

 had only inside the usual thickness of one foot of earth, between 

 which and the pavement the contents of the tomb are always 

 found. 



"At last, after waiting for more than a month, I was able to 

 descend into these four roomg and explore them thoroughly. 



"The following diagram will show the position and shape of 

 the rooms. Three of them are on the east and the fourth on the 

 north side of the mosaic pavement that once was above them. 



"After having carefully measured each room, and vainly looked 

 for inscriptions, I returned to room 'C,' preceded by my chief 

 digger, and followed by a man carrying a lantern, and we began 



A B c B D Be 



A, Passage facing the south, and leading to the rooms— length, 11 feet 4 inches ; height, 3 feet 11 inches ; 

 ■vridth, 4 feet 10 inches. AA, Narrow passage facing west— height, 2}/2 feet ; width, 2 feet. The length he- 

 yond 130 feet has been unexplored, B, Doorways communicating with the inner rooms. They measure 

 alike— height, 2 feet 7 inches ; width, 3 feet ; depth or thickness of doorways, 1 foot 4 inches. C, D, E, Rooms 

 or vaults. These three rooms measure alike— height, 14 feet 6 inches; width, 11 feet; length, 23 feet, F, 

 Boom— height, 14 feet; width, 9 feet; length, 21 feet. 



the researches on that spot where, by accident, a month before I had dis- 

 covered the gold ornaments aforesaid. The layer o± earth was removed ,. 

 my chief digger searching in it carefully and delicately with the point of his 

 knife, and passing the earth twice between his fingers, like through a sieve. 

 Soon afterward the mate of the gold bracelet was found, in company with 

 two engraved rings and four pairs of ear-rings, I remarked then, for the 

 first time, the total absence of human remains and of sepulchral vases, and 

 I came to the conclusion that it was not and could not be a tomb. Some 

 time afterward I found out that the building which once existed above these 

 vaults was a temple, and these the subterranean repositories, wherein the 

 priests or priestesses of the temple safely deposited the votive offerings and 

 treasure of the temple during sudden invasion of the island, or in time of 

 war, I was prepared, however, and satisfied, that whatever was to be found 

 therein would be only that which, for some unknown reason, had been left 

 behind. If that place had been found out by some treasure-hunter and ran- 

 sacked, the stone slab would not have been replaced before the entrance 

 door. 



"My musings were agreeably cut short by a loud exclamation from my 

 chief digger, who handed to me two large gold armlets weighing about 



