ME.  HOENEE  ON  THE  ALLUVIAL  LAND  OF  EGYPT. 
57 
It  will  be  observed  on  examining  the  sections  of  the  pits  hereafter  described,  that  the 
further  progress  of  sinking  the  shafts  was  stopped  by  water  of  filtration,  and  at  very 
difierent  depths  from  the  surface  of  the  ground ; but  in  the  most  important  of  them  the 
penetration  of  the  soil  was  continued  by  boring.  The  remarkable  circumstance  of  the 
very  difierent  depths  at  which  the  filtration  water  was  reached,  and  that  within  a very 
limited  area,  mil  be  best  considered  after  the  soils  passed  through  in  each  pit  have  been 
described. 
The  Excavation,  Shafts,  and  Borings  at  the  Colossal  Statue. 
The  excavation  originally  made  by  Caviglia  was  enlarged  by  Hekeeyan  Bey,  and, 
when  completed,  it  measured  110  feet  by  85.  At  a depth  of  5 feet  8 inches  from  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  they  came  upon  the  upper  surface  of  a platform  on  which  the 
colossus  had  stood,  composed  of  two  com’ses  of  cyclopean  masonry,  a considerable  por- 
tion of  which  still  remains.  The  upper  blocks  are  31^,  the  lower  35^  inches  thick,  and 
they  he  perfectly  horizontal.  The  lower  course  of  blocks  was  found  to  rest  upon  a bed 
of  sand  38  inches  in  thickness,  which,  from  the  section  of  the  adjacent  ground,  appears 
to  have  been  brought  to  the  spot  in  order  to  form  a more  firm  foundation  for  the  plat- 
form. It  is  a grey  quartzose  sand,  identical  with  that  found  at  a depth  of  16^  feet  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Bosetta  branch,  at  the  apex  of  the  Delta'*.  This  foundation  sand 
rests  on  Nile  sediment. 
The  surface  of  the  ground,  at  the  margin  of  the  excavation,  was  ascertained  to  be 
3 feet  65  inches  under  the  inundation  level  of  1851,  and  thus,  according  to  the  measure- 
ments of  M.  Talabot,  74  feet  8^  inches  above  the  mean  level  of  the  Mediterranean. 
When  this  excavation  was  commenced  in  August  1852,  no  part  of  the  platform  was 
rfsible ; and  after  it  had  been  continued  down  to  the  inferior  surface  of  the  lower  course 
of  masonry,  all  around  the  statue,  it  was  deepened  on  the  eastern  side,  and  at  a distance 
of  25  feet  from  the  platform,  a shaft  was  sunk  to  the  depth  of  16  feet  4|  inches  from 
the  surface  of  the  ground.  At  that  depth,  filtration  water  put  a stop  to  further  digging, 
and,  on  this  first  occasion,  artificial  means  were  not  resorted  to  to  draw  it  off.  But 
borings  were  made  in  three  places,  in  one  to  the  depth  of  7 feet,  in  another  to  the  depth 
of  8 feet,  and  in  a third  to  the  depth  of  23  feet  8 inches ; that  is,  to  a depth  of  40  feet 
from  the  surface  of  the  ground.  In  the  latter  case,  the  boring  instrument  was  drawn 
up  fourteen  times,  each  time  bringing  up  a core  of  soil,  specimens  of  which  were  sent 
to  me.  Throughout  the  excavation  and  sinking  of  the  shaft  and  the  borings,  there  was 
no  indication  of  a laminated  structure  in  the  soils,  no  trace  of  quietly  deposited  successive 
layers. 
* Specimen  I.  Memoir,  Part  I.  page  128. 
