60 
ME.  HOENEE  ON  THE  ALLETIAL  LAND  OE  EGYPT. 
the  western  side  of  the  platform.  In  digging  the  former  pit,  when  they  reached  the 
filtration  water,  no  artificial  means  were  resorted  to  to  draw  it  olf,  in  order  to  carry  the 
shaft  deeper,  the  further  examination  of  the  soils  being  made  by  borings ; but  in  this 
new  pit,  shadoofs  (buckets  with  levers)  were  employed,  and  the  shaft  was  continued  to  a 
depth  of  24  feet,  by  which  means  the  nature  of  the  soil  was  better  shown  at  that  greater 
depth  than  was  possible  by  the  borings. 
The  summit  ridge  of  the  excavation  was  the  same  as  in  the  former  pit,  that  is  3 feet 
6^  inches  below  the  inundation  level  of  1853,  which  was  ascertained  to  have  been  the 
same  as  that  of  1851.  Although,  as  might  be  expected,  there  is  a considerable  resem- 
blance between  this  pit  and  that  already  described,  there  still  is  a sufiB.cient  difference 
to  induce  me  to  give  a detailed  description  of  it,  the  more  especially  as  it  proved  to  be 
the  most  important  of  all  the  pits  that  were  sunk. 
Section  of  the  second  Shaft  and  Boring  at  the  Statue  of  Eamesses  II. 
i 
i 
Layer. 
Thickness 
of  layer. 
Depth  of  the 
bottom  of  the 
layer  from 
surface  of 
the  ground. 
Nature  of  the  soils. 
I. 
inches. 
77-4334 
inches. 
Light  brown,  sandy,  argillaceous  earth,  with  an  admixture  of  transpa- 
II. 
30*4334 
107-4334 
rent  quartzose  sand. 
Similar  to  I.,  with  fragments  of  red  brick. 
III. 
60*4334 
167-4334 
Similar  to  I.,  with  fragments  of  limestone,  brick  and  pottery. 
IV. 
125*1158 
292*5492 
The  same  as  III. 
Boring  layer. 
V. 
36*1158 
328*5492 
24  feet  4^  inches.  Filtration  water. 
Light  brown  argillaceous  earth,  with  fragments  of  pottery. 
VI. 
84*1158 
412*5492 
Same  as  II.,  but  without  fragments  of  brick. 
VII. 
36*1158 
448*5492 
Dark  brown  argillaceous  earth,  with  fragments  of  pottery. 
VIII. 
24*1158 
472*5492 
Blackish,  compact,  fine-grained  argillaceous  earth,  with  a few  fragments 
IX. 
24*1158 
496*5492 
of  pottery. 
Fine  greenish-grey  sand,  mixed  with  argillaceous  earth. 
41  feet  4^  inches. 
Throughout  this  excavation  also,  objects  of  art  and  bones  of  domestic  animals  were 
met  with,  of  which  the  following  is  a selection : — 
Lower  molar  tooth  of  a small  variety  of  Ox,  1 between  13  and  20  feet 
Molar  tooth,  and  end  of  the  humerus  of  a Hog,/  from  the  surface. 
Neck  of  a vessel  in  coarse  unglazed  pottery  at  21  feet. 
Fragment  of  a small  glass  vessel,  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft. 
Cube  of  coarse  sandstone,  smoothed,  as  if  used  for  polishmg,  ditto. 
And  from  the  lowest  'part  of  the  boring^  the  tool  brought  up  a fragment,  about  an 
inch  sguare,  of  unglazed  red  pottery. 
If  the  finer  part  of  the  surface  layer  be  compared  with  the  argillaceous  sediment 
brought  up  by  the  boring  instrument  from  the  deepest  part,  they  appear  identical,  with 
the  exception  of  a slight  difference  in  colour,  and  in  a somewhat  greater  proportion 
of  sand  in  the  latter.  Mr.  Beaziee,  who  analysed  the  standard  specimens  of  Nile 
