120 
MR. HORNER ON THE ALLUVIAL LAND OF EGYPT. 
to endeavour to find some one resident in Cairo who might be capable of con- 
ducting the contemplated operations, explaining my views to him in the following 
terms : — 
“ I am anxious to investigate in a more satisfactory manner than has yet been done, 
the frequently agitated question, how far the sedimentary deposits of the Nile afford 
a chronometric scale that will carry us back beyond what may be termed the known 
zero of authentic historical time. There is every reason to believe, that, reckoning 
from century to century, the average increments of the deposits are pretty regular, 
due care being taken to make the observations in a part of Egypt where there is not 
likely to exist any abnormal state of the solid contents held in suspension in the Nile 
water, from the breaking down of a part of its banks. But I have not been able to 
discover that any borings have been made with much care since those by the French 
in Upper Egypt in 1799; and those recently at the Barrage of the Nile by Mougel 
Bey. What is wanted is this : to have a pit sunk in a situation where the Nile de- 
posit has accumulated over or close to some of the most ancient works of art known 
to exist, and the date of the foundation of which is known with tolerable certainty, 
such as the Obelisk at Heliopolis ; the strata in such a pit being regularly marked as 
to their several thickness and their composition, and specimens of each variety being 
taken. This being done, to the lowest part of the foundation of the monument, the 
excavation to be continued as far downwards as any sediment is found having the 
known characters of the Nile deposit, carefully noting the dimensions of the several 
layers gone through below the lowest part of the artificial structure, or foundation 
of the same. Such an examination could not be carried on with trustworthy value 
except by or under the immediate superintendence of some one capable of directing 
it, and of ensuring accuracy in all the successive excavations.” 
Mr. Harris applied to his friend Hekekyan Bey, an Armenian gentleman resident 
in Cairo, who had been educated and long resident in England, and who, as a Civil 
Engineer, had occupied some important positions in the service of the Vieeroy Me- 
HEMET Ali, especially as Chief of the Polytechnic School in Cairo. Hekekyan Bey 
most readily accepted the proposal, evincing an earnest desire to be employed in a 
scientific inquiry of this nature. How fortunate I have been in obtaining such 
valuable cooperation will fully appear in the sequel. But nothing could be done 
without the previous consent of the then Viceroy Abbas Pacha, the more especially 
as the spot where I wished the excavation to be made, close to the Obelisk of Helio- 
polis, is in a garden belonging to the Pacha, into which the site of the renowned city 
has been converted. Through the active intervention of the Hon. Charles Augustus 
Murray, at that time Her Majesty’s Agent and Consul-General in Egypt, and who, 
during the remainder of his stay in the country, took a warm interest in the inquiry, 
and continued to give me his powerful support, the consent of the Viceroy was ob- 
tained. His Highness not only acceded to the request, but directed his ministers to 
place at the disposal of Hekekyan Bey, whom he appointed to conduct the opera- 
