3.34 ALEXANDRIA. 
CHAP, speaking with circumspection, and in a low 
V ■ y -> voice, they asked if our business in Alexandria 
related to the subject of contention betweea 
Lord Hutchinson and Menou; namely, the Anti- 
quities collected by the French in Egypt P Upon 
being answered in the affirmative, and, in proof 
of it, the copy of the Rosetta Stone being pro- 
duced, the principal person among them said, 
Discovery " Docs your Commandcr-in-chief know that 
of die Tom* „ 
oiAieK- they have the Tomb of Alexander f We desired 
them to describe it : upon which they said, that 
it was of one entire and beautiful green stone \ 
shaped like a cistern, and taken from the Mosque 
of St.Athanasius; that, among the inhabitants, 
this cistern had always borne the appellation of 
Alexander s Tomb. Upon further conversation, it 
was evident that this could be no other than 
the identical monument to which our instruc- 
tions from Cairo referred. We produced the 
confidential letter entrusted to us upon this 
subject. The person to whom it was written 
was not present ; but they offered to conduct 
us to his house. We had hitherto carefully 
concealed the circumstance of its being in our 
possession ; and, for obvious reasons, we shall 
(l) The fact is, that the stone, being a mass of breccia, is varie- 
gated ; and partsof it only are of a green colour. 
