INTEODUCTION. 
3 
them all, so that the smallest children were not 
afraid ; while at the same time I held to neces¬ 
sary discipline, by means of dismissal for a longer 
or shorter time. So much did they dread losing 
work, that once dismissing the w'hole of the gang 
for half a day because they persistently came late, 
completely cured them; I never had a man late 
after that. A fair amount of work was got out 
of them; a man ordinarily cutting, in good 
ground, about 2i)0 cubic feet, or seven and a half 
cubic yards, a day for his wages of 6d.; and three 
or four children, at fifteen or twenty pence a day, 
will carry this quantity about twenty yards in 
baskets on their heads. This cutting or this 
carrying is about equal to three quarters of a 
day of an English labourer with spade and wheel¬ 
barrow ; BO that a gang of a man and children, 
costing about two shillings a day, will do as 
much as an English labourer in a day and a 
half. Besides this, bakhshish was given for 
everything that was found; and though this did 
not amount to 5 per cent, on the wages, yet it 
ensured things being brought in to me, and was 
a good stimulus to the workers. It is advisable 
always to let them work in their own way, while 
allowing them to use such English tools as may 
be available. I found that chisel-ended crowbars 
were in constant request to pick up hard earth, 
and pickaxes were often wanted ; while, in shift¬ 
ing loose sand and dust, spades could easily be 
got into use. The workers were always split up 
into small gangs, usually a man and two children, 
and hardly ever more than three men and six or 
eight boys and girls together. Thus the w'ork 
went on slowly in a large number of places at 
once, so that it did not require such continuous 
attention as if it were rapidly finished ; and each 
man’s work could be checked. Trenches were 
mostly dug in levels about four feet apart, so 
that the position of any objects found could be 
readily known. 
3. The genei'al system of work was not by 
clearing out the whole of a square area down to 
some fixed level, as that plan uses a large 
amount of labour, and, what is worse, encumbers 
the ground with a quantity of waste. On the 
contrary, narrow trenches were dug, and deep 
shafts sunk, so as to test the largest amount 
of ground in the time. On each side of the 
temple trenches were cut at intervals, reaching 
down to the original sandy island, from ten to 
twenty-six feet deep, and running for some way 
on either side. (See Plan, where all my excava¬ 
tions are shaded in.) In this way, we found a 
large part of the original limestone pavement of 
the temple on the north-east and south-east 
corners, a quantity of pieces of a highly decorated 
chapel (of the twenty-second dynasty ?) on the 
north of the middle of the temple, and a large 
well, with staircase, of Ptolemaic or Roman age. 
It was also determined that there are no other 
buildings by the side of the temple, and that the 
remainder of the temple area was probably an 
open enclosure. Outside the temple area also 
pits were sunk to fifteen and twenty feet deep, 
in the valley leading up to the temple (showing 
the pavement of the road); and in other parts 
of the mounds, disclosing tombs, a large well, and 
various other remains. The other class of work 
was clearing out houses, of w'hich the rooms 
were generally visible on the surface, having 
been filled up with dust and potsherds. Here 
the greatest care was needed, and the best men 
were always put to this work; it was much 
coveted by them, as they thus obtained more 
bakhshish by finding objects. Some labour was 
also spent on the detailed work of clearing out 
the sand between the stones in the temple, so as 
to examine all sides of them ; and' also in shift¬ 
ing the fallen blocks of the great pylon, so as to 
reach the outside of its wall, and examine the 
stones. 
In other sites near San a little work was done, 
but as it was only exploratory, and we hope 
in future seasons to carry it out further, details of 
that had better be published all together in the 
future. 
B 2 
