Page:Discovery and Decipherment of the Trilingual Cuneiform Inscriptions.djvu/115

 brought from the immediate vicinity. When, however, Morier paid his second visit to Murgab in 1811, he was so overawed by the ponderous learning of his travellng companion Ouseley, that he tacitly allowed the subject to drop. On this occasion he succeeded in gaining access to the interior, but found nothing worthy of mention. He also noticed for the first time a very remarkable bas-relief of a winged human figure, and over it a repetition of the inscription he had already copied.

Kaempfer had set the example of collecting specimens, and we fear the gentlemen of the embassy were only too ready to follow in his steps. They even went so far as to bring stone-cutters with them, provided with the requisite tools to carry their design into effect. We afterwards hear rather ominously of 'the specimens in the possession of Sir Gore Ouseley and Lord Aberdeen.' Morier published in 1812 the account of his his 'First Journey' containing the famous Cyrus inscription, and in 1818 the account of his 'Second Journey' followed. These works were well received, and can