Page:H. D. Traill - From Cairo to the Soudan Frontier.djvu/166

148 inside and out, and inlaid with all kinds of precious stones. We took the gold which we found and the amulets and ornaments that were round his neck. We found the Royal consort, and we likewise took all that we found with her, and we set fire to their coffins and stole their furniture which we found with them, vases of gold, of silver, and of bronze, and divided them into eight lots."

Here, unfortunately, the record breaks off, so we do not know what punishment was inflicted on the desperate villains who thus confessed to an offence which the orthodox Egyptian of ancient times must have regarded with unspeakable horror. But the more remote sequel of these proceedings is pretty well ascertained, and is, in itself, curious. For it was, no doubt, the increasing audacity and success of the tomb-robbers which some hundred years later induced the priests to transfer the Royal mummies from their original resting-place