Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/350

300 over it. The interior was always full of earth, in which small vases were imbedded. In one of these graves, evidently that of a female, was a small marble circular box, with traces of colour outside. Such boxes, called pyxides, formed part of the toilet apparatus of the ladies of antiquity, and probably contained imguents or other cosmetics.

In another grave was a lamp on which was painted the head of Leda with the swan, in red on a black ground—the only vase with figures painted on it which I found in Calymnos. This grave also contained a large two-handled cup of plain black ware, a lamp, and three vases with covers. In the soil, when sifted, were some beads of a silver necklace, a silver fibula of very ordinary workman-ship, and some small pearls from a necklace.

All these objects were found about 2 feet below the surface. I opened seven other graves in this field, several of which were very small, as if intended for children. In one of these was a terra-cotta relief, representing two female figures bidding adieu to each other. The material and execution of this relief were very ordinary. It was so imbedded in the soil that even the fine hands of my workmen foiled to detach it, except in very small fragments.

Such terra-cottas are not uncommon in Greek tombs. I found no gold in Janni Sconi's field, except one small spangle, though the Greeks expected that much treasure would reward our diggings, in the course of which a curious domestic scene took place in my presence between Janni Sconi and his wife. The lady, who conceived that her consent ought to