EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN
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hosts at full stretch from early morning to late evening every day. There was drawing, copying, photographing, recording, comparison of specimens, piecing of them together, discussing them and planning new work, besides attending to the discipline of many men not concentrated at one spot, but dispersed among different diggings.
An amusing scene occurred at a stated hour every morning, when the fellahs who had found any curios and wanted to sell them were seated in a long row at a fixed distance from the camp. They brought in rotation what they had to sell. Professor Petrie knew by long experience exactly how much the various articles would fetch if taken to the dealers in the large towns, and offered that amount for what he cared to buy. The Arabs quite understood the system, namely, that by accepting what was offered they would get just as much as if they took a long journey in hopes of a better bargain, so the traffic was quick. The objects were bought out of funds variously provided, but the Egyptian Government reserved some rights of purchase in the epd.
The conversation at meal-time was usually most interesting. Much was going on, and the originality and fertility of the ideas of Professor Petrie and the ingenuity of his explanations were marvellous. The actual digging was of course monotonous and laborious, but the faculties of those of the party who superintended each locality were kept on the alert. They had to record and to make maps as well as to keep the labourers to their work, and to supervise them narrowly. At nightfall the men, who had mostly worked for Professor Petrie during previous years,
