ABSTRACT
WE LEFT Abydos on April 6, having spent four seasons on the Royal Tombs of the 1st dynasty, and the great temple site, 1st to XXXth dynasty, a most fruitful search for the earliest dynastic civilisation, which remains as the main source for that subject. Coming down country, the bottom of our engine dropped out on the line, and the train was immovable. We waited till a train met us, exchanged passengers, got a fresh engine and reached Cairo at 3 a.m. instead of 8 p.m. As an Egyptian train is made up with second class in front and third behind, the reversal made confusion at every station, by all the passengers finding that they had to run to the other end of the platform. I pointed this out to a station master, and urged him to telegraph down the line to reverse the passengers, but he was incapable of a new idea. At one station there was only one passenger, asleep, as we were then six hours late. The guard stirred him up, he rushed to the wrong end, then began rushing back again, lastly the train went on just before he could get in.
