Not a trace of the mode in which the bodies had been embalmed, nor indeed of any bodies at all, could we perceive either at Teuchira or Ptolemeta. Not a single fragment, either of any cinerary urn or of vases of any description. The dampness of the climate, in the winter season, would no doubt contribute very materially to the destruction of the bodies when the covers were once removed from the excavated places which contained them; but it is at the same time somewhat remarkable that not a single fragment of linen or bone could be met with (though we searched for them with great attention) by which the mode of burial could be ascertained. The cause of this is most probably the occupation of the tombs by the Arabs who, as we have stated above, make use of them occasionally as places of residence for themselves and their cattle; and would naturally throw out any similar remains when they chanced to be seized with a fit of cleanliness or industry. The pottery would also very speedily disappear before the repeated attacks of the children; and such urns or vases as were found at all perfect would be employed by the women for culinary purposes, and depôts of various kinds, and would naturally be broken in the course of time however carefully they may have been preserved. The fragments thrown out would soon be buried in sand blown up into the quarries, in heaps, from the sea; and thus all traces might easily be lost as well of the bodies themselves, as of the vases and urns which contained the ashes. There appears to have been no difference whatever in the mode of burial practised by the Greeks and Romans of Teuchira, since many of the tombs, which are similar within, have on them the names of one and the other nation indiscriminately, and they are often seen mingled together on the same. It is probable that the early tombs would be interesting, and that they would be found at the same time more perfect than the rest; for the sand has accumulated about them in such heaps as to have blocked up all access to them for ages. Those most buried are the tombs which are nearest the town, and they are also, we should imagine, the oldest; but we had no time to employ in excavating any of them, although we very much wished to do so. There is one example of a painted tomb at Teuchira, in very bad taste, and this was the only one we could perceive that was so; it is probable, however, that most of them have been originally painted, and that what we see at present are the mere skeletons of the originals[7].