"The tombs are scattered along a narrow valley of barren mountains at the edge of the Libyan Desert, or, rather, just within its borders; they are excavated in the solid rock, and some of them are very large. Every few years a new discovery is made, and the government allows any explorer to search for tombs under certain conditions: the conditions are now so onerous that few private researches have been undertaken for some time, and none are likely to be till the laws are changed. In the early part of the century several English, French, German, and other explorers were on the ground, and some of their discoveries were of great interest. The tombs they opened are generally known by the names of those who found them, though several have lost that distinction through a system of numbering adopted by Sir Gardner Wilkinson. The guides usually point them out by their numbers. About thirty tombs in all have been opened, and it is certain there are ten or twelve more that have not been discovered. Strabo, the Greek historian, who came here about the beginning of the Christian era, says he saw forty tombs; but some have conjectured that he included those in another valley, and known as the Tombs of the Queens. [Illustration: VIEW IN BELZONI'S TOMB.] "We didn't have time to see the whole twenty-five, and it would not have been worth while for us to do so, as several of them have no particular interest. We went first to number seventeen, which is also known as Belzoni's tomb; it was discovered by Belzoni, an Italian traveller, and the most of its contents were carried to England, and are now in the British Museum. Perhaps you may wonder why these tombs are so difficult to find, but the reason is this: