15 November 1873
I write this in my cabin aboard a Cook’s tourist steamboat headed back down the Nile to Cairo. My head has been bandaged, but is still pounding. The doctor on board says that I need to rest. But I must write about the events of the past seven days while they are fresh in my mind. As it is, my head injury is causing gaps in my memory. I fear I shall lose what I have if I don’t write it down now.
The day we had finally broken through to the tomb, I decided to return to it in the cooler dusk before losing the light. Upon taking a more careful look through the tomb I grew more excited. The writings on the walls, the treasures, the near-perfect condition of the sarcophagus! There was a heavy, movable interior wall with handholds on the outside. After much exertion, I was fi
