DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.959#0193
132 TROY AND ITS REMAINS. [Chap. IX.
bear the pressure, and it fell down when it was scarcely
finished. Great trouble was taken with the larger and
higher wall: it was built entirely of large stones, for the
most part hewn, and all of us, even Georgios Photidas,
thought it might last for centuries. But nevertheless on
the following morning I thought it best to have a buttress
of large stones erected, so as to render it impossible for the
wall to fall; and six men were busy with this work when
the wall suddenly fell in with a thundering crash. My
fright was terrible and indescribable, for I quite believed
that the six men must have been crushed by the mass of
stones; to my extreme joy, however, I heard that they had
all escaped directly, as if by a miracle.
In spite of every precaution, excavations in which men
have to work under earthen walls of above 50 feet in per-
pendicular depth are always very dangerous. The call of
"guarda, guarda" is not always of avail, for these words
are continually heard in different places. Many stones
roll down the steep walls without the workmen noticing
them, and when I see the fearful danger to which we are all
day exposed, I cannot but fervently thank God, on re-
turning home in the evening, for the great blessing that
another day has passed without an accident. I still think
with horror of what would have become of the discovery
of Ilium and of myself, had the six men been crushed by
the wall which gave way; no money and no promises
could have saved me; the poor widows would have torn
me to pieces in their despair—for the Trojan women have
this in common with all Greeks of their sex, that the
husband, be he old or young, rich or poor, is everything to
them; heaven and earth have but a secondary interest.
Upon the newly made western terrace, directly beside
my last year's excavation, we have laid bare a portion of a
large building—the walls of which are 6\ feet thick, and
consist for the most part of hewn blocks of limestone
joined with clay. (No. 24 on Plan II.) None of the stones
bear the pressure, and it fell down when it was scarcely
finished. Great trouble was taken with the larger and
higher wall: it was built entirely of large stones, for the
most part hewn, and all of us, even Georgios Photidas,
thought it might last for centuries. But nevertheless on
the following morning I thought it best to have a buttress
of large stones erected, so as to render it impossible for the
wall to fall; and six men were busy with this work when
the wall suddenly fell in with a thundering crash. My
fright was terrible and indescribable, for I quite believed
that the six men must have been crushed by the mass of
stones; to my extreme joy, however, I heard that they had
all escaped directly, as if by a miracle.
In spite of every precaution, excavations in which men
have to work under earthen walls of above 50 feet in per-
pendicular depth are always very dangerous. The call of
"guarda, guarda" is not always of avail, for these words
are continually heard in different places. Many stones
roll down the steep walls without the workmen noticing
them, and when I see the fearful danger to which we are all
day exposed, I cannot but fervently thank God, on re-
turning home in the evening, for the great blessing that
another day has passed without an accident. I still think
with horror of what would have become of the discovery
of Ilium and of myself, had the six men been crushed by
the wall which gave way; no money and no promises
could have saved me; the poor widows would have torn
me to pieces in their despair—for the Trojan women have
this in common with all Greeks of their sex, that the
husband, be he old or young, rich or poor, is everything to
them; heaven and earth have but a secondary interest.
Upon the newly made western terrace, directly beside
my last year's excavation, we have laid bare a portion of a
large building—the walls of which are 6\ feet thick, and
consist for the most part of hewn blocks of limestone
joined with clay. (No. 24 on Plan II.) None of the stones