DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.959#0210
148 TROY AND ITS REMAINS. [Chap. X.
lower excavations, believing that they were perfectly safe
under thick logs of wood 23 inches high and 10 thick,
which were covered with planks 3 inches thick. All of us
naturally thought that the two men must have been
crushed beneath the enormous mass of 100 cubic yards
of stone and earth, which had dashed the thick planks
to pieces. Our fright was terrible, but without losing a
moment we set to work to rescue the unfortunate men.
We had scarcely begun when we heard them moaning
beneath the weight of earth, for the logs had only been
upset, and, lying lengthwise, they still partly supported the
vault, so that the men had breathing space left. But their re-
lease could not be effected without the greatest danger, owing
to several large gaps in the cracked earthen wall, and the men
had to be cut out. I myself cut out Georgios Photidas
with my knife; the other man was cut out by my men.
In consequence of this accident, I have decided in the
first place to cut a trench 98 feet broad at the top and
6$ below, commencing at the platform, which is to be
carried along the primary soil through the entire hill, and
not to cut through the other portion of the great platform
until this is finished; for I shall then be in, a position to
judge how we can best accomplish the former work. I am
having the whole length of this trench commenced at the
same time on a breadth of 98 feet, and I hope thus to have
it ready in two months. In digging this trench I found
that, at about 69 feet from the steep side of the hill, the
primary soil gradually rises about 1 meters (6i feet), and as
the cutting must necessarily follow the primary soil, I have
from this point again had the debris thrown upon the great
platform, and have thus formed an embankment 653 feet
broad and b\ feet high, as far as the steep slope.
Were it not for the splendid terra-cottas which I find
exclusively upon the primary soil and as far as 6£ feet
above it, I could swear that, at a depth of from 8 meters
down to exactly 10 meters (26 to 33 feet), I am among
lower excavations, believing that they were perfectly safe
under thick logs of wood 23 inches high and 10 thick,
which were covered with planks 3 inches thick. All of us
naturally thought that the two men must have been
crushed beneath the enormous mass of 100 cubic yards
of stone and earth, which had dashed the thick planks
to pieces. Our fright was terrible, but without losing a
moment we set to work to rescue the unfortunate men.
We had scarcely begun when we heard them moaning
beneath the weight of earth, for the logs had only been
upset, and, lying lengthwise, they still partly supported the
vault, so that the men had breathing space left. But their re-
lease could not be effected without the greatest danger, owing
to several large gaps in the cracked earthen wall, and the men
had to be cut out. I myself cut out Georgios Photidas
with my knife; the other man was cut out by my men.
In consequence of this accident, I have decided in the
first place to cut a trench 98 feet broad at the top and
6$ below, commencing at the platform, which is to be
carried along the primary soil through the entire hill, and
not to cut through the other portion of the great platform
until this is finished; for I shall then be in, a position to
judge how we can best accomplish the former work. I am
having the whole length of this trench commenced at the
same time on a breadth of 98 feet, and I hope thus to have
it ready in two months. In digging this trench I found
that, at about 69 feet from the steep side of the hill, the
primary soil gradually rises about 1 meters (6i feet), and as
the cutting must necessarily follow the primary soil, I have
from this point again had the debris thrown upon the great
platform, and have thus formed an embankment 653 feet
broad and b\ feet high, as far as the steep slope.
Were it not for the splendid terra-cottas which I find
exclusively upon the primary soil and as far as 6£ feet
above it, I could swear that, at a depth of from 8 meters
down to exactly 10 meters (26 to 33 feet), I am among