March 20, 1837 Cairo
Have finally arrived in Cairo. I hooked up with Uncle Richard,
or "The Colonel" as everyone calls him. I had to go all the way
out to the site to meet with him. He set up shop in some old tomb
out there, and never leaves the area. Worse, he expects me to
live out there as well!
I had a brief tour of the great pyramid he is working on - it is
everything that people have said it is, and more! There's not a
single hieroglyphic in it, though. I don't know when I'll be able
to use what I've learned about translating them. Perhaps I'll
be sent to another tomb or pyramid to see what I can read there.
The Colonel has been searching for more chambers, and currently
working upward from the Davidson Chamber. Instead of delicately
chiseling, he has been blasting through the blocks! I don't know
why he doesn't just dismantle the thing block by block from the
top...
March 21, 1837 Giza
I found out what I get to do ... I get to help haul debris!
He has all this cheap labor to call on, but I guess a nephew
he doesn't have to pay is even cheaper. It's going to be a long
year, I can tell.
July 9, 1837 Giza
We started work on the third pyramid today. Unlike the other two,
no-one, as far as we know, has ever found a way inside it.
Probably, because it is smaller, no-one has really cared.
Someone certainly spent some a lot of effort dismantling a chunk
of the north face. Not sure who or how long ago. The Colonel,
in typical fashion, has decided that instead of clearing out all
the debris and rubble at the base to look for a passage, he's
going to take up where they left off and just blast his way
into the middle of it.
October 3, 1837 Giza
Today we hit bedrock. We've blasted 60 feet to the middle of
the pyramid, and then downward 80 feet all the way to the bottom.
Nothing. Now we get to do what we probably should have done
at the start and clear out the base. When I say "we", of course,
I mean, "me".
October 15, 1837 Giza
We found the way in! It will take days to clear it out, depending
on how long the passage is, but we are in!
October 23, 1837 Giza
We are in! It is wonderful! Unfortunately, we are not the first
ones here; the walls are covered in Arabic graffiti.
There are many chambers here, all below the pyramid carved out of
the bedrock.
I guess the Egyptians had had enough of hauling those enormous granite
blocks up to the Kings Chamber in the first pyramid. There is
a beautiful sarcophagus here; unlike any of the others found; it
is highly decorated in an odd fashion. There is no writing of any
kind on it, although we did find a cartouche of the Pharaoh Menkaure on
something else,
which should establish for certain who built this pyramid.
November 2, 1837 Giza
There is something about that sarcophagus from the third pyramid
that I just can't let go. It's like those other things from the
other pyramids, they just work on your mind.
The Colonel is letting me spend an hour or two a day working with
the sarcophagus; as long as I haul rocks for him for most of the
day. I'm tempted to call him The Pharaoh, but I don't have the guts.
January 14, 1838 Cairo
The Colonel is wrapping things up at the plateau. I don't think
he left a stone unturned (or unblasted).
He's moved the sarcophagus from the third pyramid (blasting a way
for it, of course) and brought it to Cairo, to where we are staying
now. I can't get enough of it. I know there is a meaning in the
pattern.
He's arranging to have it shipped to England. He's agreed to let
me stay and return with it. It will be many months before it goes
anywhere.
September 29, 1838 Alexandria
The Beatrice has finally arrived to take me and the sarcophagus and
the other sundry things back to England. I'm running out of time
to study this thing, although I'm no closer to understanding it than
before. I noticed that one of the ends of the sarcophagus seems a
little bigger, and the pattern may have something to do with it.
October 9, 1838 aboard the Beatrice
I found it! I figured out the pattern, and it showed me a way to
open the end. I had just opened it, and saw something in there,
when the Captain startled me, and it snapped shut again.
He was very angry. I had had to untie and move it a bit to get at
the pattern. "It is extremely dangerous to shift cargo while
underway." That thing is so heavy it took all my effort to move
it the little bit I did; there is no way it is going to move no
matter how much the ship sways. They have resecured it, and I am
forbidden to go into the hold until we dock in England.
I just know that when we get to England they will never let me near
it again. At my age, I'm only good for hauling rock.
October 18, 1838 aboard the Beatrice
I can't stand it anymore. It has been rough sailing for four days
out of Malta, and I cannot sleep. I must get whatever it is out
of that sarcophagus. The night watch tonight is a friend of mine;
I know his habits, and I can avoid him.
October 19, 1838 adrift
The sun has finally come up, and I can record the disaster.
I went down to the hold, moved the sarcophagus, opened it and
retrieved a copper plate with a diagram of a pyramid made of
triangles, and many numeric hieroglyphics around it. I was so
excited, I went back to my cabin and copied it, and I was heading
back to return the plate, when the ship lurched to one side, and
there was an load tearing sound from the hold. When I looked in,
the sarcophagus was gone!
I hadn't tied it back down, and it looks like when the ship lurched,
that it slid for a ways and went right through hull! Water was
pouring in. I ran back to my cabin, and grabbed my notes, and things
got confused. Somehow I ended up in a boat by myself, and I watched
the Beatrice sink. It was horrible. I didn't see any other boats
or people.
Somewhere, I lost the copper plate. I still have the copy I made.
The sea is rough, I don't know where I am, or where I am going.
October 24, 1838 aboard the Principe Alfonse
I have been rescued by a Spanish ship, the Principe Alfonse. I
can't speak a word of Spanish, and they can't speak a word of
English. I don't think I'll be in England again anytime soon.
I expect I'll have to work to earn my passage.
November 21, 1838 aboard the Principe Alfonse
I've found the secret to the pyramid diagram! The numbers refer
to contiguous blocks of filled-in triangles on each of the rows
or diagonal columns. As I figure out where the blocks go, a
picture is emerging.
I've only gotten a little bit so far, but it will only take time
now.
December 18, 1838 aboard the Principe Alfonse
I've finished the diagram. According to a map the Captain has,
it is referencing a location on the west coast of North America near
the St. Roc River. It isn't a very good map. The reference from
the diagram is incredibly precise; if I hadn't found this myself,
I would never have believed it.
I'll bet anything that a pyramid or a tomb of some kind was
built there by the Egyptians. How, I can't imagine.
I must find a way to get there.
We'll be arriving in Havana soon, perhaps I can find a way from there.
March 12, 1842 Norfolk
I learned today that the "St. Roc" river is only called that by
the Spanish; it is actually the Columbia river. No wonder I've
trouble. It still seems a long ways away.
September 29, 1850 Portland
I have finally arrived in Portland in the Oregon Territory. I need to find work, and then,
surveying equipment. And maps, they must have better maps here
somewhere. As far as I can tell, the place I'm seeking is in the
middle of the Willamette River. Nobody I've talked to has heard
of a pyramid around here. I must be looking for something smaller.
October 1, 1850 Portland
I got work in a supply store on the waterfront. I get to haul
things and make deliveries. Fortunately, I've had a lot of practice.
March 12, 1851 Portland
Something very odd happened today. I gave an old Indian a ride
on my cart as I was returning from a delivery. He was telling
stories about some strange forest "creatures" that his people glimpse
occasionally, that are "ten feet tall", and vanish just as you
see them. What an imagination. I asked him them if he had ever heard
any legends about pyramids and ancient civilizations. He became
very frightened, jumped off the cart, and hurried away.
May 31, 1851 Portland
I have joined the Survey team for first Oregon Territory survey.
At last I have real references, and can finally locate the place.
June 21, 1851 The Pyramid of Menkaure
I have found it. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting. What
a long story it was to get here, and nobody would believe it anyway.
I will leave it for others to find some day in the distant future.
July 3, 1851 Portland
For fun, I left a box of trinkets on a little island in the
Columbia, and challenged some survey friends to go find it. Heh
heh, they're still out there, probably invoking all kinds of
Egyptian curses at me.