Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

78 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
exposed to light. He ordered large beams to prevent the
collapse of the walls. But scarcely had he turned his back
when the unscrupulous inhabitants of the village, always in
need of wood, pillaged his supports, thus causing destruction.
The heat of the summer and the rains of the winter
interfered seriously with his progress, often damaging beyond
recognition what with great labor and patience had just been
rescued from the ground, sometimes even before he was
able to examine the sculptures. The malarious condition
of the whole region caused illness and death among his
workmen, proving nearly fatal to his own life. The peasants
of Khorsabad, suspicious
beyond measure, and unwilling
to aid his researches, refused to work and sell him their
houses, which occupied the most important part of the ruins.
In addition to all these constant worriments, necessarily
affecting his mind and body, the governor of Mosul, with
ever-increasing jealousv and cunning, tried in many ways to
dishearten the explorer. He shared the general belief of
his people that the foreigner was searching for treasures.
Anxious to appropriate them himself, he frequently threw
Botta's workmen into prison in order to extract a confession,
or he appointed watchmen at the trenches to seize every
piece of gold that might be discovered. When all this failed
to have the desired effect,
he closed the work altogether, on
the pretext that Botta was evidently establishing a military
station to take the country by force of arms from the sultan.
At Paris and Constantinople everything was done by the
French government and its representative to counteract
these miserable machinations, and to prove the utter baselessness
of the malicious accusations.
energy, tact, and perseverance triumphed over all
Finally, well-directed
the obstacles
and animosity of the native population. Botta graduallv
induced the chief of the village to abandon his house
on the summit of the mound temporarily for a reasonable
price, and to move down into the plain, where later the rest