No wonder he whistled, for closely set were a number of printed characters; and Carter, blowing the dust, saw—
"MARIUS ET AUGUSTUS
CENT . . . . . . . . . NERO
IMPERAT . . . . . IN DEUS
. . . . . DULCE."
That night, with great labour, Sanders, furbishing his rusty Latin, and filling in gaps, made a translation:
"Marius and Augustus,
Centurions of Nero, Cæsar and
Emperor,
Sleep sweetly with the gods."
"We are they who came beyond the wild lands which Hanno, the Carthaginian, found . . .
"Marcus Septimus went up into Egypt, and with him Decimus Superbus, but by the will of Cæsar, and the favour of the gods, we sailed to the black seas beyond. . . . . Here we lived, our ships suffering wreck, being worshipped by the barbarians, teaching them warlike practices.
. . . "You who come after . . . bear greetings to Rome to Cato Hippocritus, who dwells by the gate . . ."
Sanders shook his head when he had finished reading, and said it was "rum."