March 16th, 1925

My dearest Betty,

You'll notice this is not my normal letter paper. I have purchased some local paper which is crude compared to what we are used to and write this in the shade of one of the great pyramids at Dhashur, waiting for my companions. They are currently inside the bent pyramid, in a hidden room I found that was just too disconcerting for me to stay in. I said I would rest outside and await their return and thus have found pen and paper to occupy me. 

Today we headed south, as I believe I wrote in yesterday's update. Our rented car is certainly getting used well. Lord Covington drove us south along the Nile, which is actually quite different from much of the rest of Egypt. It is green beside the water, and easy to forget the barrenness of the desert beyond. 

Louis and Doctor Webber insisted on stopping and shooting a crocodile! I do not lie. Even now the creature lies baking in the sunlight, strapped to the hood of the car. Its an undignified way for such a beast to end up, but really, there was no other way to transport it. Why they could not have done so on our return trip I'll never know, but that is men for you.

Before coming here to Dhashur, we went to a very small town, really a village called El Wasta. It is the village that holds some of the workers who fled the Carlyle Expedition, Unba. His mother was the one who had sent Monsieur Besart to the collapsed pyramid to view the ceremony there. I surmised that she must have known what was going on if she could have predicted the ceremony and had hoped to speak to her. Sadly, that was not to be.

We did find Unba, who was sorely disfigured. He spoke no English, only slow and halting Arabic, although not, I believe, due to any mental deficiency. His right arm and shoulder and the right side of his face appeared as if gouged away. Doctor Webber guessed that it must have been an animal attack, although I had not thought that there would have been animals who could do such damage here near the Nile. Perhaps a crocodile? When questioned, he demurred saying he had been found savaged, but that his mother's healing skills had healed him. No doubt the memories were too painful and he had been so helpful already I hated to press him. I wish now that I had thought to ask him about his mother's healing ability, but I was still reeling from the meeting with his mother and wished to be away.

Unba's mother, Nyiti, could tell us nothing. Not because she did not want to, but because her jaw and hands had been burnt away. Truly, it was rather gruesome. Indeed, I believe it a miracle that she was still alive, no doubt only due to the ministrations of her son. She was an old woman and the wounds were old enough, so it is likely that he has taken care of her for many years. My heart was moved greatly, and when we parted I gave Unba a goodly sum to help ease their lives. I doubt very much that the poor man can work, his aged mother even less likely.

In spite of her injuries, Nyiti made a valiant effort to communicate with me. It was difficult, as I had to rely on yes and no questions primarily, but we managed a kind of communication I believe. Unba had been reluctant to let us speak to her, but she seemed quite strong willed and interested in doing so. 

In their hut, which was dismally small, I had been explaining to Unba the reason I had hoped to speak to her when Nyiti became quite agitated. She gestured with her arms, and I realised she was attempting to point to something at the far side of the hut. Eventually, I found what she wanted, a rush basket buried under many things. It had a symbol on it that Lord Covington says was a symbol of protection. 

I brought it to Nyiti and she gestured me to open it. Inside there was a peculiar white stone, several inches span and several inches thick. It had an odd symbol on it that looks like a part of an eye, although not like the Egyptian eye motifs that normally grace such things. Through a halting and painful question and answer I determined that it was a source of some magic- potentially protection magic. It was not to do with the dark magics of the Carlyle Expedition, nor was it against the dark magic but somewhere inbetween. 

Nyiti was quite vibrant during that exchange and I could tell she was a formidable woman before she lost the ability to communicate. I do wish we had been able to meet her prior to her disfiguring. She was quite insistant that I take the stone (perhaps even use it?), but sadly seemed to dull after she gave it to me. I have no doubt that it cost her dearly to step me painstakingly through our conversation, if one can call it that, but I do hope she finds some comfort in future.

I have to admit to having become completely absorbed in thoughts as to what this stone might mean or do. While I am not one to imagine that magic exists, it is clear this is a stone thought to contain some power. I have not been willing to part with it since Nyiti gave it to me as I feel a burden of responsibility for it. Certainly, this was this woman's prize possession and I feel I owe her a duty to investigate and learn all I can about it. I am positively itching to return to Cairo and begin investigating it.

I was naturally disappointed when we continued with our plans to come here to Dhashur. I am so full of thoughts of this stone that it is difficult to focus on the other things we have found here. We came to the bent pyramid, which is where Carlyle and Penhew "disappeared" for a night. That, I believe, I solved this afternoon. 

We requested entrance to the unused side of the bent pyramid after our tour of the northern entrance and were granted it with a guide. Inside, there were some big black columns which Violet and I went to look at, and I found a very straight line in mine- too straight. Pushing, it swung open and allowed access to stairs that climbed higher in the pyramid to a room equipped with a chair, a number of columns, a map, a star chart and some heiroglyphics. 

Truth be told, I found it rather frightening. There appeared to be plenty of light despite the complete absence of windows and certainly no modern lighting. After our initial shock, Lord Covington and Doctor Webber began exclaiming that the map was impossible, having Australia on such a map completely unplausible. Louis took a seat in the throne (for that is what the chair looked-