December 1933–June 1934

University Museum, Philadelphia, March 2.

Dear Mr. Hill,

Your letter has this minute arrived and I will write at once a word in reply, for I can imagine your surprise at this sudden return to Cyprus.

George Mc Fadden is the scion of a wealthy and well known Philadelphia family. He went to Princeton and I believe took honors in English, at any rate proved himself something of a student and developed considerable mental curiosity about the curious things of this world. He came home after graduation and was started in the family business- I think sugar. After a year he revolted. He told me that he put all his money into Swiss and Dutch bonds and decided to become an archaeologist. First he tried Egyptology, but Mr. Gunn gave him such a dose of hieroglyphs, that he switched to Greek archaeology. On my advice that it was necessary for him to learn both German and Greek, if he were to make a success of his plan, he went to Germany and stayed long enough to get at least a start, but he did not take the archaeological lectures that I had suggested. As you may know, he cruised the Mediterranean last summer with some young kindred spirits,(the ensign of his yacht, now registered at the New York yacht club being Exekias' Dionysos in his boat) and this last winter he has read Greek night and day with W.W.Hyde, and should have got an excellent start there.

He came to the Museum some weeks ago and suggested that we put up $1500 to match his and go on in Cyprus, he having met you and decided that what he would like most would be to dig under your tutelage. We are so stony broke here that we cant get an expedition as far as Camden, and when we told him that, he decided to go on with his $1500 alone. Hence the cable.

Mr. Jayne and I tried to get him to give the money for the complementary study on Lapithos and the publication of the finds of your last dig, but no, he wanted to dig up more. For that I am sorry, for it is a ticklish business … continues