Unnumbered pageScan 1 of 4
Viroll. [stamp: 34]
Enkomi - Alasia, 6 Oct. 63. via Famagusta, poste restante. Dear friend, the XVIth Camp. of excavations in the underground ruins terribly mauled by the tomb and treasure hunters is under way for more than 3 weeks. It is particularly hard because of the exceptional heat (38 to 42° C on the ground, in the middle of the day and even at night the thermom. does not drop below 20°C.). The dust us overwhelms, for the ground is dusty from drought, not a drop of water on this site since last April. The radio tells us it is raining in France, in Paris, at St. Germain. What a delight from here! Fortunately we have the sea not far off where we can at the end of the excavations each evening bathe and rid ourselves of the dust. And fortunately we have made finds and last Friday a major piece, a statue of a god from the sanctuary of the Bronze Iron Age, extremely interesting and suggestive. The Director of Antiquities being unable to guarantee the secrecy of his services (it is necessary to treat the statue immediately to prevent the salt from attacking the bronze once it has left the earth) it has been decided to issue a communiqué to the Press here and in parallel in France. I asked Parrot to read a short description of the find and of the conditions
65 figures hard to readstruck struck outadded written in above” jug ditto, and what it repeatsword reading not certain