The leaders of the enterprise sat together late that night, listening to the marvellous tales told by the Professor of the city’s ancient splendor, and examining closely the chart which had remained hidden for years before it fell into his hands. For twenty-five years this apostle of learning had held the key to immense wealth, he believed, in his hands. For years he had tried in vain to interest the wealthy and powerful in his scheme for finding the city described in his chart, wherein he believed lay the gold mines from which had come the streams of precious metal which made the ancient Ethiopians famous.

The paper was in a large envelope sealed with a black seal formed to resemble a lotus flower. It was addressed:

To the student who, having counted the cost, is resolute to once more reveal to the sceptical, the ancient glory of hoary Meroe.

Within the envelope was a faded parchment which the Professor drew forth with trembling hands. The little company drew more closely about the improvised table and its flickering candle which revealed the faded writing to be in Arabic. There was no comment, but each one listened intently to the reader, who translated very fully as he went along.

“Be it known to you, my brother, that the great and surpassing wealth mentioned in this parchment is not to be won without braving many dangers of a deadly nature. You who may read this message, then, I entreat to consider well the perils of your course. Within the mines of Meroe, four days’ journey from the city toward Arabia, are to be found gold in bars and gold in flakes, and diamonds, and rubies whose beauty excels all the jewels of the earth. For some of them were hidden by the priests of Osiris that had adorned the crown of the great Semiramis, and the royal line of Queen Candace,17 even from ancient Babylon’s pillage these jewels came, a spectacle glorious beyond compare. There, too, is the black diamond of Senechus’s crown (Senechus who suffered the captivity of Israel by the Assyrians), which exceeds all imagination for beauty and color.

“All these jewels with much treasure beside you will gain by following my plain directions.