September 23rd, 1866

Excavations have recovered several artefacts, most obvious of which are skeletal remains of whoever lived in this ancient city. Buried along with the bones was a curious cylinder made of quartz. Each side had different expressions expertly etched into it, truly the work of a cultured civilization. Lead marbles were also found aplenty, which seems to be some sort of currency for these people. It also proves knowledge of metalworking, which is fascinating for a completely isolated civilization to develop on its own.

Dusting of the quartz walls seems to reveal drawings of eyes. They seem to be at regular intervals and amount to at least a thousand along the entire length of the wall.

Jacob, Emma, and the rest are currently working on cutting into the quartz to create a passageway, which is quite the tricky job as we do not wish to damage it.

September 25th, 1866

We carried out our first expedition into the cave system. It is abhorrently lighted and it seems to converge at a point, after which it goes downwards, as I had expected. There were no steps or ladders, but instead, a smooth quartz surface, presumably designed for sliding downwards (I wonder how they climb up again, perhaps there is another exit on the other side).

A very odd incident took place during our expedition. Jacob began complaining about being watched by someone, but we managed to ease him, coming to the conclusion that it was probably the drawings of the eyes that had gotten to his head. However, when we got to the end of the cave where the slope of quartz was present, Jacob seemed to have a complete change of opinion and was ecstatic about moving forward. He even tried going down all by himself, but we managed to stop him.

Our next expedition will commence tomorrow.