The surrounding rocks were in ancient days turned into a cave-temple with infinite labor, by hewing and Excavating them into chambers of suitable dimensions.
"The Pearl of India"
Maturin M. Ballou
The corridor leading to the arena exhibits all the grandeur peculiar to the public buildings of the Romans, and is well worthy of attention; but the portion of the edifice that most interested me was the subterranean, which a number of workmen were busily employed in Excavating, under the superintendence of the Prefect of Arles, a gentleman with whose knowledge of the antiquities of his native town, and urbanity towards the strangers who visit them, we have every reason to be satisfied.
"The Idler in France"
Marguerite Gardiner
In Excavating for the foundations, Wong T'sin's slaves disturbed the repose of a small but rapacious earth-demon that had already been sleeping there for nine hundred and ninety-nine years.
"Kai Lung's Golden Hours"
Ernest Bramah Commentator: Hilaire Belloc