mels of the saddle came down upon the sand, and my stupid began to roll about voluptuously, luckily taking a different direction from that in which my body was extended. But for this circumstance, I should have been subjected to the experiment of a rolling-mill with a living cylinder.

It is but fair to render every one his due; Bechara was on the ground as soon as myself; I had just raised myself, so that he found me safe and sound, but looking a little surprised, as a man does to whom such an accident happens for the first time. I then learned that the kind of amusement to which my dromedary continued to give himself up, was one of the amusements of his race; in fact, his mode of laughing. Bechara assured me that my fall had been quite scientific. I had thrown myself off like a real Arab, and he who boasted of his skill in riding, could not have done better. Whilst I was receiving Bechara's congratulations, Taleb came up; he had seen my forced descent, and profiting by the circumstance to return to his favourite notion, he proposed that I should again take my old haghin, which being better trained, was incapable of a similar fault. I followed his advice and mounted my old steed, and at the first step I recognised my old saddle, so well stuffed on the side next the animal. Finally, we reached the foot of the mountains, our halting-place for the night. Each of the two

chiefs checked his dromedaries, which sharing the enmities of their masters, knelt down without joining. Still our Arabs united to prepare the tent, neither party wishing to cede its supposed rights. Thus the tent was ready in an instant. Abdallah immediately entering on his functions, devoted his attention to the important care of supper, and we formed a court of justice to take cognizance of the adventure of the morning.

Taleb, as plaintiff, spoke first; he explained, that on the evening of the day before our departure, he had received a message from the Father of Victory, informing him that we would not set out for three or four days, because, that we had met matters of sufficient interest in the convent to induce us to prolong our stay. This fable, though well constructed, was on one side exposed to suspicion; instead of a domestic of the convent, the natural messenger under such circumstances, it was an Arab, of a tribe infamous for its habitual disregard of truth, who brought the message, and thus the envoy had inspired Taleb with suspicion. The result was, that Taleb resolved at all hazards to pay us a visit the next day; the reader has seen how we, less cunning than Taleb, had allowed ourselves to be taken off like three bales of goods. Already forewarned before reaching the convent, when they found that we were gone, their astonishment gave place to the de

sire of recovering us; they put their dromedaries to a full gallop, and as these were superior to ours in strength and speed, we were soon overtaken.

The accused rose in his turn, sufficiently embarrassed with his position, in spite of Arabian cunning and skill; his plea was tainted by the unlucky position he occupied.

"I wished," said he, "to use stratagem and I was wrong, for right was on my side; the traveller does not belong to such or such a tribe, and as all the tribes are at peace, they ought to enjoy the same advantages; if one tribe had the monopoly of guiding travellers, the rest would die of hunger. Since Taleb brought you here, it was my right to bring you back; I tried to do so by craft, though I could have accomplished it by force; my warriors are numerous and brave; my courage is undisputed, and from Suez to Raz Mohammed, my name has an echo in every valley, and there is not a tribe unacquainted with Mohammed Abú-Mansúr."

It seems that these reasons, however unsatifactory to Europeans, were not bad for Arabs; it was Bechara who replied to the Father of Victory. His reply was so rapid, it entered into so many digressions, and so completely embroiled the discussion, that Baron Taylor foreseeing that the scene of the morning would be renewed, rose in his turn, imposed silence, and declared that he recognised no

T

guide but Taleb and his Arabs. The hostages which waited our return and answered for our safety, head for head, belonged to the tribe of Waleb-Saïde. It was consequently just, that this tribe, having run the risk, should profit by the result. Consequently he would have nothing to say to Mohammed AbúMansúr, although he was the Father of Victory, and he added, that we were all indignant at the trickery by which the sheikh had endeavoured to procure travellers.

Our interpreter translated the sentence, which both parties heard with patience and submission; but no sooner was the translation finished, than Bechara, to our great astonishment, took the Father of Victory aside; they returned in a short time as excellent friends; they informed us, that all difficulties had been removed, that the two tribes would accompany us as a double escort, were not too much for persons of our importance, and that Abú-Mansúr and his Arabs would act as our guard of honour.

After this, each supped and prepared to take his rest; we all had need of it: especially we Europeans, whom our residence at the monastery had unfitted for riding on dromedaries, and who had fallen from Scylla to Charybdis, with the haghins of the Father of Victory.

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XVI. A STORM IN THE DESERT.

WE continued our course the next day, advancing in the same direction; that is to say, descending towards the sea. For a long time we clearly distinguished Thor on our left hand, but as we drew near, the city seemed to dwindle in importance, and at length we agreed that it was not worth while to go out of the way to visit it. We consequently turned off at a sharp angle to the right, and after marching for an hour or two over the soft sand which borders the Red Sea, we again entered the mountains, and towards evening we descended into a delicious Wadi, called the Valley of Gardens.

Palm-trees with branches like fluttering plumes, sycamores with dark foliage, covered under their shade a spring of pure fresh water. This oasis commanded a halt, and we arranged our tent under a clump of palm-trees.

The night was delightful: we possessed water and shade, the two great requisites of which the Desert is so sparing. After a night of sweet repose, we awoke, fresh and vigorous, and commenced our journey in the highest spirits. At the moment of starting, our Arabs showed each other some red lines that streaked the eastern horizon; nevertheless, they