Our road was all the way in an open plain, bounded by hillocks of sand, and fine gravel, perfectly hard, and not perceptibly above the level of the plain country of Egypt. About twelve miles distant there is a ridge of mountains of no considerable height, perhaps the most barren in the world. Between these our road lay through plains, never three miles broad, but without trees, shrubs, or herbs. There are not even the traces of any living creature, neither serpent nor lizard, antelope nor ostrich, the usual inhabitants of the most dreary deserts. There is no sort of water on the surface, brackish or sweet. Even the birds seem to avoid the place as pestilential, not having seen one of any kind so much as flying over. The sun was burning hot, and, upon rubbing two sticks together, in half a minute they both took fire, and flamed; a mark how near the country was reduced to a general conflagration!

At half past three, we pitched our tent near some draw-wells, which, upon tasting, we found bitterer than soot. We had, indeed, other water carried by the camels in skins. This well-water had only one needful quality; it was cold, and therefore very comfortable for refreshing us outwardly. This unpleasant station is called Legeta; here we were obliged to pass the night, and all next day, to wait the arrival of the caravans of Cus, Esné, and part of those of Cenné and Ebanout.

While at the wells of Legeta, my Arab, Abd-el Gin, came to me with his money, which had increased now to nineteen sequins and a half. "What!" said I, "Mahomet, are you never safe among your countrymen, neither by sea nor land ?" "Oh, no, replied Mahomet; "the difference, when we were on board the boat, was, we had three thieves only;

are all

but, when assembled here, we shall have above three thousand.But I have an advice to give you." -"And my ears," said I, "Mahomet, are always open to advice, especially in strange countries.""These people," continued Mahomet," afraid of the Atouni Arabs; and, when attacked, they will run away, and leave you in the hand of these Atouni, who will carry off your baggage. Therefore, as you have nothing to do with their corn, do not kill any of the Atouni if they come, for that will be a bad affair, but go aside, and let me manage. I will answer with my life, though all the caravan should be stripped stark-naked, and you loaded with gold, not one article belonging to you shall be touched." I questioned him very particularly about this intimation, as it was an affair of much consequence, and I was so well satisfied, that I resolved to conform strictly to it.

In the evening came twenty Turks from Caramania, which is that part of Asia Minor immediately on the side of the Mediterranean opposite to the coast of Egypt; all of them neatly and cleanly dressed like Turks, all on camels, armed with swords, a pair of pistols at their girdle, and a short neat gun; their arms were in very good order, with their flints and ammunition stowed in cartridge-boxes, in a very soldier-like manner. A few of these spoke Arabic, and my Greek servant, Michael, interpreted for the rest. Having been informed, that the large tent belonged to an Englishman, they came into it without ceremony. They told me, that they were a number of neighbours and companions, who had set out together to go to Mecca, to the Hadje; and not knowing the language, or customs of the people, they had been but indifferently used since they landed at

1

Alexandria, particularly somewhere (as I guessed) about Achmim; that one of the Owam, or swimming thieves, had been on board of them in the night, and had carried off a small pormanteau with about 200 sequins in gold; that, though a complaint had been made to the Bey of Girgé, yet no satisfaction had been obtained; and that now they had heard an Englishman was here, whom they reckoned their countryman, they had come to propose, that we should make a common cause to defend each other against all enemies. What they meaned by countryman was this :

There is, in Asia Minor, somewhere between Anatolia and Caramania, a district which they call Caz Dagli, corruptly Caz Dangli, and this the Turks believe was the country from which the English first drew their origin; and, on this account, they never fail to claim kindred with the English wherever they meet, especially if they stand in need of their assis

tance.

I told them the arrangement I had taken with the Arab. At first they thought it was too much confidence to place in him; but I convinced them, that it was greatly diminishing our risk, and, let the worst come to the worst, I was well satisfied that, armed as we were, on foot, we were more than sufficient to beat the Atouni, after they had defeated the clownish caravan of Egypt, from whose courage we certainly had nothing to expect.

I cannot conceal the secret pleasure I had in finding the character of my country so firmly established among nations so distant, enemies to our religion, and strangers to our government. Turks from Mount Taurus, and Arabs from the desert of Lybia, thought themselves unsafe among their own countrymen, but trusted their lives and their little fortunes implicitly to

the direction and word of an Englishman, whom they had never before seen.

These Turks seemed to be above the middling rank of people; each of them had his little cloak bag very neatly packed up; and they gave me to understand that there was money in it. These they placed in my servant's tent, and chained them altogether, round the middle pillar of it; for it was easy to see the Arabs of the caravan had those packages in view, from the first moment of the Turks' arrival.

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We staid all the 18th at Legeta, waiting for the junction of the caravans, and departed the 19th at six o'clock in the morning. Our journey, all that day, was through a plain, never less than a mile broad, and never broader than three; the hills, on our right and left, were higher than the former, and of a brownish calcined colour, like the stones on the sides of Mount Vesuvius, but without any herb or tree upon them.

At half past ten, we passed a mountain of green and red marble, and at twelve we entered a plain, called Hamra, where we first observed the sand red, with a purple cast, of the colour of porphyry; and this is the signification of Hamra, the name of the valley. I dismounted here, to examine of what the rocks were composed; and found, with the greatest pleasure, that here began the quarries of porphyry, without the mixture of any other stone; but it was imperfect, brittle, and soft. I had not been engaged in this pursuit an hour, before we were alarmed with a report that the Atouni had attacked the rear of the caravan; we were at the head of it. The Turks and my servants were all drawn together, at the foot of the mountain, and posted as advantageously as possible. But it soon appeared that they were some thieves only, who had attempted to steal some loads of corn

from camels that were weak, or fallen lame, perhaps in intelligence with those of our own caravans.

All the rest of the afternoon, we saw mountains of a perfectly purple colour, all of them porphyry; nor has Ptolemy * much erred in the position of them. About four o'clock, we pitched our tent at a place called Main el Mafarek. The colour of the valley El Hamra continued to this station; and it was very singular to observe, that the ants, or pismires, the only living creatures I had yet observed, were all of a beautiful red colour like the sand.

The 20th, at six o'clock in the morning, we left Main el Mafarek, and, at ten, came to the mouth of the defiles. At eleven, we began to descend, having had a very imperceptible ascent from Kenné all the

way.

We were now indemnified for the sameness of our natural productions yesterday; for, on each side of the plain, we found different sorts of marble, twelve kinds of which I selected, and took with me.

At noon, we came to a plain planted with acaciatrees, at equal distances; single trees, spreading broader than usual, as if on purpose to proportion the refreshment they gave to the number of travellers, who stood in need of it. This is a station of the Atouni Arabs after rain. From our leaving Legeta, we had no water that, nor the following day.

On the right hand side of this plain we found porphyry and granite, of very beautiful kinds. All the way, on both sides of the valley, this day, the mountains were of porphyry, and a very few of stone.

At a quarter past four, we encamped at Koraim, a

Ptol. Almag. lib. 4. Geograph. p. 104.