rinciple I had descended from my huge, ungainly camel, who had
never before been used for riding, and whose swinging paces were very
irksome, and was resting myself by walking in his shade, when seeing
something run up to a large stone which lay in the way, I moved it to
see what it was. I found a lizard, six or eight inches long, of a
species with which I was unacquainted. I caught the reptile by the nape
of the neck, which made him open his ugly mouth in a curious way, and he
wriggled about so much that I could hardly hold him. Judging that he
might be venomous, I looked about for some safe place to put him, and my
eye fell upon the large glass lantern which was used in the tent; that,
I thought, was just the thing for my lizard, so I put him into the
lantern, which hung at the side of the baggage camel, intending to
examine him at my leisure in the evening. When the sun was about to set,
the tent was pitched, and a famous fire lit for the cook. It was in a
bare, open place, without a hill, stock, or stone in sight in any
direction all around. The camels were tethered together, near the
baggage, which was piled in a heap to the windward of the fire; and, as
it was getting dark, one of the Arabs took the lantern to the fire to
light it. He got a blazing stick for this purpose, and held up the
lantern close to his face to undo the hasp, which he had no sooner
accomplished than out jumped the lizard upon his shoulder and
immediately made his escape. The Arab, at this unexpected attack, gave a
fearful yell, and dashing the lantern to pieces on the ground, screamed
out that the devil had jumped upon him and had disappeared in the
darkness, and that he was certain he was waiting to carry us all off.
The other Arabs were seriously alarmed, and for a long while paid no
attention to my explanation about the lizard, which was the cause of all
the disturbance. The worst of the affair was that the lantern being
broken to bits, we could have no light; for the wind blew the candles
out, notwithstanding our most ingenious efforts to shelter them. The
Arabs were restless all night, and before sunrise we were again under
way, and in the course of the day arrived at the convent of Baramous.
This monastery consisted of a high stone wall, surrounding a square
enclosure, of about an acre in extent. A large square tower commanded
the narrow entrance, which was closed by a low and narrow iron door.
Within there was a good-sized church in tole