on as her husband--a machinist. But she declared that her only
profession was that of a "married woman," and she was so inscribed. Her
peevish boy rejoiced in the title of "_pleuricheur_," or "weeper," and the
infant as "_titeuse_," or "sucker." While this was going on, the
guardiano of our room came in very mysteriously, and beckoned to my
companion, saying that "Mademoiselle was at the gate." But it was the
Italian who was wanted, and again, from the little window of our pavilion,
we watched his hurried progress over the lawn. No sooner had she departed,
than he took his pocket telescope, slowly sweeping the circuit of the bay
as she drew nearer and nearer Beyrout. He has succeeded in distinguishing,
among the mass of buildings, the top of the house in which she lives, but
alas! it is one story too low, and his patient espial has only been
rewarded by the sight of some cats promenading on the roof.

I have succeeded in obtaining some further particulars in relation to
Quarantine. On the night of our arrival, as we were about getting into our
beds, a sudden and horrible gush of brimstone vapor came up stairs, and we
all fell to coughing like patients in a pulmonary hospital. The odor
increased till we were obliged to open the windows and sit beside them in
order to breathe comfortably. This was the preparatory fumigation, in
order to remove the ranker seeds of plague, after which the milder
symptoms will of themselves vanish in the pure air of the place. Several
times a day we are stunned and overwhelmed with the cracked brays of three
discordant trumpets, as grating and doleful as the last gasps of a dying
donkey. At first I supposed the object of this was to give a greater
agitation to the air, and separate and shake down the noxious exhalations
we emit; but since I was informed that the soldiers outside would shoot us
in case we attempted to escape, I have concluded that the sound is meant
to alarm us, and prevent our approaching too near the walls. On inquiring
of our guardiano whether the wheat growing within the grounds was subject
to Quarantine, he informed me that it did not ecovey infection, and that
three old geese, who walked out past the guard with impunity, were free to
go and come, as they had never been known to have the plague. Yesterday
evening the medical attendant, a Polish physician, came in to inspect us,
but he made a very hasty review, looking down on us from the top of a high
horse.

_Monday,