our return journey by making a longer stay amidst
the beautiful and extremely singular scenery of the Roumel.

Our next resting-place was Batna, a small French town situated on the
elevated ground--nearly four thousand feet above the level of the
sea--between the Mediterranean and the Sahara. We had to make the
journey thither by diligence and by night, and we were surprised to find
how cold an African night can be even in April. There was a hard frost,
and just before entering Batna we passed under an aqueduct from which
hung down a fringe of enormous icicles. The following day, on the still
higher ground at the celebrated cedar forest, which forms an interesting
excursion from Batna, we found deep snow. During the day the sun shone
out bright and powerful, but the nights continued to hold the forest
frost-bound.

At Batna we met with a party of gentlemen, one of whom we had known
slightly in Algiers; and they, like ourselves, were bound for Biskra.
This complicated matters, as it was understood that the accommodation at
the oasis was of a somewhat scanty description. They were three, and we
were four--altogether, a party of six gentlemen and one lady. We
telegraphed from Batna to ascertain whether or not we could all get
rooms. Our despair may be imagined when we received the answer: one of
the little hotels was closed, and the other could only offer us two
rooms. Two rooms for seven people! What was to be done? We could not--or
rather would not--retrace our steps at this stage, and thus give up the
very object of our journey; so we resolved to go on at all risks and
take our chance.

The evening before we started on our somewhat adventurous journey, as we
sat chatting round the fire, I could not help giving vent to my
feelings. The desert! Was it possible? I felt myself on the eve of
something momentous. It was an event in my life, a something never to be
forgotten. A smile played upon the faces of my companions, and next day,
when, utterly worn and weary, I could with difficulty take an interest
in anything around me, they were very ready to banter me about "the
event in my life."

It was not without serious misgivings that we took our places in the
great lumbering vehicle which travels twice a week between Batna and the
oasis. Nothing but a heavy, strongly-built conveyance could stand the
jolting of such a journey; and in order to accomplish it at all within
the day it is necessary to start between two and thr