ned, and when eaten with sugar and milk palatable and
nutritious.

The following morning, as we were preparing to start, I happened to
enter into conversation with an aged moollah, the solitary cicerone of
the Doa[=u]b, who gave us a brief but very extraordinary account of a
cavern about seven miles off; our curiosity was so much excited by the
marvellous details we heard, that we determined to delay our departure
for the purpose of ascertaining how much of his story was due to the
wild imagination of our informant. We accordingly gave orders to
unsaddle, and communicated our intentions to the khan. At first he
strongly urged us not to put our plan into execution, declaring that
the cave was the domicile of the evil one, and that no stranger who
had presumed to intrude upon the privacy of the awful inhabitant had
ever returned to tell of what he had seen. It will easily be imagined
that these warnings only made us more determined upon visiting the
spot. At length, finding our resolution immovable, the kh[=a]n, much
to our astonishment, declared that it was not from personal fear, but
from anxiety for our safety that he had endeavoured to deter us, but
that, as we were obstinate, he would at least afford us the advantage
of his protection, and accompany us, I confess we were not sanguine in
our expectations that he would keep his word, and were not a little
surprised to see him shortly after issue forth from his fort fully
armed, and accompanied by his principal followers. We immediately made
all necessary preparations, and started on our visit to his satanic
majesty.

A bridle-path conducted us for some miles along the edge of a gentle
stream, whose banks were clothed with long luxuriant grass extending
on either side for a few hundred yards; we proceeded rapidly at first,
keeping our horses at a hand gallop, as the path was smooth, and also
to escape from the myriads of forest-flies or blood-suckers which were
perpetually hovering around us, and irritating our cattle almost to
madness whenever we were obliged to slacken our pace; our tormentors,
however, did not pursue us beyond the limits of the pasture land, so
that we were glad to exchange the beauties of the prairie for the
stony barren ground which succeeded it. We soon reached the base of
a hill from whence the wished-for cavern was visible, situated about
half-way up its face. We were now obliged to dismount, and leaving
our horses under the charge of an Uzbeg