ment has a
permanent and irresistible attraction. Old Abou Nabout, the leader of
our caravan, rode on quietly in front, his eyes gazing steadfastly
across the sandy plain, and dreams of his youth doubtless floated
through his mind as his horse threw up clouds of sand with his hoofs.

Our first ride soon came to a pause, for instead of encamping at two
hours' distance from El Kantara, as I had ordered, the moukri
(mule-driver) unpacked our tents in a small sandy valley which we
reached in half an hour only. Knowing from experience how necessary it
is to insist upon the execution of orders once issued, especially at
the commencement of a caravan journey, I made the moukri pack up again,
at which he was evidently not best pleased. We then continued our course
until we came to a shallow depression of the sandy ground, where I
directed our tents to be pitched. We travelled in a comparatively
comfortable manner, being furnished with two tents for sleeping, and a
third in which we took our meals. Besides these, we had a smaller tent
for a kitchen.

Everything was unpacked--our stores, the forage for our animals, and the
water casks. These had to pass a careful inspection by our old leader,
who repaired those which were leaky. The thirsty mules and donkeys were
taken back to El Kantara to drink, and the camels were driven to graze
in the neighbourhood, where were a few tamarisks, _Salsola echinus_,
_Portulaca_, and other plants of the desert.

Our tents were soon in order, and under their shelter we at last enjoyed
our rest. Before sunset we saw our animals return from El Kantara.
Horses and mules were then re-saddled and fastened together in a
straight line to a long rope. Their shadows, thrown by the moon upon the
sand, were extremely grotesque. We could now count them at our leisure.
There were seven horses, five mules, and three donkeys. The camels,
seven in number, were allowed to wander freely over the desert. To an
inexperienced traveller their huge forms on the vast plain, in a dark
night, have the appearance of ghastly phantoms. Our moukri and the
camel-drivers had lighted a big fire, and were now stretched out at full
length around it. We had four moukri, one of whom was a Persian named
Ahsen, and two camel-drivers, Daud and Hassan, both from El Harish. We
heard Abou Nabout's voice every now and then in the kitchen tent for
some little time, but complete peace soon reigned, and it was not long
before our little cam