ttress was
surrounded by a swarm of pilgrims, mounted and on foot, eager to get as
near to the Great Devil as possible. I found myself under the stomach of
a fallen dromedary, and had great difficulty in extricating myself; the
boy Mohammed emerged from the tumult with a bleeding nose. Schooled by
adversity, we bided our time ere approaching to cast the seven stones
required by the ceremonial.

At Muna sheep were sacrificed by those pilgrims who, like myself, had
committed breaches of the rules. Literally, the land stank. Five or six
thousand animals were slain and cut up in this Devil's punch-bowl. I
leave the reader to imagine the rest. When I had completed El Umrah, or
the little pilgrimage--a comparatively simple addition to the other
ceremonies--I deemed it expedient to leave Meccah. The danger of
detection was constantly before me; for had my disguise been penetrated,
even although the authorities had been willing to protect me, I should
certainly have been slain by indignant devotees.

Issuing from Meccah into the open plain, I felt a thrill of
pleasure--such pleasure as only the captive delivered from his dungeon
can experience. At dawn the next morning (September 23) we sighted the
maritime plain of Jeddah, situated 44 miles distant from Meccah. Worn
out with fatigue, I embarked on a vessel of the Bombay Steam Navigation
Company, received the greatest kindness from the officers (I had
revealed my identity to the British consul at Jeddah), and in due time
arrived at Suez.

Let me conclude in the words of a long-dead brother traveller, Fahian,
"I have been exposed to perils, and I have escaped them; and my heart is
moved with emotions of gratitude that I have been permitted to effect
the objects I had in view."

SIR WILLIAM BUTLER

The Great Lone Land

_I.--The Red River Expedition_

Sir William Francis Butler, G.C.B., born at Suirville,
Tipperary, Ireland, Oct. 31, 1838, was educated at the
Jesuit College, Tullabeg, King's County, and joined the
British Army as an ensign in the 69th Regiment in 1858. In
1877 he married Miss Thompson, the celebrated painter of
"The Roll Call." Sir William Butler is a versatile writer,
his works embracing records of travel, histories of
military campaigns, biographies, and fiction. His first
book was "The Great Lone Land," published in 1872. Half
the volume is devoted to a sketch of the early history of
the northwest regions of Canada, and