aordinary assiduity; and the majority of the passengers on this
occasion seem to have been detained unnecessarily on the road, and
treated badly at the station houses. The first part of the desert is
rather rocky than sandy, and the road seems to have been formed chiefly
by the carriage wheels. It is covered with great pieces of stone and
rock, which sorely tried the patience of the travellers. Hundreds of
carcasses of camels lie in the way; the flesh is soon eaten by the
wolves and rats, while the bones bleach in the sun. Little troops of
Arabs were met from time to time, sometimes on camels and sometimes on
horses. They were armed to the teeth, as black as negroes, and looked
ferocious enough to make any party of pacific travellers tremble for
their goods and chattels. But they were the patrols of Mohammed Ali, and
guardians of the goods which in other days they would have delighted to
plunder. There are eight stations on this road through the desert, all
built by that man of wonders, the Pasha. Of these, four are only
stables; but four are houses for the reception of travellers. They are
generally from twelve to sixteen miles apart. The station No. 6, though
by no means possessing the comforts of an English hotel, must be a
miracle to the old travellers of the desert. It consists of two
chambers, a kitchen, and servants' room, with a large public saloon
occupying the whole of one end, and completing a little centre court.
Three sides of the saloon were furnished with divans. There was a long
table in the centre, with several chairs, and a glass window at each end
of the room. But this was unluckily the season of flies, and they were
the torment of the travellers; table, wall, ceiling, and floors swarmed
with them. They flew into the face, the eyes, and the mouth. Thousands
of musquittoes were also buzzing round and biting every thing. The
breakfast was no sooner laid on the table than it was blackened with
flies. The beds were hiving, and intolerable. No. 4, the halfway-house,
was rather better. It is the largest of them all, and has a long row of
bedrooms, and two public saloons. It has a large courtyard, in which
were turkeys, geese, sheep, and goats, for the use of travellers. The
Arab coachman here tried a trick of the road. He sent up a message that
he had observed the lady looked very much tired, and that he therefore
advised them to get to the end of their journey as quickly as possible;
that they had better sta