SKETCH XII.

THE WADIS.

Of the former, one served

IN all sincerity I must acknowledge that our first experiences in dromedary-riding were not unattended by painful results. It was only on the day after our first stage to the Wells of Moses, that we realised the state of exhaustion we were in. But habit is quick of coming, and we soon got used to the exertion. Our camp, during our sojourn in the desert, consisted of three large and two small tents. as a common sleeping room for some of us. The second was our dining and drawing room, and the third contained, not without difficulty, all our cooking apparatus. The two small tents formed apartments reserved for the serious members of our party-individuals, who were not in the habit of singing and dancing round tables half the night, and from one of them floated our admiral's flag, while we were navigating the sands. The dwellers in these privileged places applied

themselves generally to avoiding too close proximity to the noisy and undisciplined crew of the others, but when the experiences of the desert became too monotonous, momentary fusions took place; the serious. persons solicited permission to come into our gay precincts, to which we never consented without making them pay their footing.

To any spectator perched on the mountain heights, our caravan must have presented a very respectable appearance, for our effective force consisted of twentyseven dromedaries and camels. Our nine riding dromedaries belonged to the stud of the Viceroy; four camels were told off for water transport; three carried the tents and all their fittings; seven were laden with chopped straw and beans for themselves and their brethren-for, though a camel, having laid in a store of water, can go for a week without drinking, he must have one meal a day regularly, however moderate its quantity may be. One of these interesting animals might well have been astonished at the interest we took in him; he was as well entitled to hold up his head as the famous ass who carried the relics, for more than Cæsar and his fortunes had been committed to his capacious back. This privileged creature carried our photographic apparatus, and all its bottles and

glasses. What care we took of him when he was going down-hill, and through difficult passages! What mistaken ideas he must have entertained respecting the origin of his importance! How many statesmen are there who impute to themselves all the merit of the glass they carry! Don't let the globe fall! That is the foundation of the enthusiasm which they inspire.

In these desert countries the affections fix themselves with intensity upon the simplest necessaries, which one has never previously believed to have any importance. Next to the camel who was laden with our photographic treasures, we cared for one on whose hump our pot au feu cooked itself, all day in a marvellous Swedish stewpan. Aladdin's lamp would have been valueless to us in comparison.

This admirable invention of Swedish genius deserves a detailed description. It was simply a wooden case strongly lined with woollen stuff, and hermetically closed, containing a simple stewpan, which fitted it as a jewel fits its box. In this simple stewpan you put, all the ingredients of the pot au feu, with the proper quantity of boiling water (which can always be ready before the start); then the box being carefully shut, the ebullition will be kept up indefinitely; indeed it

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would last, were such an experiment necessary, until the water should be entirely evaporated. In a carriage, on horse, ass, or camel back, the pot au feu cooks itself, and when, having begun your journey in the morning, you arrive at your destination worn out with fatigue and hunger, you find a hot and delicious soup ready

for you.

The Arabs were so astonished at this simple physical phenomenon, that they believed it was the result of sorcery on our part, and the marvellous stewpan caused them as much terror as admiration. Every time the camel-drivers passed before the pot-bearing camel, they gave him a wide berth, and crossed themselves after their fashion. Our cook only-a great amateur of his art-had conquered his religious scruples, and he declared that he would renounce the Mahometan paradise, if it did not include a Swedish stewpan. Let me sketch a few of our people. Our dragoman, a Syrian, was very intelligent, but, like all Arabs, endowed with assurance beyond belief. The labours of Hercules were child's play in comparison. with the feats of his performance, which he would narráte, and illustrate by the most wonderful gestures. When you come to France,' we told him, 'we shall present you to Lord Longbow, and he will imme

diately take you for his dragoman.' He quite believed us, and awaits the event with impatience.

Our other two servants were Egyptians, much more silent and respectful than the dragoman. They were very gentle and intelligent, and they told us they were preparing themselves to be hereafter leaders of caravans. One of them, a native of Upper Egypt, was named Ibrahim; his face was thin and beardless, his gestures were graceful, and, together with his long blue gown, gave him the look of a timid girl. We called him Miss Ibrahim. He and his fellow-servant Michael were exemplarily clean, a virtue of extreme rarity among Arabs, and which made the dirty habits of our dragoman and his acolytes all the more conspicuous. Another type among our servants was our cook's assistant, a little African negro, whose name we never knew, and who was of course called Snowball.

He was always laughing, and his dazzling white teeth shone like gas jets at the entrance of a cavern. His unwearying, unvarying gaiety contrasted with the dramatic side of his functions; for he was the great sacrificer: he it was who killed the doomed sheep and fowls, but he also was charged with the feeding of them. The fowls were very fond of him; they