dervishes and religious men had come with their
flags, arid a "zikr" was going on. The men of
God stood near the flags, and, accompanied
by the flutes, called out the praises of God.
"O! Allàh is great; he is merciful; and our
lord Mahomet is his prophet;" and so on.
Gradually a circle of men formed round them
and began bowing their heads to the ground,
and shouting "Allàh! Allàh!" They became
intensely excited, tore off their clothes, howled
and screeched "Allàh!" foamed at the mouth,
and one falling down in a fit, we moved towards
our tents.

Next morning we were all up at four, sleep
having been nearly impossible, and started for
the Tomb of the Sheik, but, as it was filled with
women, could not go in. M. Guichard had given
thirty napoleons to be run for by the Bedouins.
Two miles had been staked out by flags, and
about thirty-five wished to start. Mrs. Ross
was to start them; M. Guichard stood by the
winning-post and started them back again.
"Shaitan" or the devil, as Mrs. Ross's horse
was called, was so violent, that, as soon as the
Bedouins were off, she let him go, and arrived
second, and coming back third. The same horse
won both times, and had the prize; he was ridden
without a saddle, and with a bit of rope for a
bridle and bit, by a boy of fourteen, who
deliberately stripped, and when told that this was
not allowed, put an old rag round his middle.
Directly after the race the winner disappeared
in the desert, as his owners were afraid of the
evil eye for him. On our way back to the
camp, old Sheik Mohamed Hassan came up and
made an amende honorable to Mrs. Ross, and,
after a long conversation, he made her a formal
proposal. "O lady, when thou art tired of
thy white husband and needest change, come to
Mohamed Hassan. By Allàh, thou ridest like
ten Bedawees, and thy conversation is such that
thy husband need never go to a coffee-shop for
entertainment or knowledge. I will stand
before thee, O lady, and serve thee like thy
mameluke if thou wilt come to me." The old sheik was
much thanked for his flattering offer, and when
we got under cover of our tent he insisted on
serving his "sitt" (lady) himself with coffee.
The heat was intense in the middle of the day,
and we did not stir till four, when the Bedouins
came and announced that they were going to
perform a fantasia in our honour. The horsemen
divided and fought a mock battle, with
their different war-cries, whirling and circling
about in the desert, firing their guns and pistols,
shaking their long spears above their heads as
they galloped down on the supposed enemy,
then turning and flying, stooping low down on
one side of their horse's neck. It was a most
splendid sight—so wild and picturesque. Then
several rode up to us, made their obedient
horses kneel before us, shake hands, rear and
kick, while others planted their spear in the
ground and galloped round and round it, holding
it in their hand all the time. About six we
invited twelve of the chief men among them to
dine with us. We all squatted down in the
sand, round a huge brass tray placed on a stool,
and began tearing off bits of the roast
lamb, stuffed with pistachio-nuts; it was
roasted whole, and with vegetables round. The
most trying thing was when a remarkably dirty
Bedouin would pull off a piece of flesh and
stuff it into our mouths; we could not refuse
it, as it was a great civility, but not a pleasant
one. After the roast lamb came " baklawi," a
Turkish sweet dish, composed of layers of paste
as thin as a wafer, with honey and sugar
between, a dish particularly to be recommended,
and evidently in high favour with the Bedouins.
We all agreed that it would be far pleasanter to
return to Tell el Kebir and sleep in comfortable
beds, so we mounted our horses at nine, and
started by moonlight across the desert,
accompanied by M. Guichard's three favourite Bedouins
—Saoud, the younger brother of Sheik Mohamed
Hassan, a very handsome young fellow, with
three long love-locks as the high-caste Bedouins
always wear, and two of his cousins. As we
rode across the boundless stretch of sand,
lighted up with the silver rays of the full moon,
we heard the jackals, wolves, foxes, and
gazelles, and the different calls of the night-
birds round us. Now and then we saw some
animals slink away, and disturbed others feeding
on the carcase of a camel. It was a most curious
and impressive ride, our Bedouin companions
chanting their monotonous song to enliven the
way, and uttering imprecations on the horses
when they stumbled over a hillock, or caught
their feet in a jerboa's hole, we might have
fancied ourselves a body of marauders in search
of booty.

Tell el Kebir was reached in about two hours,
and now arose the momentous question, how to
get into the old palace. We found the "kefir"
or watchman, fast asleep, and could not find the
key. Any of my readers who know the East
will remember what an Arab's sleep is like. A
dormouse in the depth of winter is nothing to
him. We lifted up the watchman, and let him
fall again; we banged his head against the
ground; we fired our pistols over his head; as
a last resource, we pricked his arm with Saoud's
dagger, and at last woke him, and got in. Next
morning, at daybreak, Saoud woke us, and said
the gazelles were moving, and that if we would
come and hunt, he was sure we should have a
good day. The horses were saddled, and away
we went, with three good Syrian greyhounds
and four falcons. A hare was started and
killed by the dogs alone, after a good run, and
soon after we caught sight of a troop of gazelles.
A council of war was held, and we scattered, so
as to partly surround the gazelles in a half-
moon. When Saoud gave the signal, two hawks
were thrown up, and away we went as hard as
we could gallop. The hawks soon settled on
their game, and baffled the gazelles, so that
they could not run straight, which allowed the
dogs to get near them, by running what we call
"cunning." After several miles' hard riding,
one gazelle was pulled down by the dogs, the
other got away. The dead gazelle was hoisted