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or accident. I t appeared that the road up the mountain which they
had been observed to take terminated abruptly at the foot of a precipice,
a circumstance which greatly surprised them, for thé track
which they followed was undoubtedly trodden, and, as it seemed to
them, very recently. No outlet, however, was on any side visible,
and as they stood pondering on the object of a road which led only
to the base of a high perpendicular cliff and was closely hemmed in
by thickets and brushwood, they thought they heard a mill at work,
the sound of which seemed to come from above*. As they looked
up with astonishment towards the side of the mountain, from Which
the noise apparently came, they clearly heard a soft female voice
issue from it, and soon perceived two very pretty young Arab girls
looking out of a square hole on the side of the precipice, at the
height of about an hundred and fifty feet above their heads—the
place being not only inaccessible from below but equally so from
above, and indeed on all sides of it, owing to the smoothness and
perpendicular surface of the cliff in which it was formed.
When their surprise was a little abated our servants requested
some water, but were told that there was none in the house ; the
girls inquiring at the same time where our people were going, and if
they belonged to the English at Grenna. They replied in the affirmative,
and said they had lost their way. One of the females then
asked how many the party consisted of, and were answered, fifteen,
* The mill used for grinding corn by the Arabs is nothing more than a small flat
stone on which another is turned by the hand, and this is usually placed in ti e lap of thé
women, who are the only millers and bakers in Arab families.
though there were only two; the remainder, it was added, were
close at hand in the wood. This embellishment was intended as a
defensive measure to conceal the actual weakness of the company, for
the elevated position of their fair auditors had not made the most
favourable impression upon our servants; who suspected that persons
living so far out of reach, must have stronger reasons for moving
so far from their fellow-creatures, than was consistent with honesty
and peaceable intentions. Accordingly when the girls had explained
that the road which they were seeking led over the plain
below, (where their fathers, they said, were cutting corn,) our wanderers
turned to retrace their steps and descend the mountain-path
as fast as possible; not a little anxious with regard to the reception
they might, experience on their route from neighbours of a more
formidable description than the elevated little personages who had
addressed them. As they began to descend one of the girls again
called to them, and letting down a long rope made of twisted skins
with knots: in it two feet apart, desired them to make their waterskin
fast to the end of it, with which, as the skin was empty, they
willingly complied, choosing rather to run the risk of losing it
altogether than to forego a possible chance of getting it replenished.
The skin was quickly hauled up, and disappeared through the hole,
leaving its owners in anxious suspense, not so much on account of
the hide itself as, of its anticipated contents. They had however no
reason to repent of their confidence,, for the skin very shortly made
its appearance again and proved to be nearly full of water, to
the delight of our thirsty attendants; who after expressing their