to and dreaded by travellers. The marvellous narratives of calamity
therein suffered, and which had been recited to me on our w ay; and
the black and dreary appearances which the face of the country
offered to my view, roused my curiosity, and I pressed on before
the caravan to examine a lower mountain, which, like a promontory
jutted towards us before the rest. The soil of the desert near
was stony, the stones consisting of calcareous limestone. The
mountain presented the form of an imperfect cone: its strata I take
to have lain originally horizontal, as those of the hills passed on our
route, but from some convulsion, they are now broken, turned over,
and promiscuously confused. The substance of which the mountain
consists, on fracture, and as to colour, resembles the ferruginous
basalt; and such I take it to be. Range upon range of dreary and
black mountains succeed, and form the only prospect! .
As the caravan was approaching, I dismounted, and sat me down
close to a large stone which formed my table, whilst I partook of
such frugal fare as the Arab carries with him on these occasions.
When I rose up the caravan had passed the prominence of the mountain
and disappeared. The ground, however, being firm, and thence
the road to be easily traced, I was under no anxiety ; though after
half an hour's march, somewhat surprised at not yet discovering my
old companions, I took out my spy-glass, when I descried at a little
distance four Moroccans, whom I rode up to and accosted: they told
me that the caravan had already encamped at a short distance, from
the road, to pasture their camels, and that they themselves were in
search of water to satisfy their thirst. I was inclined to be of their
party, but was fearful of giving uneasiness to my people by longer
absence from the caravan, which, from its fires now kindled, l easily
discovered and rejoined.
The ninth day we travelled between black and dreary hills; our
road meandering through narrow and dismal ravines, now and
then spreading to some width, having some grass and even a
tree, and sometimes opening to a space of valley, of which the
herbage looked fresh, and even luxuriant, from the copious rains
which fall in this mountainous region, fertilizing the soil after it is
washed down.
Our watering-place consisted of pools of mere rain wrater from
the hills, and was situate at the edge of a valley of about six miles
circuit, shewing not only a rich verdure, but bearing shrubs and
trees. Here we saw some gazelles, but so shy, that we could not
get a shot at them.
We passed our tenth, eleventh, and twelfth days incessantly almost
in march through this dreary solitude; yet we could not expedite
our journey as we wished. Sometimes we were obliged to wander
from our direct line with the windings of our only path; at other
times we were forced to move on slowly and with difficulty, over
layers of loose stone for half a mile together: in the course of one
of those days, I ventured on a walk to the south, accompanied by
my Arabian servant and some Twaters. We could easily, on foot,
outstrip the caravan under all its impediments of march. Every
where I found the mountains of like appearance as exhibited to the
traveller on the common road, with the only difference that views
even more dreary and terrific occasionally caught the eye: it having
been matter of course to work and conduct the road along the least
rugged vallies.
On the afternoon of the thirteenth day, we broke at length from