credit of possessing a charm against them ; however, I once received a very severe sting. When going to sit down on our mat, I inadvertently put my hand, it being dark, on a small scorpion, which instantly stung me. Aware of what it was, I procured a light, and hastened with a lancet, to cut to the bone and to suck out the blood. Mr. Ritchie then burnt a deep hole with caustic. ■ The pain remained very acute for some time, and my right side felt rather paralysed; but, owing to the precautions which I had taken, I passed a good night, and the next morning found no inconvenience except a little swelling, and the usual soreness attendant on a burn. Many instances are known of children dying of the sting in three days. There is a little reptile found in the sand here, called Aselis ; it somewhat resembles a lizard in form, and has the power, when alarmed, of instantly burying itself in the sand. I f one is thrown down from the hand, it sinks so perpendicularly on the spot where it falls, that it can immediately be found again. These little creatures are eagerly bought by the girls and married women, for the purpose of ascertaining how many children they shall have. By stretching them, the spine will immediately crack, and the women most religiously believe, that for every sound they shall bear a c h ild The reptiles are few, and consist of lizards, and small snakes, some of a venemous kind, called El Effa. Scorpions and spiders are also very numerous; one of the latter being of an immense size, and called Agrab el riahh or scorpion of the wind, from its great swiftness in running; its bite is venomous, but not dangerously so. There is a large species of lizard called Warral, which is about thirty inches long from the nose to the tip of the ta il; it is very fierce, and when it bites, never relinquishes its hold until it dies, or has its mouth forcibly opened. We had one which kept a piece of rope in its mouth for four or five days, and in that state died. A blow from the tail of this reptile, which it uses like a whip, is much dreaded, as the natives suppose, that a person so struck can never be the parent of a child. One of these having struck my horse on the nose, I was seriously told that he would be incapacitated from becoming the father of a foal. Tobacco is very generally chewed by the women as well as the men; they use the Trona or Soda with it. Smoking is rather the amusement of a great man than of the lower class, the mild tobacco being very dear, and pipes not easily procured. On the 28th October, during the time I was in bed, we had another grand rejoicing day, called Aid el Tagtaga, which is to welcome in the new year of the Hegira, 1235 years having now passed since the flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina. Mukni having given a couple of his cast off women to two of his slaves, one of whom was secretary and barber, and the other groom, we had gay doings in the little square before our Mosque. The first night the barber and secretary (who was the greatest man o f the two) was seated in state on a carpet and mats placed on the ground, in the centre of the square, supported on each side by a friend, who, as well as himself, was covered with fine borrowed clothes, though the bridegroom, of course,shone most bright. Hewas very solemn and dignified, having a lighted candle and lamp placed on the ground before him. The men and women sung round him until near midnight, treating him with great respect. He held a fan in his hand, and occasionally bowed to the company. The bride was then brought from the castle, surrounded by a great concourse of women, who were vociferating in rapid succession, their cries of joy. She held a lighted candle in her hand, and had on a profusion of silver and bead ornaments : she was quite black and very handsome, and had borne three children by the Sultan, all of whom had died. The bridegroom did not deign to look at her, but suffered the procession B B
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