THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 25 



n hole in the ground, in the form of a grave, which they 

 heat with fire, the patient is placed therein, and covered, 

 and he remains there until he is either cured or dies, a matter 

 which takes but a very short time to decide. In the case 

 of death, they have only to fill up the grave with earth ; 

 while, if the patient recover, he has to mount his camel and 

 meet the enemy. Their wounds are either spear-thrusts or 

 sword-cuts, as they very seldom use guns in the desert. 



The caution with which the camel-drivers carried us 

 through the desert is not to be described. On the third 

 or fourth day, on our arrival at the wells, in order to give 

 water to the camels, and to fill our leather-bags, the most 

 sharp-sighted among them placed himself on an elevation, 

 to ascertain whether there were any men discernible in the 

 distance. If they found embers or ashes, they examined 

 the place strictly. The excrement of the camels also under- 

 went a scrutiny as to whether it was new or old, which way 

 the animals passed, &c. We were brought from the banks 

 of the Euphrates into Hit, as they told us that the place we 

 were in was not perfectly secure. The governor ordered us to 

 appear before him, and he demanded a certain sum from 

 the two Armenians, our fellow travellers, but not from us 

 nor the pilgrims, as we were provided with a letter of recom- 

 mendation from the Pasha of Damascus to Dohud Pasha of 

 Bagdad. This letter, which served us in the meantime as 

 a passport, was so much respected by j^the Agha of Hit, that 

 he placed it on his forehead as a token of respect. 



At midnight, we were alarmed by a great noise and 

 uproar in the town. Upon asking for an explanation, they 

 told us that the Arabs of the desert were in pursuit of the 

 pilgrims. This information filled us with fear and anxiety, 

 for we were all assembled in the same house, and firmly 

 believed that it was the husbands of the women we had met 

 with previously, and that their intention was to plunder us ; 

 but we were mistaken. A short time afterwards the people 

 informed us that they were the Agha's enemies, the Agelis, 

 who were come to take revenge on him, and it was rumoured 

 that they had forced the paUce, and killed the Agha. 



