A RIDE TO BABYLOX. 373 



ant, provided us by the Pasha of Baghdad. As the 

 road is not considered safe, travellers to Babylon are 

 provided with a guard from Baghdad ; but I'm afraid 

 few travellers find the officer commanding the escort 

 the obliging being that we found ours. He was a 

 good-looking young man, with fair hair and grey 

 eyes, the inheritance, probably, of some dazzling 

 Georgian beauty. Late as the hour was, he stood, 

 sab re -girt, ready to receive us ; and upon our dis- 

 mounting he sate himself down upon the ground, 

 and in the most humble way in the world set to 

 work at pulling off our dusty, travel -stained boots. 

 "We perched ourselves upon one of the little raised 

 platforms within the great quadrangle of the build- 

 ing, which seemed full of travellers, very few of 

 whom appeared to be asleep, far as the night was 

 spent. I believe your true Oriental when on the 

 move sleeps but little during the night. You sud- 

 denly awake after a sleep of apparently hours, and 

 look towards your watch-fire ; there you will see 

 him : his fingers stretched out are red in the glow 

 of the firelight, and his eye is gleaming out at you, 

 bright like a beacon, through the darkness of night. 

 The air was heavy with the smoke of various small 

 fires kindled around in different parts of the large 

 serai. As we wandered away to smiling England, 

 to home, to memories of those nearest and dearest, 

 the adventuresome voice of some traveller near us 

 broke from a dark recess of the building. The tale 

 VOL. L 2 B 



