A MORNING PROSPECT. 51 



half a mile wide, leaving a sort of shelf on each 

 side, on one of which we had been travelling. 



I never was so glad to get to the end of 

 a march, as our ponies were dead beat, and it 

 was nearly dark. We pitched our tents in what 

 appeared to be a fallow-field close to the village. 

 Some of the natives turned up at once, and 

 brought fuel, and boosa (chaff) for the ponies, 

 which was all we required ; of water there was 

 abundance. We got our dinner at about ten 

 o'clock, and decided that we must halt the next 

 day and rest our ponies. 



Daylight awoke me, and I got up at once to 

 see what sort of place we were in. We were 

 camped just on the edge of cultivation. Up and 

 down the valley as far as eye could reach were 

 green fields of Indian corn, millet, peas, mustard, 

 &c., interspersed with groves of walnut, poplar, 

 and aspen trees, with here and there an orchard 

 of apricot and apple trees, to say nothing of 

 melon-plants and vines all about the cottages. It 

 did, indeed, appear a land of plenty. After walk- 

 ing about for a while and feasting my eyes on 

 the scene, I began to think it time for breakfast, 

 so returned to camp and found the dreams that 

 my imagination had conjured up realised. Quite 



