120 REACH ALEEX' 



SHAITAN. 



lutely resisting for some time the approach of 

 sleep, until at length I found it impossible to keep 

 my eyes open any longer, so without knowing 

 exactly the time of my departure to the realms of 

 Morpheus, I only awakened at the rude shake 

 which Zaido gave my leg, when he called me up 

 for the next day's march. 



April bth. — We were on the march this morning 

 by sunrise, our road continuing over broad fields of 

 a thin stratum of black lava, overlaying a light- 

 coloured and very finely-grained sandstone, beneath 

 which was the same cretaceous formation with 

 shells I had observed in several places yesterday. 

 Dykes of a hard rock stood like high fences 

 in a direction from east to west, and on one occa- 

 sion we passed some distance actually along the 

 interior of one, the centre of softer material having 

 been denuded, leaving two thin walls of the outer 

 and much harder stone. 



After a short time, we came to the watering- 

 place of Aleex' Shaitan, which was a little to the 

 left of our road, consisting of natural reservoirs, or 

 pools of small dimensions, which contained some 

 sweet, but very dirty water. A wada, or small 

 valley, extended a short distance to the right, in 

 which were larger and greener mimosa-trees than 

 any I had met with before. I learnt that this was 

 to have been our halting-place of yesterday, but 

 that it was preoccupied by a Kafilah coming from 

 Owssa to Tajourah, which was now passing us, and 



