PEDESTRIAN PARTY. 171 



plain of Hy; it would then, when the soft and 

 yielding alluvial soil of the plain of Eamudalee on 

 the other side admitted, again expand into wide 

 reaches of a fine white sand. Where its straight 

 course was most apparent, I took care to illustrate 

 to Ohmed Medina the condition of our roads in 

 England, to which, in some places it bore an exact 

 resemblance ; and growing out of this conversa- 

 tion, a long discussion took place between us upon 

 wheel carriages. The description of the Queen's 

 state coach was a dream of gold to him, and 

 upon this, and its probable worth in dollars, he 

 employed himself thinking for the rest of the 

 day. 



Our pedestrian party preceded the camels a 

 long distance, generally consisting of Ohmed 

 Medina, Garahmee, and the other Hy Soumaulee, 

 myself, and a variable lot of the camel owners, who 

 would now sit down and stay, or at other times run 

 forward to join us, as the rugged or level character 

 of the road decided the necessity of more or less 

 attention to their camels, and to the security of 

 their loads. The march was a long one in a south- 

 west direction, and it was very evident that the 

 plain of Hy was the separation between the waters 

 flowing to the east into the muddy lake of Gur- 

 guddee, and those which directed their course, 

 through the valley of Gobard, to the large terminal 

 lake of the Ha wash, called Abhibhad. We halted 

 several times, to rest ourselves, under the shade of 



