Chap. XXXI. 
321 
dered about the town for a good while, I at length 
took up my quarters provisionally with some Arabs, 
till the cool of the afternoon aroused the courtiers 
from their long midday slumber, which they cer- 
tainly may have needed, inasmuch as they had been 
up at two o'clock in the morning. But even after 
I had the good fortune to see Haj Beshir, I found 
it difficult to obtain quarters, and 1 was obliged to 
pitch my tent in a courtyard. 
Being tired of the crowd in the town, I mounted 
on horseback early next morning in order to refresh 
myself with a sight of the lake, which I supposed to 
be at no great distance, and indulged beforehand in 
anticipations of the delightful view which I fondly 
imagined was soon to greet my eye. We met a good 
many people and slaves going out to cut grass for the 
horses; and leaving them to their work we kept on 
towards the rising sun. But no lake was to be seen, 
and an endless grassy plain without a single tree 
extended to the furthest horizon. At length, after 
the grass had increased continually in freshness and 
luxuriance, we reached a shallow swamp, the very 
indented border of which, sometimes bending in, at 
others bending out, greatly obstructed our progress. 
Having struggled for a length of time to get rid of 
this swamp, and straining my eyes in vain to discover 
the glimmering of an open water in the distance, I 
at length retraced my steps, consoling myself with the 
thought that I had seen at least some slight indication 
VOL. II. Y 
