152 TRAVELS IN 
with fo much eagernefs and uncertainty I was 
fearching for. 
In traverfing the defiles, we perceived the 
frefli traces of human feet. They conduced 
us towards fome rocks, which we clambered 
up ; and we found there warraafhes and a few 
remains of coals fdlL burning. It was evi- 
dent, that fires had been kindled there during 
the night ; and the veftiges ftill fubfifting an- 
nounced to us, that the country was Inhabited, 
and that the objects of our purfuit could be at 
no great diftance. 
Notwithftanding all the precautions we had 
hitherto taken, this difcovery induced ua to 
double our attention. In ihortj after marc!(i^ 
ing fome time, we arrived at a rivulet which 
ifTued from the entrance of a narrow ^ defile. 
On its banks fome covv^s were feeding ; and 
at the diftance of four hundred paces farther 
towards the defile, ftood a certain num- 
ber of huts, th^ habitations of the Houzoua- 
At the mom,ent of cur arrival, none of them 
were abroad but the women, who, on per- 
ceiving us, ,fent forth a cry of alarm. Upon 
this fignal, the men came cut of their huts. 
