May.] 
ARRIVAL AT THE CITY. 
221 
spectful distance. Some of the boldest ventured 
nearer, but the least sound of the whips, by the 
drivers striking the oxen, made them run as if 
chased by lions. At the east corner of the fields 
vi^e arrived at a hill of difficult ascent, not so much 
from its steepness as from its being almost covered 
v^^ith large stones. The descent, if possible, was 
worse. Every stroke of the waggon against a 
rock occasioned uncomfortable feelings, know- 
ing how important it was to keep them whole 
in a region so remote from any place where 
they could be repaired. 
The plain, which extended between the hill we 
were descending and that on which the city 
stood, was soon covered with people ; if I may 
use the expression, streams of the population 
were pouring down from the heights in every 
direction. It being impossible to drag the wag^ 
gons up the hill in fi-ont, they were directed to 
go round by another way, while some of us 
ascended straight up by a most rocky path, 
amidst a multitude of people of all ages, every 
one pushing and striving to get a single peep at 
us. We arrived at the city exactly at four p. m. 
