PALACE OF THE GINN. 
151 
Jaiiooii, Palace or Citadel of the Ginn : a huge 
square mass of rock, said to be a day in circuit, and 
bristling with turret-pinnacles, some of which must, 
be seven hundred feet in height. Nothing but its 
magnitude can convince the eye at a distance that 
it is not a work raised by human hands, and shat- 
tered by time or warfare. Its vast disrupted 
walls tower gigantically over the plain. Here, as 
in another Pandemonium, the spirits of the desert 
collect from places distant thousands of miles, for 
the purpose of debate or prayer. It is a mosque as 
well as a hall of council, and a thesaurus to boot, 
for unimaginable treasures are buried in its caverns. 
Poor people love to forge w^ealthy neighbours for 
themselves. No Tiiarick will venture to explore 
these Titanic dwellings, for, according to old com- 
pact, the tribes of all these parts have agreed to 
abstain from impertinent curiosity, on condition of 
receiving advice and assistance from the spirit-inha- 
bitants of their country. In my former visit I nearly 
lost my life in an attempt to explore it, and was sup- 
posed to have been misled by mocking-spirits : little 
did I think that this superstition was about to re- 
ceive another confirmation. 
The Kasar Janoon, and all the mountains around, 
were wrapped this day in haze, but loomed gigan- 
tically through. We proceeded, still in sight of 
this enchanted castle, over the plain, which was 
perfectly bare and arid, until we arrived at Wady 
Atoulah, where we found the beneficent ethel and 
