DIXAN. ' 241 
I have before given a view of the' town of Dixan in my larger 
publication, and no great changes appeared to have taken place 
since the time that it was sketched, except that a few additional 
huts or caves had been constructed in the lower town. In the 
course of the morning I observed some labourers busily engaged 
in excavating and forming one of these singular habitations, and, 
as the only tools employed consisted of a small kind of adze, to 
shape the stones, and the blade-bone of a bullock to dig out the 
earth and temper the mortar, it was somewhat surprising to 
remark the facility with which the work was executed. The 
inhabitants, who came in crowds to look at us, did not seem to 
be overburthened with clothing : the men w ore a short pair of 
drawers and a loose cloth over their shoulders ; and the women had 
a tanned skin, ornamented with shells, tied round their waists ; 
while the children, *both boys and girls, went entirely naked. The 
country round Dixan at this season of the year wore a scorched 
and desolate aspect. The only cattle left for the sopply of the 
inhabitants were- milch-goats and kids ; large herds of which were 
brought in by the shepherds every evening and folded near the 
skirts of the town, to protect them from the hyenas and other 
wild beasts which prowl about in the neighbourhood. Our rest 
during the two nights we stayed at Dixan was much disturbed by 
the howling of these ferocious animals, and the incessant barking 
of dogs which their approach occasioned. The howling of the 
hyaena is very peculiar, consisting of three distinct deep-toned 
cries ; after which intervenes a few minutes interval of silence, 
when the three cries are again repeated. The nights at Dixan 
were exceedingly fine ; and from the heighth of our situation the 
