388 
PTOLEMETA TO MERGE, 
The very difficulty of the road added interest to the scene ; and 
the mixture of what (with us) would have been garden shrubs, 
blooming, more luxuriantly than we ever see them in northern cli- 
/ 
mates, amidst the wild crags of a neglected ravine, gave a finish and 
an elegance to its rugged forms which produced the most agreeable 
association of ideas. 
But if we begin to indulge ourselves in recollections of this nature, 
we shall soon lose the thread of our narrative ; and restraint is the 
more necessary on the present occasion, as the scenes which pre- 
sented themselves one after the other, in our route from Ptolemeta 
to Merge, were nothing but a continued succession of beauties from 
the beginning to the end of our journey. In about an hour from the 
time when we began to ascend, we reached the top of the first hill, 
and were saluted by a wild-looking, dark-featured Arab, who presented 
us some honey in the comb which is procured in quantities from the 
neighbouring mountains. This was the first person we had met 
with in our passage up the ravine, and there was a wildness in his 
accent as well as in his appearance which suited admirably with the 
character of the scene. A little farther on we reached some Arab 
tents, scattered here and there among the bushes and trees, and such 
of the Bedouins whose tents we passed nearest to came out, and 
questioned us on the objects of our journey. ^Te observed in these 
people the same peculiarities of look and accent which had struck us 
in our friend of the honeycomb, and they had a bluntness and 
independence of manner and appearance which afforded us, toge- 
ther with their simplicity, a good deal of pleasure and amusement. 
