346 
A CEUSADE IN THE EAST. 
pitiable to behold us; it was more than pitiable—actually 
heart-rending. To this day I can not think of that miserable 
little town and the night we spent there without an itching to 
get farther away from it. In the middle of the night, after 
tossing, rolling, and groaning, without even so much as a wink 
of sleep—for the fleas actually covered me as a live coating of 
black mail—I started up and looked around in search of sym¬ 
pathy. The tall Southerner was sitting up on the mud floor, 
his hair disheveled, his eyes wild and and haggard, and his 
face dreadfully scarred and emaciated; he was in the act of 
aiming a blow, with an empty bottle, at the head of some 
hungry animal that had been trying to eat him. The En¬ 
glish Captain, jolly as ever, was scratching himself with one 
hand, while with the other he held a pipe, which he smoked 
with great calmness and good-humor. 
“ Hallo !” said I, “ what’s the matter, Captain ?” 
“ The fleas,” said the Captain; “ they’re quite stunning, I 
assure you. Never saw so many in all my life.” 
“Why don’t you catch ’em ?” 
“ Too strong for me ; can’t hold ’em. Ton my honor, they 
won’t let me sleep a wink. Awfully ferocious animals ; stun¬ 
ning, quite stunning, I assure you. Sir, I don’t think any 
thing short of hot brandy-punch will cure them.” 
The proposition was so gratifying that we all immediately 
agreed to it. Francesco and Yusef were aroused, and com¬ 
manded to produce fire and water in ten minutes, on the pain 
of our displeasure. Very soon we felt quite happy, in spite of 
the vermin—happier, a good deal, than we did next morning. 
I have looked in vain for a scientific description of the Syr¬ 
ian flea. Surely it deserves a place in natural history : and, 
although unskilled in entomology, I shall here notice briefly 
this extraordinary animal. The Pulce granda , or Syrian flea, 
is of a lively disposition and irregular in his habits, given to 
late hours and disturbances of the peace. He sleeps occasion¬ 
ally during the day, but is always wide awake at night, when 
his vivacity is very remarkable. Human blood is his food ; 
he prefers Christians to Arabs as an article of diet; has great 
vigor of muscle and capacity for digestion; carries in his mouth 
