march;* and others discharged their pieces in the air. This display of warlike disposition at length terminated in occasioning two or three frays in the caravan, by exciting disputes, as to who had been the foremost and the bravest among them, in repelling the late attack: the consequences were serious, for not less than five persons were, more or less, hurt or wounded in this affair among friends; though not one had received any injury in the attack of the enemy.

On leaving the Waadi Sajoor, and ascending a gentle hill, we continued, again, our easterly course, over plains of great extent and fertility, seeing, to the north of us, low chalky hills, and losing sight of the range of Mount Taurus altogether.

About one o'clock we reached a small village called Zemboor, near which we halted on an elevated ground, and encamped for the night, for the sake of the supply of water, which the wells here afforded us. There were, at this place, nearly as many tents as houses. The chief himself dwelt in one of the former, of a very large size, supported by sixteen small poles, in four rows of four

* The habit of chaunting rude songs, on occasions of joy or of danger, has, we find, prevailed, from the remotest antiquity, among all barbarous nations. Tacitus, speaking of the ancient Germans, has the following passage:-" The Germans abound with rude strains of verse, the reciters of which, in the language of the country, are called Bards. With this barbarous poetry, they inflame their minds with ardour in the day of action, and prognosticate the event, from the impression which it happens to make on the minds of the soldiers, who grow terrible to the enemy, or despair of success, as the war-song produces an animated or a feeble sound. Nor can their manner of chaunting this savage prelude be called the tone of human organs; it is rather a furious uproar— a wild chorus of military virtue. The vociferation used upon these occasions is uncouth and harsh; at intervals, interrupted by the application of their bucklers to their mouths, and, by the repercussion, bursting out with redoubled force."-Manners of the Germans. Murphy's Translation. Xenophon likewise relates, in the Fourth Book of the Anabasis, that, on an occasion of rejoicing, the Mosynœcians, a barbarous people on the Euxine, expressed their satisfaction by dancing and singing in a wild manner :—“ Cutting off the heads of the slain, they shewed them both to the Greeks and to the Mosynœcians, their enemies (the nation was divided into two hostile tribes); dancing, at the time, and singing a particular tune."

each, the points of which thrusting up the roof, appear like so many Chinese domes. In front of this, was an open place of reception for strangers, and behind it the apartment for females, enclosed all around by a partition of reeds, sewn together by black worsted, in crossed diagonal lines. The tent, and its outer porch, were furnished with beds, cushions, and carpets. The language used here was Turkish; the Arabic being scarcely understood.

As the disposition for feats of arms still reigned among the greater number of our companions, and weapons of some kind were in almost every one's hands, several parties were formed for hunting and shooting, instead of prosecuting further quarrels among each other. By the camel-drivers of our own party, we had a ghazelle brought to us from the plain. It was dressed for supper, and partaken of by many more than our own immediate circle, from its being as highly esteemed here as game is in England. Its flesh was dark, and of a strong taste and smell, but it was much relished by all present.

MAY 30th. Our departure was delayed until the day was fairly opened, the alarm of yesterday not having yet subsided. As there was no Director of the caravan, and every one followed his own way, some were in motion earlier and others later than usual, probably both from the same motive of fear; so that, from front or rear, the opposite end of the long line of the camels was scarcely discernible.

In less than an hour after commencing our march, we passed a village about half a mile on our left; and half an hour further on, we came to a similar one, on the side of an artificial hill, both of them having brick-built houses, white-washed on the outside. In another hour we reached a third village, the people of which sold dried black raisins and tobacco, by the way-side, to the passengers of the caravan, and gave, liberally, of milk and lebben, to all who desired it.

About nine o'clock, we reached a fourth village, larger than the

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rest, where we halted for the rear of the caravan to come up us. We alighted at the tent of the Chief, for here, as in many of the other villages that we had passed, the tents were almost as numerous as the houses, and formed by far the most comfortable dwellings. The whole of these settlements were called by the general name of Barak, from the plain on which they stood, and were all inhabited by Turkish peasants, who cultivated a fertile soil, which now promised them an abundant harvest.

This great Plain, as it is called, was under the direction of the Sheikh, who received the tax from his people, and paid it to the Pasha of Aleppo, and who pitched his tent at different periods near all the villages and wells of his territory in succession. When we alighted at his tent-door, our horses were taken from us by his son, a young man well dressed in a scarlet cloth benish, and a shawl of silk for a turban. The Sheikh, his father, was sitting beneath the awning in front of the tent itself, and when we entered, rose up to receive us, exchanging the salute of welcome, and not seating himself until all his guests were accommodated.

The tent occupied a space of about thirty feet square, and was formed by one large awning, supported by twenty-four small poles in four rows of six each, the ends of the awning being drawn out by cords fastened to pegs in the ground. Each of these poles giving a pointed form to the part of the awning which it supported, the outside looked like a number of umbrella tops, or small Chinese spires. The half of this square was open in front and at the sides, having two rows of poles clear, and the third was closed by a reeded partition, behind which was the apartment for the females, surrounded entirely by the same kind of matting.

It thus gave a perfect outline of the most ancient temples, and as these tents were certainly still more ancient as dwellings of men, if not as places of worship to gods, than any buildings of stone, it struck me forcibly on the spot, as a probable model from which the first architectural works of these countries were taken. We had here an open portico of an oblong form, with two rows of columns of

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six each in front, and the third engaged in the wall that enclosed the body of the tent all around; the first corresponding to the porticoes of temples; and the last, as well in its design as in the sacredness of its appropriation, to the sanctuaries of the most remote antiquity.*

The Sheikh, whose name was Ramadan, was an old man of eighty, of fine features, combining the characteristics of the Turkish and Arabic race, with large expressive eyes. His complexion was darker than that of the people of Yemen, though somewhat less so than that of the common order of Abyssinians, and this was strongly contrasted by a long beard of silvery white. His divan was spread out with mats and cushions, covered with silk his dress and arms were plain, yet of the best qualities of their kind; before his tent were two fine mares, well caparisoned, and every thing about his establishment wore an appearance of wealth and comfort.

Others of the caravan, seeing us halted here as they passed, alighted likewise, and took their seats without invitation, all being received with the same welcome salute, until the party amounted to twenty-six in number. While we were talking of the Turcomans, who had alarmed us on our way, a meal was preparing within; and soon afterwards, warm cakes baked on the hearth cream, honey, dried raisins, butter, lebben, and wheat boiled in milk, were served to the company. Neither the Sheikh himself nor any of his family partook with us, but stood around, to wait upon their guests, though among those who sat down to eat, were two Indian fakirs, or beggars, a Christian pilgrim from Jerusalem, and the slaves and servants of Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmän, all dipping their fingers into the same dish. Coffee was served to us in gilded china cups, and silver stands or finjans, and the pipes of the Sheikh and his son were filled and offered to those who had none.

If there could be traced a resemblance between the form of this tent, and that of the most ancient buildings of which we have any

* See the representations of the primitive huts, in Vitruvius.

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knowledge, our reception there no less exactly corresponded to the picture of the most ancient manners, of which we have any detail. When the three angels are said to have appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, he is represented, as sitting in the tent-door in the heat of the day.* "And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himself towards the ground." "And Abraham hastened into the tent, unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.' And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat." When inquiry was made after his wife, he replied, Behold, she is in the tent." And when it was promised him, that Sarah should have a son, it is said, "And Sarah heard in the tent-door, which was behind him." The angels are represented, as merely passengers in their journey, like ourselves: for the rites of hospitality were shewn to them, before they had made their mission known. At first sight they were desired to halt and repose, to wash their feet, as they had apparently walked, and rest beneath the tree, while bread should be brought them to comfort their hearts. "And after that," said the good old Patriarch," shall ye pass on, for therefore are ye come unto your servant;" so that the duty of hospitality to strangers seems to have been as well and as mutually understood in the earliest days, as it is in the same country at present.

The form of Abraham's tent, as thus described, seems to have been exactly like the one in which we sit; for in both, there was a shaded open front, in which he could sit in the heat of the day, and yet be seen from afar off; and the apartment of the females, where Sarah was, when he stated her to be within the tent, was immediately behind this, wherein she prepared the meal for the guests, and from whence she listened to their prophetic declaration.

I have noted these points of resemblance, chiefly because the

* See Genesis, chap. 18, where the interview is described.