ravines and bushes, in vain calling out the names of our lost friends, as loudly as prudence would permit. My horse fell down the side of a hill; the guides, camels, and mules tumbled by turns; every moment we expected a crowd of ruffians to rush upon us; and at one time we lost our way, and had to go round through a long wady' full of water and trees, but which perhaps may have helped to save us from being perceived, as it necessarily took us into very unlikely places for laden beasts to travel.

We were now nearly in the centre of the Ghor, surrounded by tribes of the greatest possible rogues, in despair of finding our poor people, and the moon just rising above the hills; and considering that it would be utterly impossible, if we remained, that Toby and I could stand against the numbers who would surround us in the morning, I resolved at once to traverse the 30 or 35 miles of country which separated us from Jericho before daylight, and from thence to dispatch the strongest guard I could collect in search of the men. Heartrending it was indeed to adopt this course, and thus apparently to abandon our three unfortunate companions; but I could see no other possible means of helping them. Daylight would certainly have brought multitudes of savages about us, and however dearly we might have sold our lives, it is impossible that they could have lasted long.

We therefore took our course along the foot of the western mountains, and for ten long hours we kept constantly moving as fast as the camels could go, without a single stoppage, but preserving the most perfect silence throughout, always avoiding everything like huts or habitations. As we approached Jericho we broke off too much to the right, lost our way, and had partly to retrace our steps; and as we carried no water, and the night was very hot, we were nearly dead with thirst when at five o'clock we reached a small stream called Aïn esSultan. It had once been apparently conveyed across the valley by an aqueduct, but it now runs under the arches; and having stopped there a few moments to drink, we reached the Castle of Jericho about half-past five, just as the sun shone down into the valley. Nothing but the excitement and sense of danger had preserved us from falling off our horses; and even as it was, I was obliged to walk a considerable part of the distance to enable me to keep my eyes open.

Tuesday, 31st.-On our arrival at Jericho I immediately went up to the old governor in the castle, produced the letter from the governor of Beirout, and by my urgent entreaties succeeded better than I ever did before with a Turk; for in a short time four soldiers well mounted and armed, and accom

panied by the muleteer, were off in search of our lost friends. I sent by the muleteer some rum, water, and bread, and a note for Grant; and the man we had brought from Seguia as guide I desired to go up along the river-side in search of the boat, so that if we should happily find the men, we might yet be able to carry out our project.

The valley of the Jordan, from the place where we were attacked down to the neighbourhood of Jericho, needs but little description, being much the same throughout. The lower valley is about three-quarters of a mile broad; and within those bounds the river winds extremely. The cliffs on either side have still, the same whitish, chalky appearance, and fall away abruptly from the upper land, which, both to the E. and W. of the river for the last 30 miles of its course, has a barren and desolate appearance, and is but little cultivated. Near Jericho the formation of the ground becomes less regular; the western mountains, in one or two places, jut out considerably into the Ghor; the cliffs less exactly mark the bounds of the lower plain; and just abreast of Jericho, near the bathing-place, the descent from the higher ground is by a number of rounded sand-hills. A large patch of green stunted trees and shrubs marks the site of what is supposed to be the ancient Jericho, and here and there are to be seen the remains of some considerable buildings, with fragments of an aqueduct at the foot of the hills to the N.W. of the modern village. Around this mud-built village there is some cultivated ground, watered by two streams, one of which flows from Elisha's fountain.

After the horses had been fed and rested, Toby and I started, accompanied by one man, from the castle, in time to reach Jerusalem before sunset, the gates being closed at that hour. About three miles from Jerusalem we met the consul, Mr. Finn, who, with a guard, was on his way to Jericho for the purpose of hearing some tidings of us; and he immediately turned round to introduce us to the Pasha. This being Ramazan, his Excellency sleeps throughout the day, eats at sunset, and after that transacts business; he was therefore still at his evening meal when we called. We had to talk a

great deal before we could get anything out of him; he made several excuses-first, that the place where the affair took place was not within his jurisdiction; secondly, that the Bedouins were rebels, and that the Government was unable to do anything with them but at last we persuaded him to write two letters, which we dictated, one to the governor of Nablous, directing him to send in search of the men throughout the country, and bring them as speedily as possible to Jerusalem or Jericho; and the other to the Pasha of Damascus, within

whose pashalik is Abou Obeidah, requesting him to take any measures in his power to recover the men and arms. He then consented to give me ten soldiers to go with me to Jericho, and to accompany me in any search that I might myself undertake. He also promised, when my search was over, to order five men to escort us from Jericho to the Dead Sea, should I still determine to embark on it. I slept at Mashallum's hotel, and the consul kindly agreed to go back with me and the soldiers to Jericho in the morning.

Wednesday, September 1st.-The consul having duly come to the hotel, we started at eleven o'clock; and I took with me a Greek belonging to the hotel, who had been two or three years at sea. We found our Turkish soldiers very slow in moving, and before we had travelled an hour and a half they stopped at a fountain to rest, so that we did not arrive at Jericho till half-past five.

The two Arabs had succeeded in bringing the boat down the river; she was now at Jericho; but they had fallen in with more Bedouins, who, finding that there was nothing in her worth taking, had allowed her to pass. Soon after our arrival we dispatched through Mustafá (the Agha of our soldiers) two Bedouins belonging to the country to the place where I thought there was most chance of getting some tidings of our lost men, and we employed ourselves in finding out all we could about the men who attacked the boat, their names, tribe, &c., and made arrangements for sending the particulars to the Pasha of Damascus. The Prussian consul, Dr. Schultz, came from Jerusalem to see if he could be of any service, having heard of our misfortune, and pitched his tent near ours. I received through Mr. Finn this morning a letter from Captain Symonds, stating that he purposed leaving Beirout on the 3rd, and hoped to be at Jaffa on the 6th of September.

Thursday, 2nd.—Being Ramazan, we could not get the Turkish soldiers to make a start till after their midnight meal; at one, however, they turned out, the drummers, with their two small kettle-drums at their saddle-bow, sounding the call to mount. The moon was well up, and by its light we rode through the stones and prickly bushes of Jericho, putting the guide who accompanied us the other night in front. Besides him there were sixteen soldiers, the English consul and his man, Toby and myself-quite a little army. We passed over the same road which Toby and I had traversed the other night, but at a much quicker pace; and as we passed the ravines and places of concealment I always sounded a railwaywhistle, which the men would have recognised at a considerable distance. We rode on till sunrise, yet no signs of our lost

men; and about seven o'clock, having ridden fast, we reached the upper ground near which we had commenced our retreat. For some time we continued to rove about the sand-hills and over a considerable space of ground, occasionally making inquiries of the old women and boys who were burning weeds in the ravines, till at last the Agha said it was impossible to go further; the horses were already suffering, and he must return to Jericho. We therefore made one more circuit among the mountains, and commenced retracing our steps from the place where I had last seen my poor men. We met several people, to each of whom we promised a good reward should they bring the men, or any information respecting them, either to Beirout or Jerusalem. This was all I could do; and, under a broiling sun, and much distress at our failure, we rode back to Jericho, having been twelve hours on horseback, riding fast, and almost without dismounting, so that some of the soldiers were much exhausted before they reached the spring at which we had stopped on Monday night. Soon after one we reached our tent outside the castle, and I began to think what should now be done under existing circumstances. The boat had arrived, and we had everything at hand except, alas, the men. Had they been present I should have at once embarked on the Dead Sea; but all interest in our original project was lost until I could hear of their safety. Yet I could not help flattering myself that they were safe; for as the Arabs had not attempted to injure them personally, there were great hopes that they had struck across the mountains for the coast; and as I had constantly shown them our track on the map, there was every reason to suppose that they were well acquainted with its position. If I could have ascertained that any bodily evil had really befallen them, I should at once have returned to the coast; but as I did not despair of their safety, I hardly considered myself justified in doing so. On the other hand, I was in such a desponding and gloomy mood that I had no energy to undertake any enterprise. Yet, should the men have happily reached the coast in safety, I should for ever reproach myself, after vanquishing so many difficulties, and getting the boat and everything necessary to the very point, if I threw away the opportunity and returned without accomplishing anything. In short I knew not what to do.

At eight o'clock the Agha came into our tent and inquired about my future proceedings. I told him that I proposed sending the boat down the river in the morning, and if he would give me the soldiers promised by the Pasha, I would ride down with them and Mr. Finn as early as possible to the mouth of the Jordan, and then decide whether it was prac

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ticable to go afloat or not. If I found that I was obliged to give up the matter for want of men, or from any other cause, I should at once put the boat on the camels, and return to Jericho; otherwise I intended to pitch the tent at the mouth of the river, and leave it standing in charge of the guard till I came back with the boat. To this arrangement he consented, and promised to be ready by sunrise. After drinking some tea and smoking sundry pipes and narghilés, Mustafa retired into the castle to sleep.

Friday, 3rd.-Notwithstanding the Agha's promises, I was unable to get him out of bed till long after sunrise; so in the mean time I dispatched three men to take the boat from the place where she lay, abreast of Jericho, down to the mouth of the river, and then I sent the baggage and all the boat's gear there in charge of one of the soldiers. At eight o'clock the Agha made his appearance, the kettle-drums were sounded, about a dozen soldiers mounted their horses, and we all proceeded to the post. On our way we passed the ruins of an old Greek monastery, near which there is a spring of good water; and in about three hours and a half we reached the mouth of the river, where I was glad to find the boat at last floating on the sluggish waters of the Dead Sea. We had great difficulty in getting anywhere near the shore, on account of the marshy nature of the ground, several horses and mules having sunk up to their bodies in the mud; but at length we pitched the tent on a small patch of sound but sandy ground.

Having now made up my mind to make the attempt along with Toby, the guide we had brought from Tiberias, and the Greek whom I brought down from Jerusalem, we quickly prepared for embarking; and Mr. Finn and the Agha at 5 o'clock left me, taking with them all the soldiers, except two that were left to take charge of the tent. By 6 P.M. all was embarked; and, after spending a short time in cleansing ourselves from the mud, we shoved off from this vile place, just as it was falling dark, with only two oars, and with no one who had much idea of using them, except myself, or any notion of boat-sailing. Under these circumstances, as I made sail and lost sight of the northern shore, I could not help feeling that I was embarked in a silly if not a perilous undertaking. The breeze gradually freshened till there was quite sea enough for such a little craft; but I continued to steer about S. by W. till 2h. 30m. A.M., having passed several large patches of white frothy foam; and, as the sea made an unusual noise, I was many times afraid that they were breakers.

Saturday, 4th.-At half-past two, thinking we must be approaching the southern end of the sea, I hauled to the wind,