the bold Wahhabis beat off the robbers, and our halt was exchanged for a kind of flight, in which all Shaykh Masud's skill was barely sufficient to steer our desert-craft clear of danger. That many fell was evidenced by the quantity of boxes and baggage strewing the ground. I had no means of ascertaining the number of men killed and wounded, reports were so contradictory and exaggeration so rife. The robbers were said to be 150 in number. Their object was plunder: they would eat the dead camels; but their principal ambition was to boast, "We, the Utaybah, on such a night, stopped the Sultan's mahmal one whole hour in the pass.

That night we travelled down a chasm between dark and formidable rocks, and the roughness of the road caused many small accidents. Dawn broke whilst we were still in the fiumara, which here is about 100 yards wide. The granite hills on both sides were now less precipitous, and the borders of the torrent were natural quays of stiff clay, which showed a water-mark of from 12 to 15 feet in height. In many parts the bed was muddy, and the moist places as usual caused the camels to fall. We then turned northwards, and came in sight of the trees of ElMazik, more generally known as Wadi Laymun, the "Limevalley," from the quantity of its fruit. Here, on the right hand, stood the Meccan Sherif's tent, surrounded by his attendants, and duly prepared to receive the Pacha of the caravan. We advanced about half a mile, and at 8 A.M. encamped temporarily in a hillgirt bulge of the fiumara. We had travelled about 24 miles from El-Zaribah, and the direction of our present station was S.W. 50°.

Saturday, Sept. 10.-Shaykh Masud warned us that we should only have 4 hours' halt, as it would be advisable to precede the great body of pilgrims. After breaking our fast upon the produce of the lime, the pomegranate, and the date trees, we sallied forth to enjoy the sight of verdure and listen to the melody of flowing waters. A line of the great Arabic poet Lebid

Time-worn as primal writ that dents the mountain's flinty face,

led me to suspect the existence of ancient inscriptions in this part of El-Hejaz. I had no time, however, for research, and could derive no information from my companions. Some months after my return to India the Abbé Hamilton wrote to me that he had discovered in Wadi Laymun one of the rock monuments of Sesostris (Rhamses II.). Future travellers, therefore, will do well to examine this valley, which is accessible and comparatively civilized, the citizens of Mecca using it as a picnic and watering place.

Exactly at noon Shaykh Masud seized the halter of the foremost

me.

camel, and we started down the fiumara girt with orchards. At 2 P.M., travelling towards the S.W., we arrived at a point where the torrent-bed winds to the right, and, quitting it, we climbed with difficulty over a steep ridge of granite. A little before 3 we entered a large hill-girt plain, which my companions called Sola. In some places were clumps of trees, and two or three villages warned us that we were approaching a city. Fár to the left rose the blue peaks of Taif, and the mountain-road was pointed out to Here I first saw the tree, or rather the shrub, which bears the Balm of Gilead (or Mecca), celebrated for its healing, tonic, and stomachic properties. At 4 P.M. we came to a steep and rocky pass, up which we toiled with considerable difficulty. The general face of the country was rising once more, and again presented the aspect of numerous basins divided and surrounded by hills. As evening approached we halted for prayer, and tried, but in vain, to catch sight of Mecca, which lies in a winding valley. Then remounting, we journeyed through the darkness of night. At about 1 A.M. I was aroused by a universal excitement. "Mecca! Mecca!" cried some voices; "The Sanctuary! O the Sanctuary!" exclaimed others, and all burst into loud "labbaykas," not unfrequently broken by sobs. I looked out from my litter, and saw by the light of the southern stars the dim outline of a large city, a shade darker than the surrounding plain. We were passing over the last ridge by an artificial cut called the Saniyah Kudaa. It is flanked on both sides by watch-towers which command the entrance to the Darb el Maala, or road leading from the N. into Mecca. Thence we passed to the Maabadah,* or northern suburb, in which the Sherif's palace is built. After this, on the left hand, came the deserted abode of the Sherif bin Aun, now said to be a "haunted house:" opposite it lies the Jannat el Maala, the holy cemetery of Mecca. Thence, turning to the right, we entered the Sulaymaniyah or Afghan quarter, and exchanging the main road for a bye-path we ascended by narrow lanes the rough heights of Jebel Hindi, upon which stands a small, whitewashed, crenellated building called a fort. Descending, we traversed several dark streets, in some places crowded with rude cots supporting dusky figures, and finally, at 2 A.M., we heard the shrill cries of joy with which my companion's mother received him. From Wadi Laymun to Mecca, according to my calculation, the march was about 23 miles, the direction S.E. 45°. The following is an itinerary of our marches,† which, protracted on Burckhardt's map, offers an error of at most 10 miles :

* El Edrisi, and after him Sale, call this place. "El Marbaah." I never heard the word at Mecca.

† I paid 20 dollars-advancing half that sum as earnest-money-for two camels and part of a beast to carry our water-skins. The shaykh was also bound to

1. El-Mediná to Ja-el-Sharifah

2. Ja-el-Sharifah to Ghurab

3. Ghurab to El-Hijriyah

4. El-Hijriyah to Suwayrkiyah ..

5. Suwayrkiyah to Sufayna

7. Thence to El-Ghadir

S.W. 21°

S.E. 10°

S.E. 56°

:::::

17

18

20

24

23

6. Sufayna to halting-place of the Beni Mutayr S. W. 20°

10. El-Zaribah to Wadi Laymun.. 11. To Mecca..

*

248

The general face of the country along this line is a succession of low plains, here quasi-circular, there irregularly oblong, surrounded by diminutive hills, cut by fiumaras. Their basins are divided by belts of basalt and greenstone. The ridges may average from 100 to 200 feet in height; often they are in the form of prisms; sometimes the summit is a flat plain. The landward faces of the hills are disposed at a sloping angle, contrasting strongly with the precipitous rise of their seaward sides, and there does not appear to be any regular range within and parallel to the maritime chain. Nowhere have I seen a land richer in volcanic and primary formations, or one where earth's anatomy is laid so bare. It is a country of lofty hills, abrupt and vertical, with black and barren flanks ribbed with fissures, furrows, and dingles, crowned by turreted and castellated heights, with wide and formidable chasms between. The predominant formation was basalt, here porous and cellular, there black and compact; again coarsely gritty, of a tarry colour, and, when fractured, shining with bright points. Hornblende of a fine black abounds at ElMediná, and throughout this part of the Hejaz; it generally crops out of the ground, presenting edges from which pieces are easily detached, and darkened by the sun and air. Greenstone, diorite, and actinolite are found, but they are not so abundant as those above mentioned. Next to these come the granites, called

convey us to and from Mount Arafat, but during the whole time he and his son were to be supplied with raw or cooked provisions out of my stores. I bought a new shugduf or litter for 80 piastres (16s.), and for 15 a shibriyah (cot) for my servant. We laid in provisions for 14 days, although the journey never takes more than 12: but Bedouins are hungry, and pilferers abound. The stores consisted of rice, wheat flour (to be kneaded into bread), unleavened bread of two kinds, cheese, onions, turmeric, dates, limes, tobacco, sugar, tea, and coffee. We had three water-bags, two large and one small; in this country they demand the traveller's utmost attention. Large barádiyah, or water-gugglets, bought at El-Mediná, furnished us with ready drink in the litter.

I collected a few specimens on the line of march, and, after returning to Bombay, submitted them to Dr. Carter (Sec. As. Soc. Bombay), whose name is a guarantee of accuracy.

in Arabic suwan. Some are of the pink, large-grained kind, before described; others are of a grey colour, exceedingly compact, capable of being cut into a smooth surface, and susceptible of high polish. This latter is the material of which the Baitullah or Kaabah is built. The syenite is generally speaking coarse, but there is a rich red kind which at once strikes the eye. I have never seen eurite or euritic porphyry but in small pieces, and the same may be said of the petrosilex and milk-quartz. In some parts, particularly between Yambu and El-Mediná, there is an abundance of tawny-coloured gneiss, presenting a marked appearance of stratification. The transition formations are represented by a fine calcareous sandstone of a bright yellow, like ochre, which is used at Mecca in the external ornamentation of houses, bands of this stone being here and there inserted into the courses of masonry. There is also a small admixture of the greenish sandstone, found so abundantly at Aden. The secondary formation is represented by a fine limestone, in some places almost fit for the purposes of lithography, and a coarse gypsum, often of a tufaceous nature. The coast is wealthy in coralline, of which, indeed, the maritime towns are principally built. For the superficial accumulations and the face of the desert, the reader may be referred to any description of the country between Cairo and Suez.

To conclude with a few remarks upon the watershed of ElHejaz. From El-Mediná to El-Suwayrkiyah the beds of fiumaras abound, generally running from the E. and S.E. towards the W. and N.W. From El-Suwayrkiyah to El-Zaribah they cease, their place being taken by "Ghadir" or basins, in which water stagnates. Beyond El-Zaribah the traveller enters a region of Misryal (fiumaras), tending W. and S.W. The water obtained by digging is good where the rain is fresh in the fiumaras; saltish, so as at first to taste unnaturally sweet, in the plains; and bitter in the basins and low lands, where nitre effloresces and the water has had time to be tainted.

The country in my humble opinion has a compound slope. It falls towards the W., as the direction of the torrent-beds shows. I regret not having a better proof than Arab opinion for my belief that the country also declines from N. to S. This, as geographers are aware, is a disputed point. Ritter, Jomard, and some Arab authors make the peninsula rise towards the S. Wallin and others support an opposite opinion. But all the modern Arabs declare El-Hejaz to be lower than Mesopotamia, assert that the general course of water is from N. to S., and believe the spring at Arafat to flow underground from Baghdad.

I beg to propose this profile of the country through which I marched :-From the sea to Muguhhal is a gentle rise. The

watermarks of the fiumaras show that El-Mediná is considerably above the level of the sea; and though geographers may not be correct in claiming for Jebel Radhwa (near Yambu) a height of 6000 feet, that elevation does not appear too great for the plateau upon which is the Prophet's burial place. From El-Mediná to El-Suwayrkiyah is another gentle rise, and from this to El-Zaribah stagnating waters would argue a level. It is this circumstance most probably that has given rise to reports about a perennial lake on the eastern boundary of El-Hejaz, in which I believe as little as in the fiumara turned into a river and placed by Ptolemy between Yambu and Mecca. The lake probably owes its existence to similar conditions-a heavy fall of rain. Beginning at ElZaribah is a decided fall, which continues with minor intervals to the sea. The Arafat torrent sweeps from E. to W. with great violence, sometimes carrying away the habitations and even injuring the sanctuary of Mecca.

I venture to hope that the delay in forwarding this paper will be attributed to its true cause-the heavy calls upon my time in making preparations for penetrating into Eastern Africa. Shortly after the hot season I start again from Aden as a Mohammedan trader to visit a part of the country whence the Ameer-silly young man-has determined to avert the danger of Europeans by threatening their throats. On my return I will, with your permission, forward a copy of my notes; they may be valuable in some points, for the country is utterly unknown. But again, unhappily for me, it will be impossible to use anything but watch and pocket compass.

V.-Narrative of a Trip to Harar. By RICHARD F. BURTON, Lieut. Bombay Army.*

Read, June 11, 1855.

IN May, 1849, the late Admiral Sir Charles Malcolm, an ardent geographer and a warm encourager of adventure, in concert with the President and Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, urged upon the Honourable the Court of Directors of the East India Company the desirability of ascertaining the productive resources of the Somali country; but the project lay in abeyance until March, 1850, when Sir Charles Malcolm offered the charge of an expedition to Dr. Carter, of Bombay, an officer well known as surgeon to the Palinurus' during the maritime survey of Eastern Arabia. The state of that gentleman's health and the

* See Report on the Position of Harar, &c., by Lieut. Barker. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xii. p. 238.-ED.