subjects, and thus betray them into some absurdity in the presence of the
other travellers, preferred waiting until after the meal. It was then
agreed that we should retire to our room, which, as it rose like a tower
one story higher than the rest of the building, was in a manner isolated,
and would screen us from observation.

We commenced by taking a tea-spoonful each of the mixture which Abdallah
had procured. This was about the quantity I had taken in Egypt, and as the
effect then had been so slight, I judged that we ran no risk of taking an
over-dose. The strength of the drug, however, must have been far greater
in this instance, for whereas I could in the former case distinguish no
flavor but that of sugar and rose leaves, I now found the taste intensely
bitter and repulsive to the palate. We allowed the paste to dissolve
slowly on our tongues, and sat some time, quietly waiting the result. But,
having been taken upon a full stomach, its operation was hindered, and
after the lapse of nearly an hour, we could not detect the least change in
our feelings. My friends loudly expressed their conviction of the humbug
of hasheesh, but I, unwilling to give up the experiment at this point,
proposed that we should take an additional half spoonful, and follow it
with a cup of hot tea, which, if there were really any virtue in the
preparation, could not fail to call it into action. This was done, though
not without some misgivings, as we were all ignorant of the precise
quantity which constituted a dose, and the limits within which the drug
could be taken with safety. It was now ten o'clock; the streets of
Damascus were gradually becoming silent, and the fair city was bathed in
the yellow lustre of the Syrian moon. Only in the marble court-yard below
us, a few dragomen and _mukkairee_ lingered under the lemon-trees, and
beside the fountain in the centre.

I was seated alone, nearly in the middle of the room, talking with my