soon found out by consulting Furayj. He said that we must march
in rear of the caravan for a day or two; and that such attacks
were possible, but only once in a hundred cases. There might have
been treachery in camp; the Egyptian officers suggested that a
Baliyy scout could have been sent on to announce the approach of
a rich caravan. Accordingly, I ordered an evening review of our
"Remingtons;" and chose a large mark purposely, that the Bedawi
lookers-on might not have cause to scoff. The escort redeemed
many a past lache, by showing that their weapons had been kept
bright and clean, and by firing neatly enough. The Baliyy, who
had never seen a breech-loader, were delighted; but one of our
party so disliked the smell of powder, that he almost quarrelled
with me for bringing him into such imminent deadly risk. He was
hardly to be blamed; his nerves had been terribly shaken by a
viper killed in his tent.

Next morning (April 6th) saw the most unpleasant of our marches.
The young Shaykh Sulayman, accompanied by his cousin Salim, set
out in the dark as eclaireurs: they were supposed to lead eight
or ten of the best matchlock-men, whereas I doubt whether the
whole camp contained that total. Presently it appeared that they
were alone, and the farce was hardly kept up through the next
day. At 5.15 a.m. we followed them, marching militairement, as my
friend Sefer Pasha had strongly advised at Cairo. It is no joke
to follow starveling beasts whose best speed seldom attains two
miles and a half per hour. However, the effect was excellent:
never had there been so little straggling; never had the
halting-places been reached in such good time and good order.

A pleasant surprise awaited us in the grandest display of quartz