shadowy aspect of verdure to the slopes. Although the rise was
inconsiderable, the importance of the vegetation palpably
decreased as we advanced inland.

After four miles we reached the Wady-head, and wasted a couple of
hours awaiting the camels that carried our supplies. The path
then struck over a stony divide, with the Hamra to the left or
north, and on the other side the Hamra el-Mu'arrash, made
familiar to us by our last march. The latter ends in an isolated
peak, the Jebel Gharghur, which, on our return, was mistaken for
the sulphur-hill of Jibbah. Presently we renewed acquaintance
with the Wady el-Bayza, whose lower course we had crossed south
of Sharm Yaharr: here it is a long and broad, white and
tree-dotted expanse, glaring withal, and subtending all this
section of the Sharr's sea-facing base. We reached, after a total
of eight miles, the Jibal el-Kawaim, or "the Perpendiculars," one
of the features which the Bedawin picturesquely call the Aulad
el-Sharr ("Sons of the Sha'rr"). The three heads, projected
westwards from the Umm Furut peak and then trending northwards,
form a lateral valley, a bay known as Wady el-Kaimah. It is a
picturesque feature with its dark sands and red grit, while the
profile of No. 3 head, the Kaimat Abu Raki, shows a snub-nosed
face in a judicial wig, the trees forming an apology for a beard.
I thought of "Buzfuz Bovill."

We camped early, as the Safh el-Sharr (the "Plain of the Sharr")
and the lateral valley were found strewed with quartzes, white,
pink, and deep slate-blue. The guides had accidentally mentioned
a "Jebel el-Maru," and I determined to visit it next morning. The
night was warm and still. The radiation of heat from the huge