April 25th.—Having filled five days water for ourselves and horses, we left the well at 6.40. A.M. The camels took a circuitous route along a deep valley, owing to a very steep mountain called Nufdai نوفدي, lying in front of us. The horse and footmen ascended it at 9.40. by a most difficult path of large irregular masses of basalt. The horses, however, were sure-footed, and at 10.40. we again descended to a wadey, called Zgar, where the camels joined us, after having been four hours winding round the foot of the mountain, which we had crossed in one. At 11.35. ascended from the wadey to a flat, called Dahr t’Moumen دحارتمومين (or the believer’s back). The basalt here was in less quantities, and often in small broken pieces, resembling gravel. At 1.10. we descended to a wadey, called Emzairaat مزيرعت, when we saw a few antelopes. Here, while I was resting under a tree, a man came and told me that he had observed a snake of the most venomous species, called Effa الفّا, coiled up under a bush. I instantly armed myself with a ramrod, and having discovered the reptile, pinned it to the ground by a stab through the lower jaw. Belford just then came up, and fancying it was of a harmless kind, took it by the tail: as he was on the opposite side of me, I did not perceive him, and having pressed another stick on the creature’s head, I withdrew the ramrod, in order to get a better hold of it. At this moment Belford again pulled, and extricated the snake, which turned upon and attempted to bite him; its tail, however, luckily broke, and it fell back into the bush, where I immediately despatched it. Had it wounded Belford, as it was on the point of doing, his death would have been inevitable, as we had no instrument at hand for cutting out the venom, or any fire with which to burn it, as is done with effect by the Arabs. On examining the snake, I found it was of the same species as some I had seen at Tripoli; those, however, did not exceed six inches in length, whereas this was about two feet long, and very bulky. Their colour is generally a dull reddish-brown, with black spots; the belly yellow, and aspect particularly disagreeable and malignant. The movements of this snake are very peculiar: it does not propel itself in the same way as other serpents, but in a lateral manner, advances its right side, and then draws forward its head at each motion, while, in the act of gliding on, it forms a figure resembling the letter S. Our road lay through several gloomy wadeys, when, at three, we stopped in one called Tingareer طنقارير. At 4.15. the camels came up, and as the place afforded some few bushes, we encamped there for the purpose of refreshing them.