one thing that I had much difficulty in persuading him to do during my former visit to this country: which was, to go with me, at a particular period, into the mosque of the Hasaneyn, the reputed burial-place of the head of El-Hoseyn, and the most sacred of the mosques in the Egyptian metropolis. On my passing with him before one of the entrances of this building, one afternoon during the fast of Ramadán, when it was crowded with Turks, and many of the principal people of the city were among the congregation, I thought it a good opportunity to see it to the greatest advantage, and asked my companion to go in with me. He positively refused, in the fear of my being discovered to be an Englishman, which might so rouse the fanatic anger of some of the Turks there as to expose me to some act of violence. I therefore entered alone. He remained at the door, following me with his eye only (or his only eye), and wondering at my audacity; but as soon as he saw me acquit myself in the usual manner, by walking round the bronze screen which surrounds the monument over the spot where the head of the martyr is said to be buried, and then putting myself into the regular postures of prayer, he came in, and said his prayers by my side. After relating these anecdotes, I should mention, that the characters of my other acquaintances here are not marked by similar eccentricities. My attentions to my visitors have been generally confined to the common usages of Eastern hospitality; supplying them with pipes and coffee, and welcoming them to a share of my dinner or supper. Many of their communications I have written in Arabic, at their dictation, and since translated and inserted in the following pages. What I have principally aimed at, in this work, is correctness; and I do not scruple to assert, that I am not conscious of having endeavoured to render interesting any matter that I have related by the slightest sacrifice of truth. P.S.—With regard to the engravings which accompany this work, I should mention, that they are from drawings which I have made, not to embellish the pages, but merely to explain the text. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION. --- Since the publication of the first edition of the present work, the studies in which I have been engaged have enabled me to improve it by various corrections and additions; and the success which it has obtained (a success very far beyond my expectations) has excited me to use my utmost endeavours to rectify its errors and supply its defects.