It is not my design to recount in detail the marvels of the place,--this has been done by Laborde, Lord Lindsay, Wilson, and Robinson,--but just to say, that having with me the small edition of Laborde and some manuscript notes extracted from other books, by their help I saw most of what was to be seen. I wandered through streets of the middle town; surveyed and entered palaces hewn into crimson rocks; sat reading on the solid benches of the theatre, and walked along its stage; then gazed with unwearied admiration on the beautiful Khazneh, its delicate tints and graceful proportions, and went to rest upon a green bank opposite to it, with a running stream at my feet, bordered by gorgeous oleanders, where I chatted with some wild Arabs arriving from the south. Such a harmony of ruddy tints, from the darkest buds of the oleander, through gradations on the rocks, to the most delicate pink, was truly a feast of nature for the eyes. These are incidents never to be forgotten, and the memory of them is unspeakably charming. I made a few rough sketches; but it may be sufficient here to give only a specimen of the capitals of columns that are peculiar to Petra. [Picture: Capital of column] During the afternoon the thermometer stood inside the tent at 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The captain, my companion, went alone to explore the chasm called the _Sik_, as my slight sprain, after being almost forgotten during the journey, had become painful again from the effects of climbing upon Mount Hor. But I had come to Petra for business; and the indigenous peasantry of Wadi Moosa were gathering around our tents from different directions. They had not been prepared for the reception of guests arriving from the north, _i.e._, Jerusalem, as travellers usually come from 'Akabah or Sinai, through Nukh'l. Our Arabs, both Jehaleen and some strangers, set to making themselves comfortable. There arrived a large body of the Fellahheen, headed by Shaikh Suliman es Said, a ragged and ugly crew, he as dirty as the rest, but strutting about in a robe of bright scarlet.