spring; the water escaped by an opening four feet by two, and passed through bars of iron into a second opening. It is excellent. An old tradition was told us, that the passage being once stopped up, there came a deputation from Persia, which, for a considerable sum paid to the government, procured it to be re-opened, and that for the future the water should not be obstructed. The entrance into the grotto is now forbidden, and it is very difficult to get in. Returning home, M. Lascaris asked me, if I had noted down what we had seen, and what had occurred since our departure; and on my answer in the negative, he begged that I would do so, making me promise to keep an exact journal in Arabic of all that had occurred, that he might himself translate it into French. From that time I took notes, which he carefully transcribed every day and returned to me the day following. I have now put them together in the hope that they may one day prove useful, and obtain for me a slight compensation for my fatigues and sufferings. M. Lascaris having determined to go to the village of Saddad, I engaged Naufal to accompany us; and joining some other persons, we quitted Homs with all our merchandise. After five hours’ march, we passed a large brook running from north to south towards the castle of Hasné. This castle, commanded by an aga, is a halting-place to the caravan from Mecca to Damascus: the water is excellent for drinking, and we filled our skins with it. This was a necessary precaution, for we found no more on our seven hours’ march from thence to Saddad. We arrived there at sunset. Naufal took us to the sheik, Hassaf Abu Ibrahim, a venerable old man, and father of nine children, all married, and living under the same roof. He received us most kindly, and presented us to all his family, which, to our great astonishment, amounted to sixty-four persons. The sheik having asked us if we wished to establish ourselves in the village, or travel into other countries, we told him we were merchants; that war between the powers having interrupted the communication by sea with Cyprus, we had been desirous of settling at Aleppo, but finding in that city richer merchants than ourselves, we had determined to carry our goods to less frequented places, hoping to make larger gains. Having then told him in what our merchandise consisted, “These articles,” said he, “are only useful to the Arabs of the desert; I am sorry to tell you so, but it will be impossible to get to them; and even if you should, you run the risk of losing everything, even your lives. The Bedouins are greedy and audacious; they will seize your goods, and, if you offer the least resistance, will put you to death. You are people of honour and delicacy; you could never put up with their grossness; it is for your sake that I speak thus, being myself a Christian. Take my advice: expose your goods here, sell all that you can, and then return to Aleppo, if you would preserve