We made all haste to offer them two machlas, a cloak, and a hundred piastres. They were satisfied, and left us to pursue our route. Hassan suffered a great deal from his wound; and as he could not remount his horse, I gave him my camel, and took his mare. We proceeded for four hours; but the sun being set, we were obliged to halt at a place called Waddi el Nahr (Valley of the River.) However, there was not a drop of water in it, and our skins were empty: the attack in the morning had detained us three hours, and it was impossible to go further that night. Notwithstanding all we had to suffer, we were still very happy at having escaped the Bedouins, and preserved our clothes, which secured us a little from the cold wind, that affected us sensibly. In short, between pleasure and pain, we watched with impatience for the dawn of day. Sheik Ibrahim suffered from his foot, and Hassan from his wound. In the morning, having disposed of our sick in the best manner we could, we again set forward, and still towards the east. At an hour and a quarter from Palmyra we found a subterraneous stream, the spring of which is entirely unknown, as well as the place where it is lost. The water is seen to flow through openings of about five feet, forming a sort of basins. It is unnecessary to say with what delight we quenched our thirst:--the water appeared excellent. At the entrance of a pass formed by the junction of two mountains, we at length perceived the celebrated Palmyra. This defile forms for a quarter of an hour an avenue to the city; along the mountain on the south side extends for almost three hours a very ancient rampart. Facing you to the left is an old castle, built by the Turks after the invention of gunpowder. It is called Co Lat Ebn Maâen.--This Ebn Maâen, a governor of Damascus in the time of the Khalifs, had built the castle to prevent the Persians from penetrating into Syria.--We next arrived at a vast space, called Waddi el Cabour (Valley of the Tombs.) The sepulchres that cover it appear at a distance like towers. On coming near, we saw that niches had been cut in them to enclose the dead. Every niche is shut up by a stone, on which is carved a portrait of its occupant. The towers have three or four stories, communicating by means of a staircase, commonly in good preservation. From thence we came into a vast enclosure inhabited by the Arabs, who call it the Castle. It contains, in fact, the ruins of the Temple of the Sun. Two hundred families reside in these ruins. We immediately presented ourselves to Sheik Ragial el Orouk, a venerable old man, who received us well, and made us sup and sleep with him. This sheik, like the sheik of Corietain, furnishes two hundred camels to the great caravan of Mecca.