Ten camels, thirty sheep, and a prodigious quantity of rice formed the staple of the meal; after which a second caldron of coffee was emptied. The dowry accepted, the ceremony was concluded by a repetition of the prayer; and it was agreed that Giarah should come at the expiration of three days to fetch his bride. Before my departure, I visited the women in their apartments, to introduce Sheik Ibrahim to a more intimate acquaintance with Bargiass’s wife, and to reiterate my thanks for her care of me. She replied by expressing her readiness to increase my obligations by bestowing her niece on me in marriage; but Sheik Ibrahim deferred taking advantage of her favourable intentions towards me till the following year. On the eve of the day fixed for the wedding, a rumour arose that a formidable army of Wahabees had appeared in the desert: couriers flew from tribe to tribe, exhorting them to unite three or four in a company, that the enemy might find them prepared on all points to receive them; and the espousals had nearly been consummated by a mortal combat, instead of the sham fight which is customary on such occasions. The Drayhy and the other chiefs set out very early in the morning with a thousand horsemen and five hundred women to achieve the conquest of the beautiful Sabha. At a short distance from the camp, the procession halted: the women and old men alighted and awaited the issue of a combat between the young people who came to carry off the betrothed, and those of her tribe who opposed their design. These contests have sometimes fatal results; but the bridegroom is not permitted to take part in them, lest his life should be exposed to hazard from the machinations of his rivals. On this occasion the combatants came off with about a score of wounds; and victory, as was reasonable, decided for our party, who carried off the bride in triumph and consigned her to the women of our tribe. Sabha’s train was composed of a score of maidens with three well-laden camels; the first carrying her howdah covered with scarlet cloth, trimmed with fringes and tufts of various-coloured worsted, and adorned with ostrich-feathers: the interior was decorated by festoons of shells and strings of coloured glass, forming a sort of frames to small mirrors, which, placed at intervals, reflected the scene on all sides; and furnished with silken cushions for the reception of the bride. The tent formed the burden of the second camel, and the carpets and kitchen utensils that of the third. The queen of the festival being placed in her howdah, surrounded by the wives of the chiefs mounted on their camels, and by other women on foot, the procession commenced its retrograde march. Horsemen prancing in the van announced its progress to the tribes we might meet, who were expected to greet us by throwing incense and killing sheep under the feet of the bride’s camels. It is not possible to convey a very exact idea of this scene, nor of that which lasted