ships might send their boats, with almost all winds, for water, at three wells which are situated near the beach. At Hámmah also, a bay a few miles farther eastward, water may be procured almost at all times, the sea being rendered smooth by a shoal which stretches itself across the entrance of the bay. The two bays may be known by a promontory situated nearly midway between them, on which there are some ruins of an ancient fort which formerly overlooked the cliff, but these are now too much fallen to be perceived from the sea. While we were pitching the tents, and all hands were employed, some of our horses got loose, and Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah, who had just come up with us on his trusty mare, was violently assailed by them on all sides. He called out most lustily for help, and in the mean time exhibited uncommonly good horsemanship; wheeling about rapidly in all directions, and making his mare kick out in the intervals, to the no small amusement of our whole party, who were at first too much overcome by laughter to give him any effectual assistance. As the attack however began to grow serious, from the number and impetuosity of our valiant Shekh’s assailants, we soon recovered ourselves sufficiently to make a diversion in his favour, and eventually to secure all the horses, though not before the Dúbbah was quite out of breath, and had broken his gun in his defence. The next morning he entered our tent with the fragments of his ill-fated weapon in his hand; and after he had squatted himself down as usual, and paid his two or three customary salams, and a variety of fulsome compliments, which always preceded any request he had to make, he began to expatiate upon his rencontre of the preceding evening, and the address which he had shewn on the occasion: he concluded by holding forth the shattered remains of his béndikah (musket), and observing that the Dúbbah had now nothing to defend himself with in case of an attack from the formidable bands of robbers which he had always asserted to be lying in wait for us. As we had no time to spend in trifling, and were not inclined to take the hint by presenting him with one of our muskets, we suddenly changed the subject, to the discomfiture of his hopes, and began to make inquiries about the camels which he was to provide us with at Boosaida, where we expected to arrive the next day. He replied that he had already given directions about them, but that he thought it would be better that he should proceed on in advance of the party, to make arrangements for their being in readiness on our arrival; he proposed in the mean time to leave his eldest son as his _locum tenens_, who had lately come from the eastward to pay his respects to his father.