It is scarcely possible for those who have had no dealings with Arabs, to imagine all the trouble and exertions which they will give themselves in getting up a performance of this nature; the whole piece too is in general so naturally acted, that if the spectators had no cause for suspicion, they would seldom perceive that the acting was overdone, which is almost invariably the case in some part or other of the play. We had been much accustomed to scenes of the kind, but till the time when the Dúbbah began to interfere, we never suspected that the parties were not in earnest, although it was clear that they acted in concert. The good-humour with which an Arab will bear his disappointment, when nothing after all is gained by his stratagem, is another very prominent feature in his character. He never appears to regret the trouble he has taken; though it may have cost him whole days to plan his manœuvre, and a great deal of personal exertion to put it in execution. He bears no ill will to the persons who may have detected him; but will relate the whole thing as an excellent plot, immediately after its failure, and commend the penetration of those who have baffled his best efforts to deceive them. It was not worth our while to undeceive the old Shekh, by letting him know that we saw through the whole of this manœuvre, and he continued to give himself great credit for the mode in which he had terminated it; he really believed that he had greatly ingratiated himself with our party by having _pawned_ the new gold laced burnoose above mentioned to extricate us from our _hazardous situation_, and took every opportunity of making some pompous allusion to the liberal part which he had acted. The camel-drivers returned to their duty as usual, and we continued our journey to Muktahr, where we arrived on the same day at sunset, just as if nothing had happened. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: A great quantity of broken pottery was found at this place, and red earthen jars were observed protruding through the sides of the cliff where it had fallen away; the floor and two sides of a chamber, coated with excellent cement, were also remarked in the side of the cliff near the sea; the other parts had fallen away with the rock, and were scattered in ruin on the beach, which was thickly strewed with remains of the fortress.] [Footnote 2: We have already stated, on the authority of Pliny, that the Philænean Altars were of sand; and as they must be looked for in this neighbourhood, we have supposed them to have been erected in the sandy tract which we shall shortly mention in our progress eastward from Bengerwàd. For had they been raised on a spot where other materials could have been easily obtained, it is not probable that any so unstable as sand would have been used for the commemoration of so noble an action as that which occasioned their erection.]