Before we left Braiga, one of the Arabs of the place brought a present of five lambs to the tents, and gave them in charge to Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah, who, thinking that this would prove a most excellent opportunity of showing his generosity to the best advantage, as well as his extraordinary influence with the Arabs of the place, in being able to procure sheep when we could not purchase them at all, made his appearance with great ceremony at the entrance of our tent, with two of the lambs above mentioned. After many compliments and professions of service, he offered the two lambs as a present from himself, and begged we would do him the favour to accept them. As we had lately found reason to be much dissatisfied with the Dúbbah’s conduct, we did not choose to be under an obligation to him; and having given him to understand the reason of our refusal, declined accepting the lambs as a present, but offered at the same time to purchase them. The old Shekh looked disconcerted, as we intended he should be, and slowly retired from the tent. And now began a parley between his avarice and his conscience, which terminated at length in favour of the latter; for, though not very tender on most occasions, this inward monitor of our worthy conductor would not allow him to receive money for what he knew was already our own, although it did not object to let him take the credit of presenting it to us. The result was, that he soon after paid us a second visit, bringing with him the two lambs as before, but which he now acknowledged were intended as presents to us, instead of to himself, as he assured us he had imagined: he informed us, at the same time, that the Arab who brought them was a shepherd belonging to the Bashaw, who wished to shew us what attentions were in his power, and had presented us with the best that he had. The other three lambs, he said, were really intended for him; but we afterwards found, from the shepherd in question, that the whole number had been presented to us. We also discovered that the reason why we could not, on many occasions, procure sheep or goats from the Arab tents which we passed on our journey, at which we had often been surprised, was because two of our party, followers of the Dúbbah, had usually gone before on pretence of reconnoitring, and had strictly enjoined the Arabs not to sell us anything whatever. We afterwards recollected, in confirmation of this manœuvre, that the only times when we had been able to purchase sheep were those at which we had accidentally been in advance of this worthy couple; and the Arabs we chanced to meet seldom failed on these occasions to ask us, of their own accord, whether we did not want a sheep or a goat, some butter, manteca, or other articles of provision, which they would have been able to furnish us with, and which they would, in fact, have been glad to dispose of. We could assign no other motive for this conduct on the part of our Arab guides, than the