Two Arabs of the place, who had one day observed us looking at some of the statues here alluded to, came the next morning to our tent, and gave us to understand that they knew of one, in a perfect condition, which they could point out to us for an adequate reward. We made the only bargain with them which it would have been safe to conclude, among so many mutilated pieces, lying round us in all directions, which was simply, that if it proved to be worth taking away we would give them a certain number of dollars for the information which they had afforded us. On our accompanying them to the place where the figure lay, they soon cleared the earth from a female statue, in very good style, and tolerable preservation, excepting that the surface of the face and upper part of the body had entirely lost its polish and become extremely rough. As the statue was of larger dimensions than life, and consequently very heavy, it would not, under these circumstances, have been worth our while to remove it from the place where it was; and we accordingly gave the Arabs a _bakhshees_ for their trouble, and told them that we did not think it good enough to remove; but that if we should ultimately take it away we would give them the reward before specified. With this arrangement, however, (though a perfectly just one,) they proved to be so little satisfied, that on the following morning in passing by the place, we found that the statue had been placed upright, and pelted with stones for their own or their children’s amusement. The lips were knocked off, and the face and body otherwise mutilated; though not to the degree which we expected when we first observed the figure placed up as a mark for every idle passenger to amuse himself with throwing at. We were not a little concerned to see the mischief which we ourselves (however innocently) had in fact been the cause of, and gave out that we intended to write to Mahommed Bey that he might discover and punish the delinquents! adding, that if any similar outrage should be practised in future, the severest retaliation might be expected.