_Friday, April 14th._—Up early, and left at 6:30 A.M. Followed the wady, which is full of rocks and stunted trees, and then traversed an immense plateau. We camped for noon in a sandy spot, just before entering another pass. At 5 P.M. we were off again, and passed some very picturesque and really wonderful granite formations. Traversing a fine hard gravel plain, which gave us an extensive view, we passed the half-way mark, a huge pile of granite boulders. We then came into a mountain region, said to be infested with robbers. It is true that here, not very long ago, a caravan was attacked in the night and robbed, and some of the parties killed. We had come a long journey, the place was convenient for camping, and some one proposed that we should spend the night here; but the guides manifested great fear, and would not give their consent. They said it was bad enough at the wady Kokreb, but under no circumstances would they stop this side of the wady. Some of us were ahead of the caravan, and we took the advice of the guides, and pushed on for the wady. Soon after arriving and selecting the spot for our camp, and while waiting for the caravan to come up, we were visited by a couple of suspicious-looking men, who asked a few questions, and after looking us well over disappeared in the bush. The guides said they were spies of the robbers, and advised us to fire off our guns and revolvers, to let them know that we were well armed, which we did. In about half an hour the rest of the party and the caravan came up. They reported having met twelve mounted men, who acted suspiciously in the dark. Mr. Moussalli called to them in Arabic, and demanded who they were and what they wanted. They admitted that they were robbers. They were then told that our party was all armed, and that if they came near the caravan they would get into trouble. We formed our camp in a circle, spreading our baggage around us for a protection as best we could, and then went to sleep with our hands on our revolvers, trusting for our safety, now that we had done what we could, in Him who never slumbers.