In the darkness my friend and I spread our blankets upon the gravel, and set to with relish upon our meal of cold meat and eggs, drinking deep from our water-bottles. Then, after a cigar smoked in the silence of contentment, and a last inspection of the horses, we settled down for sleep. The moon, rising behind the cliffs, threw a warm light upon the opposite crest of the rocks and cast the valley wherein we lay into deeper shadow. Not a sound was to be heard except the contented munching of the horses; and long before the moonlight had waxed strong we had dropped quietly to sleep and to dreams of Pan. At about midnight my friend started up from the ground of a sudden, and as he did so a dark creature bounded away up the valley to the pool, sending the gravel flying beneath its feet. In the light of the moon it appeared to be of great size, but its form was indistinct as it rushed past. “It was _licking_ my forehead!” said my friend, not quite sure whether he had been dreaming or not. “It was probably Pan,” said I. And as it was too much bother to get up and find the policeman’s rifle, my companion, rubbing his forehead, returned to the realms of sleep, whither I had preceded him; and neither of us know whether our midnight visitor was a prowling hyena or something more uncanny. An hour later he again sat up with a start, and away flew an enormous eagle-owl which had been contemplating him at a distance of a few inches from his face. I see, by the way, that Shelley, the great authority on Egyptian birds, states that this neighbourhood is much infested with this species of owl; and I will testify that they are very formidable creatures. By this time the moon was sailing overhead, and it was difficult to sleep in the strong light, which turned the rocks to alabaster and the vegetation to wax. Moreover, there were things moving about in the valley: silent footfalls and deep breathings. And one of the horses became restive. However, sleep at last claimed us, and we did not wake again until the first light of dawn was apparent in the sky.