I have often wondered why, contrary to all analogy, the Spaniards call oil _azedo_, which at first sight appears to be the same word as the Italian _aceto_. I find that the word is Arabic: _zeyd_. Mem.: Look up the etymology of the English word _cough_, to which no European word that I remember has any affinity, and which rather appears to be onomatopoeic. The Arabs say _kokh_ (guttural ending); is this a mere coincidence, and does the word date beyond the Crusades? I find a good many words that have a curious likeness to English. My endeavours to pick up a little Arabic are almost entirely frustrated by Hosseyn's utter inability to pull a sentence to pieces for me. In an Arabic sentence of two words (_e.g._ _azekan tareed_--if you please) he could not tell me which word was the verb! literally; I had to find out as best I could. I never saw anything to approach his obtuseness in the matter, except perhaps that of Georgi, my dragoman in Turkey. As I was sketching this evening a Nubian passed me, very grandly draped and erect, and followed by two green monkeys that were fastened by leading-strings to his belt. They toddled very snugly after their stately master and made a queer group. _Sunday, November 1._--I am in a state of appreciative enjoyment of the comforts and civilised cleanliness of my steamer, having just returned from three or four days' roughing in the ruins of Phylæ. "Roughing" is a relative term, and my trials were of a very mild description, for though I slept _à la belle étoile_ (or rather tried to sleep), at all events I had a bed to rest in, and the air at night was delightful; moreover, the commissariat was very satisfactorily managed, so that food and drink were abundant; nevertheless, I must maintain that living in an open ruin is not comfortable. I made two or three sketches, and should probably have enjoyed myself, but that on the second day I was entirely thrown off the rails by the heat whilst sketching; I thought I should get a _coup de soleil_; I was very indisposed in the evening, and utterly unable to work the next morning, so that I took the place _en grippe_, and could see nothing but the ugliness of the rocks and the wearing monotony of the hieroglyphs. Picked up in the evening, and liked the place better; made some original and striking reflections about the desirability of health.