About four in the afternoon I saw a dark red cloud arise in the east, which gradually grew larger till it covered the whole sky. As the cloud spread the wind rose and blew a tremendous hurricane. The sand of the desert began to move and rolled like the waves of the sea. As soon as I saw this I threw myself on my face and stopped my breath, for I knew that this was a tornado or whirlwind. I remained in this situation for three minutes; at the end of that time I ventured to look up. The whirlwind had passed over and had not hurt me, but close by lay my poor camel quite dead. At this sight I could not forbear weeping; but my attention was soon diverted by another object. About one hundred yards further off lay an immense skeleton. I immediately ran up to it and examined it closely. While I was gazing at the long ghastly figure which lay stretched upon the sand before me the thought came into my mind that it might be the skeleton of one of those ancient Britons who, tradition tells us, came from their own country to this evil land, and here miserably perished. While I was pursuing this train of meditation, I observed that it was bound with a long chain of rusty iron. Suddenly the iron clanked and the bones strove to rise, but a huge mountain of sand overwhelmed the skeleton with a tremendous crash, and when the dust which had hid the sun and enveloped everything in darkness cleared away, not a mark could be distinguished to show the future traveller where the bones had lain. Now, if this account be true—and I see no reason why we should suppose it is not—I think we may fairly conclude that these skeletons are evil genii chained in these deserts by the fairy Maimoune.[1] 1 Maimoune, a fairy, daughter of Damriel, King or head of a legion of genies.—_Arabian Nights Entertainments_.—C. W. H. There are several other traditions, but they are all so obscure that no reliance is to be placed on them. CHAPTER II THE VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY In the year 1798 the _Invincible_, 74 guns, set sail with a fair wind from England; her crew, twelve men, every one healthy and stout and in the best temper. Their names were as follows:— Marcus O’Donell, Ferdinand Cortez, Felix de Rothsay, Eugene Cameron, Harold FitzGeorge, Henry Clinton, Francis Stewart, Ronald Tragnain, Ernest Fortescue, Gustavus Dumally, Frederick Brunswick (Duke of York), and Arthur Wellesley. Well, as I said before, we set sail with a fair wind from England on the 1st of March 1798. On the 15th we came in sight of Spain. On the 16th we landed, bought a supply of provisions, and set sail again on the 20th. On the 25th, about noon, Henry Clinton, who was in the shrouds, cried out that he saw the Oxeye.