It was a little past noon when we pursued our journey from the western foot of this once holy mount[18], and, turning its southern side, resumed our north-easterly direction. We then soon came to the “Wadi hammám,” which forms here a wider basin for the brook running along it towards Mejenín, so as to produce a pleasant and fresh green spot. Having watered our animals, we entered a plain from which detached basaltic hillocks started up; and some ruins of regularly-hewn stones, scattered about, bore testimony that the Romans had deemed the place worthy of fixed settlements. A small limestone hill contrasts handsomely with these black basaltic masses, among which the Leblú, the highest summit of a larger group to our right, is particularly remarkable. At the foot of the Jebel Jemmʿa was an encampment of the Welád ʿAli; but I cannot say in what degree they are connected with the family which has given its name to the valley in the Yefren. From this side in particular, the Jebel Msíd presents the form of a beautiful dome, the most regular I remember to have ever seen. It seems to rise with a proud air over its humbler neighbours. Having then passed a continuous ridge of cones stretching S.S.E., and cleared the basaltic region, we entered a wide plain covered with halfa, and, cutting right across it, we reached the fertile low plain Elkeb, where another encampment of the Welád ʿAli excited the desire of our people to try their hospitality for our night’s quarters; but some distance to the left two enormous pillars were to be seen standing upright, and thither we repaired. Here I had an opportunity of accurately investigating a very peculiar kind of ancient remains, giving a clue, I hope, to the character of the religion of the early inhabitants of these regions, though it seems impossible to give a satisfactory explanation respecting all the details of their structure. [Illustration] It consists in a pair of quadrangular pillars erected on a common basis, which is fixed into the ground, and measures 3 ft. 1⁵⁄₁₂′ in length, and 2 ft. 10′ in width. The two pillars which measure 2 feet on each side, being 1 ft. 7²⁄₁₀′ asunder, are 10 feet high. The western pillar has three quadrangular holes on the inside, while the corresponding holes in the eastern pillar go quite through; the lowest hole is 1 ft. 8′ above the ground, and the second 1 ft. ½′ higher up, and so the third above the second. The holes are 6 in. square.