We set out early in the morning, the country continuing flat as far as the chapel of Sidi ʿAli ben Salah, which, standing on a hill, is a conspicuous object for many miles round. At a short distance from this chapel, I observed the ruins of a castle built of large square stones taken from older buildings; it measures 42 feet in every direction, and exhibits a few bad but curious sculptures, among others an ass in relief. Around are the ruins of a small village, and flat stones of immense size, similar in workmanship to those described above, but no upright pillars. Beyond the chapel of the saint the country became more hilly, and after some time we entered a ravine joining the Wadi Gedaera, which exhibited the remains of three broad and firmly-constructed dikes, crossing the ravine at the distance of about 800 yards from each other. They were built of small stones, and were evidently intended to exclude the water from the lower part of the valley. Another eight hundred yards below the innermost dike, the ravine widens out into a fine verdant hollow, stretching from west to east, and provided with several wells. On a detached hill rising in the midst of this basin, is situated the Kasr Dawán, built partly of older materials of hewn stone, partly of small stones, and probably of the same age as the dikes. The whole floor of the basin is strewn with ruins; and a considerable village seems to have extended round the castle: where the ground was free from stones, it was covered with ranunculuses. Altogether, this spot was interesting—the stronghold of a chieftain who appears to have had energy and foresight, but whose deeds are left without a record. As soon as we emerged from this ravine the whole character of the country changed, and through a pleasant valley we entered a wider plain, bordered in the distance by a high range of mountains, among which the Jebel Msíd, crowned with a zawíya or convent, is distinguished by its height and its form. It is rather remarkable, and of the highest interest as regards the ancient history of the civilization of these regions, that the two most conspicuous mountains bordering Tarhóna, one on the west the other on the east side, should bear the same name, and a name which bears evident testimony to their having been places of worship in ancient times. Both of them have grandeur of form; but the western one is more regularly dome-shaped. [Illustration]