the cleverest servant I ever knew in any country: his wily tongue and insinuating address were often of more service to me than my piastres. I had, besides, a Greek servant, named Ibrahim, alias Michele; a Mahometan with the Arabs and Turks, and a Christian with his own countrymen. He speaks Italian fluently, and also the Turkish, Greek, and Arabic. He is the musician of the party; and his singing, accompanied by his fiddle, is vastly agreeable to the natives, but, being in the harsh style of the modern Greeks, is grating to my ears. I had, besides, a Copt, who had served me long and usefully at Thebes, in the dignified station of umbrella-bearer. Including, therefore, our Ababdes, owners of the camels, the full complement of my little caravan amounts to twelve persons and eleven camels. My stock of provisions chiefly consists of a large sack of Cairo biscuit, and another of rice. Besides these two chief requisites, and also charcoal, I have a good supply of groceries, tea, sugar, coffee, and wax candles, and last, but most important, twenty geerbahs of water, which I expect will be amply sufficient for the eight days of desert journey, though the Signor has forewarned me, most anxiously, more than fifty times, _che beve molto_. This is the desert in which Bruce and Burckhardt suffered so much. They took the easterly and more direct track, which commences at Deroueh, a little below Assuan, and therefore had a longer space to traverse, with, however, the advantage of meeting repeatedly with good water. At a quarter past six, P.M., we encamped. Our road this day has been through a succession of narrow valleys, called Akaba, or mountain passes, and small plains, bounded by low picturesque hills. The valleys are covered with sand, in some places two feet deep, but generally much less, and sometimes the bare rock is visible. Sandstone forms the base of the valley and of the hills. There are, however, some of slate, varying from 150 to 180 feet in height. I observed a great variety in their forms. We have already met with a few of the horrors of the desert, particularly numbers of dead camels, some of which had perished lately, and vultures were feeding on their carcases. They seem also to have attracted the hyænas from their dens, as I discerned on the sand numerous traces of those animals. Some of our water-skins, I am sorry to find, are bad. I marvel Signor B. did not perceive this at Korosko, as he took an active part in tying them up. The journey from Assuan has injured them, yet, with care, I hope to have a sufficient supply. This evening the camel men objected to pitching my tent, saying that they were afraid of robbers. I did not yield to their alarms, as sleeping in the open air is an Eastern custom which I am not much inclined to try at this season of the year. I cannot conceive a tent to be much additional attraction to Arab plunderers, if there are any; but the depredations upon the water, I fear, are