I found that, while our people had been asleep, two persons had got into the tent and attempted to steal one of the portmanteaus; but, as they were chained together, and the tent-pole in the middle, the noise had awakened my servants, who had seized one of the men; and that the Turks had intended instantly to have dispatched him with their knives, and with great difficulty had been prevented by my servants, according to my constant orders, for I wished to avoid all extremities, upon such occasions, when possible. They had indeed leave to deal with their sticks as freely as their prudence suggested to them; and they had gone, in this case, fully beyond the ordinary limits of _discretion_, especially Abdel Gin, who was the first to seize the robber. In short, they had dealt so liberally with their sticks, that the thief was only known to be living by his groans, and they had thrown him at a small distance, for any person to own him that pleased. It appeared, that he was a servant of Sidi Hassan, an Egyptian slave, or servant to Shekh Hamam, who conducted or commanded the caravan, if there was any _conduct_ or _command_ in it. There were with me ten servants, all completely armed, twenty-five Turks, who seemed worthy to be depended upon, and four janissaries, who had joined us from Cairo, so that there were of us forty men perfectly armed, besides attendants on the cattle. As we had people with us who knew the wells, and also a friend who was acquainted with the Atouni, nothing, even in a desert, could reasonably alarm us. With great difficulty we pulled down an old acacia-tree, and procured some old-dried camels dung, with which we roasted our two antelopes: very ill-roasted they were; and execrable meat, though they had been ever so well dressed, and had had the best sauce of Christendom. However, we were in the desert, and every thing was acceptable. We had some spirits, which finished our repast that night: it was exceedingly cold, and we sat thick about the fire.