The generality of travellers encamp before the house, and I followed the same plan, lying down for an hour in the sand while the camels ate their scanty meal.

My health and bodily strength are, I am happy to say, so excellent, that I am ready after a very short rest to encounter new fatigues.

After this hour of repose I once more mounted my camel to continue my journey.
August 27th.
It may easily be imagined that the whole scene by which we are here surrounded has over it an air of profound and deathlike stillness.
The sea, where we behold nothing but water around us, presents more of life to divert the mind.

The very rushing and splash of the wheels, the bounding waves, the bustle of bending or reefing sails, and the crowding of people on the steamer, brings varied pictures to temper the monotony around.

Even the ride through the stony deserts which I had traversed in Syria has not so much sameness, for there we at least hear the tramp of the horse and the sound of many a rolling stone; the traveller's attention is, besides, kept continually on the stretch in guiding each step that his horse takes, to avoid the risk of a fall.