"An enemy no less formidable," said the captain, "was to be encountered in the persons of numerous snakes lurking in the old walls and on the weed-covered ground, which endangered the life of the traveller at every step." We were perfectly well aware of these facts, having gleaned them partly from descriptions of voyages, partly from oral traditions; and so they were not powerful enough to arrest our curiosity.

The captain himself was really less actuated by the sense of our danger, in advising us to abandon our undertaking, than by the reflection of the time it lost him; but he exerted himself in vain.

He was obliged to cast anchor, and at daybreak to send a boat ashore with us.
Our arms consisted of parasols and sticks (the latter we carried in order to beat the bushes); we were escorted by the captain, his servant, and a couple of sailors.
In the ruins we certainly met with a few suspicious-looking characters in the shape of wandering Bedouins.

As it was too late to beat a retreat, we advanced bravely towards them with trusting and friendly looks.

The Bedouins did the same, and so there was an end of this dangerous affair.