Up here, we do not observe strictly the rules of the plains, and although the ladies, of course, wear veils when they go beyond the house, they put them aside indoors, and the families mix freely with each other, so that we get on very well.

You see, there are very few changes ever made, and as many of the ladies are, like my wife, no longer young, we treat them as comrades." In the morning Dick and Surajah mounted their horses, took a hearty farewell of the governor, and rode down to the gate.

A soldier had been sent down, half an hour before, and they found their escort in readiness to move.

They had decided that, before going to the next fort, they would ride round the foot of the hill of Savandroog.

This they did, going at a foot pace, and scanning the cliffs and slopes as they passed.