voir forming a basin capable of holding enough for the irrigation of 60,000 acres in cereals during the winter months, and 30,000 acres of cotton in summer. Thus we should obtain a double harvest, selling our cereals to the Arabs, who are forced to buy it in this neighbourhood at a high figure.

"I will write to you in September, in order that you may come again and judge for yourself of our cotton at the time of ripening.

"After three years of reverses, I am not discouraged, being satisfied that my cotton is superior to any other which has yet been sent to France. I gained two first-class medals at Mulhouse, in the Exhibition of the Industrial Society.

"Arab labourers cost me one franc a day. The working of a hectare (two acres and a half) costs 200 francs. One hectare is capable of producing 150 kilogrammes of cleaned cotton. The cost of picking I calculate at twenty-five centimes (twopence halfpenny) per kilogramme uncleaned. Come, then, sir, and pay me another visit in the autumn. You will then convince yourself of the

€39510

100

M. DUFOURG'S LETTER.

truth of what I have stated, and we will go

together and see the places most suitable for cultivation."

CHAPTER XVI.

THE PLAINS OF THE HODNA.

ON leaving M. Dufourg, who wished us a plea

sant journey, we went on to El Outaia, where there is a horrid caravansary, under the charge of very rude people. Dogs abound there, as they do indeed in all Arab villages, of a kind of foxlike half-breed, whose special mission it is to bark, and bark they do most lustily through the whole night. We did our best to sleep amid the hurly-burly of the canine race, but soon gave up the attempt, and began preparations for an early start. Our mules were in good order, which was lucky, considering that there is no road, or even footpath, in these untraversed wilds; and the traveller is forced to trust to the vague indications of passing Arabs, who have no notion of time, and

102

SCENE OF DESOLATION.

little of distance, for his information.

As we

started, the sun rose behind us in mitigated brilliancy, reminding us that we were leaving the cloudless heavens of the desert, where there is a certainty of fine weather, for the hill-country of rains and storms.

Our way led through sandy plains, which changed gradually to rocky hills, varied with rocky valleys; no vegetation visible, except perhaps a scrubby bush of cold grey-green, catching the eye by contrast with the pervading heat. At length we lost the flatness to which we had become accustomed, and wandered on through such a scene of desolation as it is difficult to convey to one who has not seen it-undulating hillocks of coarse, loose sand, broken now and then by a hoary boulder, or a loose mass of shingly stones, that rattled down and fell with an echo under our cautious tread; bald cliffs, which closed us in on all sides, only opening out to display a repetition of what we had already passed through-more bare, more bald, more melancholy than before; no sun to brighten this dismal pros

pect; a dull grey sky overhead, that darkened into blackness towards the horizon, throwing everything into gloom; no living thing to break the solitude, unless it were a lizard darting from our path, or a herd of gazelles galloping quickly out of sight.

About midday we reached a miniature oasis, which could boast of a dropping stream of trickling water (a rare thing out here), and a clump of oleanders waving on its edge. As this was the only water we were to see in the course of the day, we dismounted from our beasts, and unpacking the provision-box, prepared to make ourselves comfortable for half an hour. Suddenly there was a rustle in the brushwood, and one of our men, cocking his pistol, and shouting, "Ah! un Arabe !” immediately turned to me for powder-a very opportune moment for the request! It turned out, however, to be nothing but a wild boar, which scuttled away, only too glad to be quit of us. Before remounting, it was thought advisable to fire off our pistols, in case they should

miss at a critical moment after long disuse. One