One evening, as we were shortening the road by such light conversation as the above, we came to a rising ground, from the top of which arose several masses of rock, around whose base the glad sight of green vegetation delighted our eyes. Horses and camels alike responded to the sight, and marched right forward to the place of attraction. The Arabs sent forth a shout of joy. We rode up in a species of ecstasy, in hopes of finding water and an hour or two of refreshment from the delicious atmosphere that ever surrounds a spring in the desert. But we had no sooner reached the top than one and all of us were struck dumb and motionless with astonishment, the Arabs throwing themselves instinctively into an attitude of prayer. Before us lay one of the most magnificent prospects that ever enraptured the soul of man. A broad sheet of clear water, extending for miles to right and left, occupied the foreground of the picture. It was studded with numerous islands, on which we could distinctly perceive the rugged cliffs and towering precipices, reflecting the brilliant lustre of the sunbeam, which was already tinged with the golden yellow of the evening livery, whilst the round, massive, and luxuriant foliage that concealed the base, and here and there crowned the summits, sent forth its softer but deeper and chaster hue of warm aerial green, with its shadows of azure grey, amid which at intervals a minaret arose, or from which a palace peeped forth with pinnacles dazzling in the sun, and deep, broad shadows projected on the walls. The water was enlivened with crowds of sails and moving vessels of different sizes; and beyond it, on the opposite shore, embosomed in trees and hills and rocks, with gilded tops and richly variegated

skirts, were seen the domes and pinnacles, and terraces and roofs of a city as vast as London itself, and rich in all the wonders of nature and art.

"Heaven preserve us!" said Markland, alive ?"

are we

"This is not in my map," said Walworth, very innocently.

"The deevil's in it," said Campbell. "Let's ride down to the water at all events."

And away he rode, and we all followed him, to sudden and still more bewildering disappointment. We had scarcely reached the level of the plain when the whole vision was suddenly dissolved, and nothing appeared but the bare desert before us.

""Tis the mirage!" said Bingham.

We returned to our Arabs, but they were at prayer. We occupied our old position, and saw the dissolving remnants of the celestial vision. It did not break, but merely died away, as if the light had been withdrawn from it. Then, and then only, did our conductors speak and satisfy our curiosity.

"It is the Garden of Irem," said the Sheikh; "the city of Sheddad, the son of Ad, which he built in the desert. But God destroyed him and his people for their sins, and the city floats about without an inhabitant. The prophet says, in the 79th chapter of the Koran, ‘Hast thou not considered how the Lord dealt with Ad and the people of Irem, adorned with lofty buildings, the like whereof hath not been erected in the land?' Abdallah Ebir Colabah once found the city, and entered it, as he was seeking a camel. Many have seen it, but few can

approach it. It is not given to mortals to enter. It travels in the wilderness. God is great."

I wonder if Abraham ever saw this city, which hath no foundation; for he went out in search of one that hath a foundation.

Yours ever,

EDWARD.

Kind remembrances to Miss Senior and Eva, and don't forget Betty.

“How provoking!" said Minerva.

66

Eva.

What, have you forgotten your own name?" said

"No, no; it is not my memory but my faith that has failed me."

CHAPTER LIV.

HELLAH AND THE RUINS OF BABYLON-A MONSTER.

From Edward to Senior.

Jerusalem.

AFTER that splendid trick that Mother Nature prac

tised upon us in the affair of the mirage, we were for some time disconcerted and low-spirited. Here we were on a huge mountain of sand, between the two great worlds of East and West, like a bridge over the cloven mount of the Great Moriah of civilisation; and all around us, as far as the eye could reach, there was no symptom to be discovered of either vegetable or animal life, excepting only in our own little party, and amongst the rocks which here and there raised their noses above the dry and barren waves, and afforded shelter to some dry, withered thistle, stubble or shrub, which our horses and camels devoured with as much avidity as if it had been the green leaves and purple flowers of our own fat English clover on which they were regaling themselves. But the inspiriting power of the Desert is wonderful. Thus isolated, thus banished, from the great world of humanity, with the heavens above us, and ourselves to all appearance the only living creatures in existence-the only objects which seemed to demand the care of an all-seeing

eye and a providential hand-I felt such a courage, such an assurance of special protection, that I could not help exclaiming to my countrymen, all standing in silent contemplation around me, "This must be the birthplace of religion! Faith is born in solitude; it dies in the crowd."

They all responded simultaneously. They had all been musing in a similar strain. Even Markland himself had become solemn and reverent as an Arabian patriarch. The levity of the town and of the social sphere had entirely forsaken him. Here were no tamarisk-trees as at Sinai oozing out their manna, or convent gardens, shaded with palms and luxuriant with vintage. Here was neither field of rye nor of barley, nor even of furze or thistle; not even a venomous creature was to be seen. The scorpion, that loves the dry places and abominates the moist, had found this much too dry for him; the locust, which eats everything, even the doors of houses, "fores quoque tectorum," as Pliny says, and which cares not what it eats, provided it be only of a chewable composition, had passed over the spot without deigning to light upon it. Death reigned over all the melancholy expanse, and he is a solemn monitor. Capering was here out of the question. Even Sinai itself was less conducive to strong religious impressions than the sands of Kedem.

Desolate and deserted as this frightful region is, however, it is susceptible of restoration and cultivation. There are numerous arable regions interspersed, which only require the skill and the industry of man to make it once more a highway for the kings of the East. It was once covered with villages, and their remains are still to be met