carried down by floods,
or piled over each other. If this strip had not amounted to more
than 500 or 600 feet, I should have taken it to be the former bed of
a river; but as it was, it more resembled the ground left by the
returning of the sea. In many places saline substances were
deposited, whose delicate crystals reflected the light in all
directions.

This strip of ground, which is about five miles long, is dangerous,
because the hills and rocks serve as a favourable ambush for
robbers. Our drivers constantly urged the poor animals on. They
were obliged to travel here over hills and rocks quicker than across
the most convenient plains. We passed through in safety before
darkness came on, and then proceeded more leisurely on our journey.

21st June. Towards 1 in the morning, we came up with the town
Karatappa, of which, however, we saw only the walls. A mile beyond
this we halted in some stubble fields. The extensive deserts and
plains end here, and we entered upon a more cultivated and hilly
country.

On the 22nd of June, we halted in the neighbourhood of the town
Kuferi.

Nothing favourable can be said of any of the Turkish towns, as they
so much resemble each other in wretchedness, that it is a pleasure
not to be compelled to enter them. The streets are dirty, the
houses built of mud or unburnt bricks, the places of worship
unimportant, miserable stalls and coarse goods constitute the
bazaars, and the people, dirty and disgusting, are of a rather brown
complexion. The women increase their natural ugliness, by dyeing
their hair and nails reddish brown with henna, and by tattooing
their hands and arms. Even at twenty-five years old, they appear
quite faded.

On the 23rd of June, we halted not far from the town of Dus, and
took up our resting-place for the day.

In this place, I was struck by the low entrances of the houses; they
were scarcely three feet high, so that the people were obliged to
crawl rather than walk into them.

On the 25th of June, we came to Daug, where I saw a monument which
resembled that of Queen Zobiede in Baghdad. I could not learn what
great or holy man was buried under it.

25th June. At 4 this morning we came to the place where our caravan
guide lived, a village about a mile from Kerku. His house was
situated, with several others, in a large dirty court-yard, which
was surrounded by a wall with only one entrance. This court-yard
resembled a regular encampment: a