e shadow of which it lay, embowered in a profusion of
palms and date-trees. Here the villagers were scattered in groups,
feasting and merry-making, it being a festival held in honour of some
local magnate, whose daughter had that day been married. The villagers
received their fellow-countrymen, as also the Caliph and the pirates,
with every demonstration of good-will, bringing them fresh milk to
drink, and bread, made of a mixture of rye and oats, with plenty of
dates, to eat.

Here the whole party rested for some hours, but when their conductors
wished again to resume their journey, the three pirates flatly refused
to depart, saying that they were well off where they were, and would go
no further--at least for that day. It was intimated to them that the
king of that country would suffer no stranger to dwell there unless he
had first seen him and granted his permission. However, all was in
vain; they no longer regarded the authority of their captain, and,
being three men to one, he could not compel them to obey. Leaving
them, therefore, the Caliph and the captain set out again, hoping
before nightfall to reach the town where the king, who had already been
informed of their arrival, was expecting them.

For some distance their road lay through a pleasant and well-cultivated
country, dotted at intervals by hamlets and scattered cottages, which
were surrounded by groves of orange-trees or clumps of dates and palms.
At length, as they advanced, the ground became broken and hilly, the
road was steep, and far in the distance they saw, on a great plateau or
table-land, the sparkling domes and minarets of a majestic city.

The sun was already low as they drew near to the city, and they were
congratulating themselves on being able to enter the town before the
darkness should be upon them, when suddenly they came to the edge of a
vast and precipitous abyss, which completely severed the country they
had been traversing from the heights on which the city had been built.
The road they could see continued its course on the other side, but,
spanning the dizzy chasm, the only bridge was the trunk of a gigantic
tree, which lay stretched across it. Without hesitation or difficulty
the natives of the country passed over, trusting themselves without
apparent concern to walk at that tremendous height along the rough
surface of the primitive bridge, which afforded so uncertain and
precarious a foothold. The captain, having the nerve