cameleer had not deceived us. We journeyed on between the
apparently interminable file of the caravan, and a chain of rugged rocks,
until night had absolutely set in, and even then we did not see the town.
The last camel had passed on, and we seemed alone in the desert, when a
man came riding by on a donkey. "Elder brother," said we, "is White
Enclosure still distant?" "No, brothers," he replied, "it is just before
you, there, where you see the lights. You have not more than five lis to
go." Five lis! It was a long way in the night, and upon a strange road,
but we were fain to resign ourselves. The night grew darker and darker.
There was no moon, no stars even, to guide us on our way. We seemed
advancing amid chaos and abysses. We resolved to alight, in the hope of
seeing our way somewhat more clearly: the result was precisely the
reverse; we would advance a few steps gropingly and slowly; then, all of
a sudden, we threw back our heads in fear of dashing them against rocks
or walls that seemed to rise from an abyss. We speedily got covered with
perspiration, and were only happy to mount our camels once more, and rely
on their clearer sight and surer feet. Fortunately the baggage was well
secured: what misery would it have been had that fallen off amid all this
darkness, as it had frequently done before! We arrived at last in
Tchagan-Kouren, but the difficulty now was to find an inn. Every house
was shut up, and there was not a living creature in the streets, except a
number of great dogs that ran barking after us.

At length, after wandering haphazard through several streets, we heard
the strokes of a hammer upon an anvil. We proceeded towards the sound,
and before long, a great light, a thick smoke, and sparks glittering in
the air, announced that we had come upon a blacksmith's shop. We
presented ourselves at the door, and humbly entreated our brothers, the
smiths, to tell us where we should find an inn. After a few jests upon
Tartars and camels, the company assented to our request, and a boy,
lighting a torch, came out to act as our guide to an inn.

After knocking and calling for a long time at the door of the first inn
we came to, the landlord opened it, and was inquiring who we were, when,
unluckily for us, one of our camels, worried by a dog, took it into its
head to send forth a succession of those horrible cries for which the
animal is remarkable. The innkeeper at once shut his door in our face