passed in a much briefer space of time than it has taken
to relate. I had now the greatest difficulty in keeping
Mahommed Aga and his men from charging up to enemies
who, from their present position, could have picked them
easily off with perfect safety to themselves; and riding
rapidly forward with Captain Lane, to see if we could by
some means turn their flank, a few horsemen at this
moment suddenly appeared over the swell on the opposite
side of the ravine, the foremost of whom, whilst making
many friendly signals, galloped across the intervening
space, hailing us a friend, and at the same time waving
his hand, to prevent his own people from opening their
fire. Lane and myself were not backward in returning
this greeting; and on approaching we beheld a handsome
young man, dressed in the showy Austrian uniform, with a
black Tartar sheepskin cap on his head, who, coming up,
accosted us in French, and with all the frankness of a
soldier, introduced himself as Count Szechinge, a
captain of Austrian dragoons, then on his way from
Tiberias with a party composed of one or two Turkish
lancers, about twenty-five Albanian deserters, his
German servant, dragoman, and suite, to raise troops in
the Adjelloun hills--a mission very similar to the one I
was myself employed on at Naplouse."

An acquaintance begun under such circumstances grows into friendship
with amazing rapidity; and many are the joyous hours the foragers
spend together, in spite of intolerable weather and storms of sleet
and snow, which bear a far greater resemblance to the climate of
Lochaber than to that of Syria, "land of roses." Reinforced with the
count and his companions, Colonel Napier pushes on--gets into the
vicinity of Ibrahim--his rabble rout turn tail, in case of being
swallowed alive by the ferocious pasha, whose reputation for cruelty
and all manner of iniquities seems well deserved, and having
ascertained the movements of that formidable ruffian, he returned to
Naplouse to take the command of 1500 half-tamed, undisciplined
savages, with whom to oppose his retreat. Luckily, the ratification of
the convention come in the nick of time; for it is very evident that
the best cudgels that were ever cut in "the classic woods of
Hawthornden," could not have awakened a spark of military ardour in
the wretched riff-raff assemblage appointed for this service--and