he was manufacturing a huge carpet--very handsome in design,
but somewhat coarse in texture--ordered for Turkestan. Three women in his
house had uncovered faces, and were very good-looking. They brought us
tea in the garden, and sweets and water melon, but did not, of course,
join in the conversation, and modestly kept apart in a corner. They wore
white _chudders_ over the head and long petticoats--quite a becoming
attire--while the men, too, were most artistic in appearance, with smart
zouave yellow jackets trimmed with fur, with short sleeves not reaching
quite to the elbow, leaving the arm quite free in its movements, and
displaying the loose sleeve of the shirt underneath.

A couple of newly-born babies were swung in hammocks in the garden, and
were remarkably quiet when asleep!

On going for a walk on the outskirts of the city one found a great many
fairly high mud hillocks to the east, averaging 400 feet. East-south-east
there stood hundreds more of these hillocks, with taller brown hills (the
Leker Kuh) behind them, and to the west a high peak, rising to an
estimated 11,000 feet, in the Kuh-Benan mountains. The Tokrajie
Mountains, south-west of Lawah, did not seem to rise to more than 9,000
or 10,000 feet, and extended in a south-south-east direction. South-east
we could still see the Kuh Legav Mountain, at the foot of which we had
camped on November 8th. To the north was a long mountain, with a white
stratum like a horizontal stripe half-way up it, and the summit was in
regular teeth like those of a saw. Another similar but more pointed
mountain was to the east-south-east, the white stratum being less
horizontal in this portion. This curious white stripe in the hills
extended over an arc of a circle from 70 deg. (east-north-east) to 320 deg.
(north-west).

We made great purchases of provisions in Lawah--sheep, chickens, eggs,
vegetables and fruit, the slaughtered chickens being carefully prepared
in layers of salt to make them last as long as possible. Then we
purchased a number of sheep skins to carry a further supply of drinking
water, for from this place, we were told, we should be several days
without finding any. Sadek was busy all day smearing these skins with
molten butter to make them absolutely water tight, and I, on my part, was
glad to see all the butter go in this operation, for with the intense
heat of the day it was impossible to touch it with one's food. Sadek's
idea of good cooking was intense