her dress to keep me from the cold, and I hoped, ay, vainly hoped, that I should get a few hours of refreshing slumber. One after another the men threw themselves on the floor beside me wrapped in their cloaks, and to my surprise the two women also spread their felts close by and were soon drowned in forgetfulness. I had not lain long when I discovered to my horror that my borrowed bedding swarmed with vermin, the same plague seemed to disturb the rest of the company, so that what with their snoring, scratching, and loud dreaming, I did not close my eyes the live-long night. About midnight the priest rose and called the rest to prayers, whereupon the nun protested loudly that it was too early, and bade him go to sleep again. Thinking to get rid of my companions, I seconded his motion, and the sleepers rose one after another; but to my disappointment instead of proceeding to the church, the ritual was opened, the priest and deacons stood round it, the congregation ranged themselves behind the choir, and the service commenced with such a harsh dinning noise that I at once gave up in despair all hope of rest. Before the prayers were ended, my servant and I were on horseback pursuing our onward journey through the plains of Navkoor. In two hours we reached Tâk, under Jebel Makloob, and here heard that our friends had been spending a few days in an adjoining village; so after resting awhile we rode ten miles farther, and joined them in safety at Ba-Sheaka. We remained at Ba-Sheaka for nearly two months, witnessing the religious festivities of the Yezeedees, and making inquiries into their creed, the result of which has already been given in a former chapter, and from thence proceeded to the Jacobite convent of Mar Mattai, or Sheikh Matta, where we spent the summer of 1850, and where the greater part of this volume was written.
