[Illustration: "THE TOOTH," or THE RED CASTLE MOUNTAIN.]
We passed on our way close under a solitary peak which stands out from the rest of the neighbouring mountains exactly in the likeness of a great red ruined castle, called by the Arabs "The Tooth."
Then we got into a deep ravine with red sandy cliffs on either side, and marching up its rocky bed we finally got in among the mountains, and there made our camp.
After getting our tent pitched, and while the men were finding firewood, my wife and I started a bit of engineering work in order to obtain a water supply.
We cleared out the little trickle of water which we found in the river bed, and digging a hollow in the sandy bed, we planted in it our india rubber bath, and diverted the trickle so that it ran into this, and so gave us a standing supply of clear water for our camp.
It was quite a triumph of engineering, though we got pretty wet and muddy in carrying it out.
Then we went exploring among the hills, following up our gorge. We soon found that it became a narrow fissure between the mountains, so narrow that the overhanging rocks often nearly touched each other high above our heads. It was a most weird place—exactly the sort of spot where one might expect a dragon to dwell.
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ARAB POLITENESS.
A thing that strikes one about the Arabs is their politeness and readiness to do good turns.