The frequent fissures of this defile were filled with rich woods of
oleander and shrubs of every shade of green, from which rose acacia, and
other trees unknown to Tancred. Over all this was a deep and cloudless
sky, and through it a path winding amid a natural shrubbery, which
princes would have built colossal conservatories to preserve.
''Tis a scene of enchantment that has risen to mock us in the middle of
the desert,' exclaimed the enraptured pilgrim; 'surely it must vanish
even as we gaze!'
About half-way up the defile, when they had traversed it for about a
quarter of an hour, Sheikh Hassan suddenly galloped forward and hurled
his spear with great force at an isolated crag, the base of which
was covered with oleanders, and then looking back he shouted to his
companions. Tancred and the foremost hurried up to him.
'Here are tracks of horses and camels that have entered the valley thus
far and not passed through it. They are fresh; let all be prepared.'
'We are twenty-five men well armed,' said Baroni. 'It is not the Tyahas
that will attack such a band.'
'Nor are they the Gherashi or the Mezeines,' said the Sheikh, 'for we
know what they are after, and we are brothers.'
'They must be Alouins,' said an Arab.
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