journeys on foot, bareheaded in the heat of the sun, sleeping upon the ground, and living upon vegetables and water.
Burckhardt then proceeded to Syria, where he familiarized himself by degrees with the Arabic language, and gradually acquired the habit of Oriental manners at a distance from the countries which were to be the scene of his travels, and consequently without much risk of being afterwards recognized. For this purpose he remained two years and a half, chiefly at Aleppo, where he assumed the name of Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah. In a journey which he made during this time in the countries to the east and south of the Dead Sea, he had the satisfaction of discovering the remains of an ancient city, consisting of a great number of buildings and monuments excavated in the rocks, a singularity which, with other circumstances, marked the place, in the opinion of the learned, for the site of Petra, the ancient capital of Arabia Petra. During this journey he assumed the character of an Arab physician in search of medicinal herbs, in which guise he obtained an introduction to the native chiefs.
When finally he set himself to travel in Arabia and Nubia, he assumed the character of a Dervish, and took nothing with him but a camel, some provisions, and a few gold coins, hidden in a woollen cloak. In those wild countries to have the appearance of being rich would have been greatly to increase the dangers of his journey, and in many cases he preferred to rely for a free passage from one part to another, from the charity of the Turkish merchants travelling with their caravans. His knowledge of the Arabic language, and of Moham-
