a curiosity.

On returning to the tents, I found an old Jerusalem acquaintance—a Moslem named ’Abderrahhman Bek el ’Asali—and with him several people from Es-Salt; among these a Christian named Abbâs.

From conversation with them I got some fresh information on Arab affairs.  These people took the opportunity of glorifying their native town; related how they are frequently at war, and that successfully, with the ’Adwân; and when acting in concert with the Abbâd, or much more so when in alliance with the Beni Sukh’r, can always repel them; only it happens that sometimes the ’Adwân get help from the more distant ’Anezeh; and this is much more than enough to turn the balance again.  But even now the ’Adwân cannot come near the town; neither can they quite forget that the Saltiyeh people, during a former war, killed both the father and grandfather of Dëâb, and sent the head of the former to the tribe in a dish, with a pilaff of rice.

All the strength of the ’Adwân now lies in Shaikh Dëâb, with his son ’Ali, (who came to welcome us near the Jordan,) and Gublân the nephew.  Old ’Abdu’l ’Azeez is considered childish, and unfit to lead them.

For us travellers, however, the ’Adwân are sufficient.  The territory is theirs over which we are passing, and they do all they can to please us; only, of course, like all Arab guides, they take every opportunity of insinuating themselves into being fed by us, which is a condition “not in the bond.”

Then came a visit of three men with good-natured countenances.  These were Bedawi minstrels from Tadmor, (Palmyra,) who wander about from tribe to tribe, singing heroic poems to the accompaniment of their rebâbeh, (a very primitive sort of fiddle.)  No warfare interferes with the immunity of their persons or property.  They are never injured or insulted, but are always and everywhere welcome, and liberally rewarded.  Of course it is for their interest to gratify the pride of their auditors by fervid appeals to their ancestral renown, or to individual prowess and generosity.

The Arabic of their chants is unintelligible to towns-people; it is the high classic language of Antar.

I had made acquaintance with these same men before at Tibneen Castle, near the Lebanon, during a season of Bairam.  Being Sunday, we requested them to visit our tents in the morning.  Our Arabs,

however, and the dragomans kept them singing till a late hour round the fires lighted among the tents.  It was a cheerful scene, in the clear starlight, and the lustrous planet Venus reflected in the running stream.

Monday, 14th.—After breakfast, and an entertainment of music from our troubadours, and the bestowing of our guerdon, these left us on their way to the other camp at Na’oor; and our packing up commenced.

Strange medley of costumes and languages among the grand colonnades.  Our Arabs left us, having the luggage in charge, and indicating to us the camping-ground where we were to meet again at night—thus leaving us in care of the Saltîyeh friends of ours, who were to escort us to their town and its neighbourhood, as the ’Adwân might not go there themselves.

Both the Christian and Moslem shaikhs of the town came to meet us on the way.  The former was a very old man; and he could with difficulty be persuaded to mount his donkey in presence of a train so majestic, in his eyes, coming from the holy city of Jerusalem.

We passed an encampment of Beni Hhasan.  These people are few in number, and exist under the shadow of the ’Adwân.

There were plenty of locusts about the country; but we soon came to a vast space of land covered with storks, so numerous as completely to hide

the face of the earth, all of them busily employed in feeding—of course devouring the locusts.  So great is the blessing derived from the visits of storks, that the natives of these countries regard it as a sin to destroy the birds.  On our riding among them they rose in the air, entirely obscuring he sky and the sun from our view.  One of our party attempted to fire among them with his revolver, but, by some heedlessness or accident, the bunch of barrels, being not well screwed down flew off the stock and was lost for a time; it took more than half an hour’s search by all of us to find it again, and the Arabs considered this a just punishment for wishing to kill such useful creatures.

We traversed a meadow where Shaikh Faisel, with a detachment of the ’Anezeh, had encamped for pasture, and only left it thirty-five days before.  His flocks and herds were described to us as impossible to be counted; but our friends were unanimous in stating that his camels were 1500 in number.

Came to Khirbet es Sar, (Jazer?) whence the Dead Sea was again visible.  Our Arabs declared that they could distinguish the Frank mountain, and see into the streets of Bethlehem.  Here there is a mere heap of ruin, with cisterns, and fragments of arches, large columns, and capitals; also a very rough cyclopean square building of brown striped flint in huge masses.

This site is three hours due north of Na’oor, in

a straight line, not turning aside to Dëâb’s camp or ’Ammân.  Northwards hence are the well-wooded hills of ’Ajloon.  To my inquiries for any site with a name resembling Nebo, I was referred to the Neba, half an hour south of Heshbon, which is given in the list taken down by me at Heshbon.

Proceeding northwards, we had the hills of Jebel Mâhas parallel on our right hand; and to our left, in a deep glen below, was the source of the stream Se’eer, which had flowed past us at Cuferain, our first encampment after crossing the Jordan.

Arrived at the ruined town (modern in appearance) of Dabook, from whence they say the Dabookeh grapes at Hebron [39] had their origin; but there are none to be seen here now (see Jer. xlviii. 32, 33)—“O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.  And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the wine-presses,” etc.: with nearly the same words in Isa. xvi. 8-10.