FROM PILGRIM'S FORD
TO AIN EL FESHKAH.
AT 1.45, started with the boats, the caravan making a direct line for Ain el Feshkah, on the north-west shore of the Dead Sea, the appointed place of rendezvous.
The course of the river was at first S. W. In about half an hour, we were hailed from the right bank, when we stopped and took in sheikh Helu, of the tribe Huteim, his name the same as that of the ford.
From 1.50 to 1.57, course varying from N. W. to S. S. W. Stopped to fill the India-rubber water-bags, having passed a small island thickly wooded. Weather close and sultry. At 2.22, started again, course from N. N. E. to S. by W.; the right bank red clay, twenty-five feet high; left bank low, with high canes and willows. 2.25, a quantity of drift-wood; and 2.36, a camel in the river, washed down by the current in attempting to cross the ford last night. Weather cloudy at intervals, river forty yards wide, twelve feet deep, bottom blue mud. The banks alternating high and low highest at the bends and lowest at the opposite points.
At 2.41, passed another camel in the river, the poor beast leaning exhausted against the bank, and his owner seated despondingly above him: We could not help him!
From 2.42 to 2.54, course from S. to S. E.
and back; many pigeons flying about. At this time, there was a nauseous smell
on the left or eastern shore-traced it to a small stream running down the Wady
Hesbon ; the banks
APPROACH THE DEAD SEA. 267
very low, and covered with cane and tamarisk. The river here fifty yards wide, eleven feet deep, muddy bottom, current four knots. 2.59, sand and clay banks, with some pebbles on the right; everything indicating the vicinity of the Dead Sea.
At 3, course S. E. by S., water very smooth, discoloured but sweet. Saw a heron, a bulbul, and a snipe. 3.04, a foetid smell, proceeding from a small stream on the right or western shore. At 3.07, low and sedgy banks, high mountains of the Dead Sea in sight to the southward and westward; saw many wild ducks. 3.09, both banks, about twelve feet high, bore marks of recent overflow. 3.10, a small round red clay hill on the right, bearing S. W. by S. 3.11, passed a bare channel, left by the freshet. 3.12, course south a long stretch, river seventy yards wide, left bank very low, covered with tamarisk, willow, and cane; right bank fifteen to eighteen feet high, red clay, with weeds and shrubs--the mala insana, spina Christi, and some of the agnus cactus-a few tamarisk at the water's edge.
At 3.13, the mountains to the S. E. over the
Dead Sea presented a very rugged, iron-like appearance. Water
of the river sweet. 3.15, the left bank low, running out to a
flat cape. Right bank low with thick canes, some of them
resembling the sugar-cane; twenty feet back the bank twelve feet high, red
clay. 3.16, water brackish, but no unpleasant smell; banks red
clay and mud, gradually becoming lower and lower; river eighty yards wide, and
fast increasing in breadth, seven feet deep, muddy bottom, current three
knots. Saw the Dead Sea over the flat, bearing south-mountains
beyond. The surface of the water became
ruffled. 3.22, a snipe flew by -fresh wind from north-west -one
large and two small islands at the mouth of the river; the islands of mud six
to eight feet high, evidently subject to overflow; started a heron and a white
gull.
At 5.40, finding that we were losing every moment, and that, with the lapse of each succeeding one, the danger increased, kept away for the northern shore, in the hope of being yet able to reach it; our arms, our clothes and skins coated with a greasy salt; and our eyes, lips, and nostrils, smarting excessively. How different was the scene before the submerging of the plain, which was "even as the garden of the Lord!"
At times it seemed as if the Dread Almighty frowned upon our efforts to navigate a sea, the creation of his wrath. There is a tradition among the Arabs that no one can venture upon this sea and live. Repeatedly the fates of Costigan and Molyneux had been cited to deter us. The first one spent a few days, the last about twenty hours, and returned to the place from whence he had embarked, without landing upon its shores. One was found dying upon the shore; the other expired in November last, immediately after his return, of fever contracted upon its waters.
But, although the sea had assumed a threatening aspect, and the fretted mountains, sharp and incinerated, loomed terrific on either side, and salt and ashes mingled with its sands, and foetid sulphurous springs trickled down its ravines, we did not despair: awe-struck, but not terrified; fearing the worst, yet hoping for the best, we prepared to spend a dreary night upon the dreariest waste we had ever seen.
At 5.58, the wind instantaneously abated, and
with it the sea as rapidly fell; the water, from its ponderous quality,
settling as soon as the agitating cause had ceased to
act. Within twenty minutes from the time we bore away from a
sea which threatened to engulf us, we were pulling away, at a rapid rate, over
a placid sheet of water, that scarcely rippled beneath us; and a rain-cloud,
which
270 ASPECT OF THE SHORES.
had enveloped the sterile mountains of the Arabian shore, lifted up, and left their rugged outlines basking in the light of the setting sun. At 6.10, a flock of gulls flew over, while we were passing a small island of mud, a pistol-shot distant from the northern shore, and half a mile west of the river's mouth. At 6.20, a light wind sprung up from S. E., and huge clouds drifted over, their western edges gorgeous with light, while the great masses were dark and threatening. The sun went down, leaving beautiful islands of rose-coloured clouds over the coast of Judea; but above the yet more sterile mountains of Moab, all was gloomy and obscure.
The northern shore is an extensive mud-flat, with a sandy plain beyond, and is the very type of desolation; branches and trunks of trees lay scattered in every direction; some charred and blackened as by fire; others white with an incrustation of salt. These were collected at high-water mark, designating the line which the water had reached prior to our arrival. On the deep sands of this shore was laid the scene of the combat between the knight of the leopard and Ilderim, the Saracen. The north-western shore is an unmixed bed of gravel, coming in a gradual slope from the mountains to the sea. The eastern coast is a rugged line of mountains, bare of all vegetation, -a continuation of the Hauran range, coming from the north, and extending south beyond the scope of vision, throwing out three marked and seemingly equidistant promontories from its south-eastern extremity.
At 6.25, passed a gravelly point, with many large stones upon it. It is a peninsula, connected with the main by a low, narrow isthmus. When the latter is overflowed, the peninsula must present the appearance of an island, and is doubtless the one to which Stephens, Warburton, and Dr. Wilson, allude.
We were, for some time, apprehensive of
missing the
NIGHT UPON THE DEAD SEA. 271
place of rendezvous; for the Sheikh of Huteim, never having been afloat before, and scarce recovered from his fright during the gale, was bewildered in his mind, and perfectly useless as a guide. The moon had not risen; and in the starlight, obscured by the shadow of the mountains, we pulled along the shore in some anxiety. At one moment we saw the gleam of a fire upon the beach, to the southward; and, firing a gun, made for it with all expedition. In a short time it disappeared; and while resting on the oars, waiting for some signal to direct us, there were the flashes and reports of guns and sounds of voices upon the cliffs, followed by other flashes and reports far back upon the shore which we had passed. Divided between apprehensions of an attack upon our friends and a stratagem for ourselves, we were uncertain where to land. Determined, however, to ascertain, we closed in with the shore, and pulled along the beach, sounding as we proceeded.
A little before 8 P. M., we came up with our friends, who had stopped at Ain el Feshka, fountain of the stride. The shouts and signals we had heard had been from the scouts and caravan, which had been separated from each other, making mutual signals of recognition; they had likewise responded to ours, which, coming from two points some distance apart, for a time disconcerted us. It was a wild scene upon an unknown and desolate coast the mysterious sea, .the shadowy mountains, the human voices among the cliffs, the vivid flashes and the loud reports reverberating along the shore.
Unable to land near the fountain, we were
compelled to haul the boats upon the beach, about a mile below; and, placing
some Arabs to guard them, took the men to the camp, pitched in a cane-brake,
beside a brackish spring, where, from necessity, we made a frugal supper; and
then, wet and weary, threw ourselves upon a bed of
272 ANCIENT CAVERNS.
dust, beside a foetid marsh; -the dark, fretted mountains behind-the sea, like a huge cauldron, before us-its surface shrouded in a lead-coloured mist.
Towards midnight, while the moon was rising above the eastern mountains, and the shadows of the clouds were reflected wild and fantastically upon the surface of the sombre sea; and everything, the mountains, the sea, the clouds, seemed spectre-like and unnatural, the sound of the convent-bell of Mar Saba struck gratefully upon the ear; for it was the Christian call to prayer, and told of human wants and human sympathies to the wayfarers on the borders of the Sea of Death.
The shore party stated that, after leaving the green banks of the Jordan, they passed over a sandy tract of damp ravines, where it was difficult for the camels to march without slipping. Ascending a slight elevation, they traversed a plain encrusted with salt, and sparsely covered with sour and saline bushes, some dead and withered, and snapping at the slightest touch given them in passing. . They noticed many cavernous excavations in the hill-sides, -the dwelling-places of the Israelites, of early Christians, and of hermits during the time of the Crusades.*, They at length reached a sloping, dark-brown sand, forming the beach of the Dead Sea, and followed it to El Feshkha. Our Arabs feared wild beasts, but there is nothing for one to live on, in these untenanted solitudes. The frogs alone bore vocal testimony of their existence.
In descending the Ghor, Mr. Dale sketched the
topography of the country, and took compass bearings as he proceeded. The route
of the caravan was on the bank of the upper terrace, on the west side, every
day, except
_________
*”And because of the Midianites, the children
of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and
strongholds."--Judges; xi. 2.
FOUNTAIN OF THE STRIDE. 273
one, when it travelled on the eastern side. That elevated plain was at first covered with fields of grain, but became more barren as they journeyed south. The terrace was strongly marked, particularly in the southern portion, where there was a continuous range of perpendicular cliffs of limestone and conglomerate. This terrace averaged about 500 feet above the flat of the Jordan, the latter mostly covered with trees and grass. They were each day compelled to descend to the lower plain, to meet the boats.
Wednesday, April 19. I was first recalled to consciousness this morning by rays of light, the pencilled messengers of the early dawn, shooting above the dark and fretted mountains which form the eastern boundary of the sea. This day I had assigned to rest and preparation for future work, and intended to let all hands sleep late, after the great fatigue of yesterday; but, soon after daybreak, we were startled with the intelligence that the boats were nearly filled with water. The wind had risen towards morning, and a heavy sea was tumbling in. We hastened to the beach to secure the boats, and dry our effects. With all our discomfort, we had slept better than usual, having been undisturbed by fleas. The wind was fresh from the south, and the brawling sound of the breakers was reverberated from the perpendicular face of "the mountains. We were encamped just above the spring, in a clearing made in the cane-break, under a cliff upwards of a thousand feet high-old crumbling limestone and conglomerate of a dull ochre colour,
The fountain is a shallow and clear stream of
water, at the temperature of 84°, which flows from a cane-break, near the base
of the mountain. It is soft yet brackish, and there is no deposit of silicious
or cretaceous matter, but it has a strong smell of sulphur. We
had no means of analyzing it. A short distance from its source, it
274 BIRDS UPON THE SHORE.
spreads over a considerable space, and its diagonal course to the sea is marked by a more vivid line of vegetation than that which surrounds it. Between the cane-break and the sea is the beach, covered with minute fragments of flint. In the water of the sea, near the shore, are standing many dead trees, about two inches in diameter. We could neither find nor hear of the ruins mentioned by Dr. Robinson, and looked in vain for sulphur. The pebbles of bituminous limestone of which he speaks, are in great abundance.
Our Arabs finding it impossible to sustain their horses on the salt and acrid vegetation of this place, and Ain Jidy being represented as no better, I discharged them and the camel-drivers, and applied to the Pasha at Jerusalem for a few soldiers, to guard the depot I intended forming at Ain Jidy, while we should be exploring the sea and its shores.
'Akil and his followers were to leave us here, but Sherif, with his servant, would remain. Sent Sherif to Jerusalem, to assist in superintending the transportation of stores, and to make arrangements for supplies of provisions from Hebron. Sent with him everything we could dispense with-saddles, bridles, holsters, and all but a few articles of clothing.
At 1 P. M., made an excursion along the base
of the mountain, towards Ras es Feshkhah (cape of the stride), and gathered
some specimens of conglomerate and some fresh-water shells in the bed of the
stream. We were struck with the almost total absence of round stones and
pebbles upon the beach-the shore is covered with small angular fragments of
flint. Started two partridges of a beautiful stone-colour, so much like the
rocks, that they could only be distinguished when in motion. Heard
the notes of a solitary bird in the cane-brake, which we could not
identify. The statement that nothing can live upon the
UNRELIEVED DESOLATION. 275
shores of the sea, is, therefore, disproved. The home and the usual haunt of the partridge may be among the cliffs above, but the smaller bird we heard must have its nest in the thicket.
But the scene was one of unmixed desolation. The air, tainted with the sulphuretted hydrogen of the stream, gave a tawny hue even to the foliage of the cane, which is elsewhere of so light a green. Except the cane-brakes, clustering along the marshy stream which disfigured, while it sustained them, there was no vegetation whatever; barren mountains, fragments of rocks, blackened by sulphureous deposit, and an unnatural sea, with low, dead trees upon its margin, all within the scope of vision, bore a sad and sombre aspect. We had never before beheld such desolate hills, such calcined barrenness. The most arid desert has its touch of genial nature
“But here, above, around, below, In mountain or in glen,
Nor tree, nor plant, nor shrub, nor flower,
Nor aught of vegetative power,
The wearied eye may ken;
But all its rocks at random thrown,
Black waves, bare crags, and banks of stone?”
There was an unpleasant sulphureous smell in the air, which we attributed to the impregnated waters of the fountain and marsh.
'Akil, to whom we were all much attached,
came to see us prior to his departure. To our surprise and great delight, we
learned, in the course of conversation, that he was well acquainted and on
friendly terms with some of the tribes on the eastern shore. I therefore
prevailed upon him to proceed there by land; apprise the tribes of our coming,
and make arrangements to supply us with provisions. In ten
days he was to be in Kerak, and have a look-out for us stationed upon the
eastern shore near the peninsula. It was a most gratifying arrangement, for
276 THE WORD OF OUR ARAB.
we might now hope to avoid difficulty where it had been most anticipated, and to visit the country of Moab, so little known to the world.
Sometime after the agreement was made, 'Akil returned and expressed a wish to be released. I ascertained that some of his timid followers had been dissuading him, and held him to his obligation. He is a high-toned savage. At our former meeting I advanced him money for his expenses and the purchase of provisions, for which he refused to give a receipt or append his seal (an Arab never subscribes his name, even when he can write) to the contract. I had, therefore, nothing but his word to rely upon, which I well knew he would never break. "The bar of iron may be broken, but the word of an honest man never," and there is as much honour beneath the yellow skin of this untutored Arab, as ever swelled the breast of the chivalrous Coeur de Lion. He never dreamed of falsehood.
During the early part of the day the weather was pleasant, with passing clouds; but when unobscured the sun was warm. Towards the afternoon the wind subsided, and the calm sea, when the sun shone upon it, verified the resemblance which it has been said to bear to molten lead. In the forenoon it had looked as yesterday, like a sheet of foam.
The night was clear, a thin mist hung over
the southern shore, and the moon was nearly at the full. Near us, when all was
still, the sea had the exact hue of absinthe, or that peculiar blue of the
grotto of “Azzura," described in
the “Improvisatore." Until 2 A. M. the night was serene
and lovely. Although the earth was fine and penetrating as ashes, and the
miasma from the marsh anything but agreeable, there were no fleas, and the
bites which had so smarted from the spray yesterday, are now healing up.
AN ARAB MESS 277
To-night our Bedawin had a farewell feast, characteristic alike of their habitual waste and want of cleanliness. A huge kettle, partly filled with water, was laid on a fire made of wood gathered on the beach and strongly impregnated with salt; when the water boiled, a quantity of flour was thrown in and stirred with a branch of driftwood, seven feet long, and nine inches in circumference. When the mixture was about the consistence of paste, the vessel was taken from the fire and a skin of rancid butter, about six pounds, in a fluid state, was poured in; the mixture was again stirred, and the Bedawin seated round it scooped out the dirty, greasy compound, with the hollow of their hands - 'Akil not the least voracious among them. He is a genuine barbarian, and never sleeps even beneath the frail covering of a tent. In his green aba, which he has constantly worn since he joined us, he is ever to be found at night, slumbering, not sleeping, near the watchfire-his yataghan by his side-his heavy mounted, wide-mouthed pistols beneath his head. Before retiring, the Arabs took an impressive leave of us; for it was evident that they anticipated encountering some peril in their route along the eastern shore.
The Arab bard sang nearly the whole night. Stopping a little after midnight, he commenced again in less than an hour, and at 2 A. M. was giving forth his nasal notes and his twanging sounds in most provoking monotony; the discordant croaking of the frog is music in comparison. An occasional scream or yell would be absolute relief.
At midnight, again heard the bell of the
convent of Mar Saba. It was a solace to know that, in a place wild and solitary
in itself, yet not remote from us, there were fellow Christians raising their
voices in supplication to the Great and Good Being, before whom, in different
forms, but with undivided faith, we bow ourselves in worship.
Thursday, April 20. Awakened very early by one of the Arabs, more pious or more hypocritical than the rest, constituting himself a Mueddin,* and calling the rest to prayer. But the summons was obeyed by very few. An Arab, when he prays, throws his mat anywhere, generally, in obedience to the injunctions of the Koran, in the most conspicuous place. He puts off his shoes; stands upright; leans forward until his hands rest upon his knees; bends yet farther in prostration, and touches the earth with his forehead: he then rises erect, recites a sentence from the Koran, and goes through with similar genuflections and prostrations. In the intervals of the prostrations, he sits back, his knees to the ground, and his feet under him, and recites long passages from the Koran. Sometimes they are abstracted, but not always; we have seen them, in the intervals between the prostrations, comb their beards and address others in conversation, and afterwards, with great gravity, renew their orisons.
The most extraordinary thing is, that some of the Turkish soldiers we have seen, who were seemingly pious and really fanatical, did not understand one word of the Arabic passages of the Koran they recited with so much apparent devotion.
Except those who accompanied us from Acre, we have not seen a single Muslim with beads: -there, as well as at Beirit, Smyrna and Constantinople, every one we met, from the Pasha down, had them in his hands, apparently as playthings only.
The morning was pleasant; a light breeze from
the southward; temperature of the air, 82°. After taking double altitudes, sent
Mr. Dale and Mr. Aulick in the boats to sound diagonally and directly across to
the
________
MORE BIRDS. 279
eastern shore. They started at 10.30; the wind had died away; the sea was as smooth as a mirror towards either shore, but slightly ruffled in the middle, where there seemed to be a current setting to the southward. Thermometer, 89° in the tent, our only shelter, for the sun shone fiercely into every crevice of the mountain behind us. Employed in making arrangements for the removal of the camp farther south to-morrow.
P. M. A short distance from the camp, saw a large brown or stone-coloured hare, and started a partridge; heard another in the cliffs above, and a small bird twittering in the cane-brake beneath me. We discovered that these shores can furnish food for beasts of prey. Found some of the sea-side brache, supposed to be alluded to in Job, and translated mallows in the English version. Also the sida Asiatica.
At 5 P. M., temperature 80°; as the day declined, the wind sprang up and blew freshly from the north, and I began to feel apprehensive for the boats. Towards sunset, walked along the base of the mountains to the southward to look for, but could see nothing of them. Started a snipe, and saw, but could not catch, a beautiful butterfly, chequered white and brown. To-day a duck was seen upon the water, about a mile from the shore;-his home, doubtless, among the sedges of the brackish stream.
Soon after sunset, some Arabs of the tribe
Rashayideh came into camp, and proffered their services as guides along the
western coast, and guards to our effects while absent in the
boats. They were the most meagre, forlorn, and ragged creatures
I had ever seen. The habiliments of Falstaff’s recruits would
have been a court costume compared to the attire of these attenuated wretches,
whose swarthy skins, in all directions, peered forth through the filthy rags,
which hung in shreds and patches, rather betraying than concealing their
nudity.
280 SOUNDINGS OF THE DEAD SEA.
Some of them would have answered as guides; but it would not do to employ them in any other capacity. Their abject poverty would tempt them to steal, and their physical weakness prevent them, even if they were courageous, from defending our property. Since the battle of Cressy, history does not tell of lean and hungry men having ever proved valiant.
As night closed in, we lighted fires along the beach and around the camp as guiding signals to the boats.
At 8 P. M., went down to the beach and looked long and anxiously but could see nothing of them, although a dark object could have been discerned at a great distance, for the surface of the sea was one wide sheet of phosphorescent foam, and the waves, as they broke upon the shore, threw a sepulchral light upon the dead bushes and scattered fragments of rock. Returned to the camp and placed every one on guard, for all our men but one being absent in the boats, our weakness, if coupled with want of vigilance, might invite an attack from the strange Arabs, who, we knew, were upon the cliffs above.
At 9.30, the Fanny Mason, and at 10.45, the
Fanny Skinner, returned. They had been retarded by the fresh wind and
corresponding heavy swell of the sea. The distance in a straight line from this
to the Arabian shore measured seven nautical, or nearly eight statute miles.
The soundings directly across from this place gave 116 fathoms, or 696 feet, as
the greatest depth-ninety fathoms, 540 feet, within a fourth of a mile from the
Arabian shore. Mr. Aulick reports a volcanic formation on the
east shore, and brought specimens of lava. Another line of
soundings running diagonally across to the S. E. Mr. Dale reports a level plain
at the bottom of the sea, extending nearly to each shore, with an average depth
of 170 fathoms, 1020 feet, all across. The bottom, blue mud
and sand, and a number of rectangular crystals of
GROUP OF RAGGED ARABS. 281
salt, some of them perfect cubes. One cast brought up crystals only. Laid them by for careful preservation. The diagonal line of soundings was run from this place to a black chasm in the opposite mountains. The soundings deepened gradually to twenty-eight fathoms a short distance from the shore; the next cast was 137, and the third 170 fathoms, and the lead brought up, as mentioned, clear cubical crystals of salt. The casts were taken about every half mile, and the deep soundings were carried close to the Arabian shore. It was a tedious operation; the sun shone with midsummer fierceness, and the water, greasy to the touch, made the men's hands smart and burn severely.
In the chasm they found a sweet and thermal stream, coming from above and emptying into the sea. It is, doubtless, the “Zerka Main," the outlet of the hot springs of Callirohoe. We trust to give it a thorough examination.
By dark the sea had rolled up dangerously, and the boats took in much water, the crests of the waves curling over their sides. It was a dreadful pull for the men, and when they arrived their clothes were stiffened with encrustation.
The Rashayideh were grouped in a circle a short distance from our tents. In their ragged brown abas, lying motionless, and apparently in profound slumber, they looked by moonlight like so many fragments of rock, and reminded one of the grey geese around the but of Cannie Elshie, the recluse of Mucklestane Muir. They were not all asleep, however, for when I approached, one instantly arose and greeted me. Retired to rest at 1 A. M., the sea brawling and breaking upon the shore.
CHAPTER XIII.
FROM AIN EL FESHKHAH
TO AIN JIDY (ENGADDI).
FRIDAY, April 21. Allowed all hands to sleep late this morning, in consequence of the great fatigue of yesterday. The sun rose at 5.29, a light wind from the westward.
A. M., busied in preparation for moving to the southward. The sea was smooth and weather clear, and after sunrise it became quite warm. Lofty arid mountains on both sides; a low flat shore to the northward and to the southward; the south-eastern and the south-western shores converging, with only water visible between them. In that direction, a light veil of mist was drawn above the sea.
At 11, broke up camp, and commenced moving every thing to the boats, excepting a load for the only remaining camel, to be conveyed along the shore. The Rashayideh were very active in the labour of transportation from the camp to the boats. Their astonishing brevity of shirt, and lack of all other covering, save a dirty and faded koofeeyeh, rendered them peculiarly interesting to the anatomist. Several of them wore sandals, a rude invention to protect the feet. It was a thick piece of hide, confined by a thong passing under the sole, at the hollow of the foot, around the heel, and between the great toe and the one which adjoins it.
Our baggage seemed too heavy for the boats,
but it was necessary to make the attempt to get away. Our
Jordan water was nearly expended, and that of the fountain was not only
exceedingly unpalatable, but I feared unwhole-
THE BROOK KIDBON. 283
some also. If it came on to blow, we would have to beach the boats to save them.
At 11.42, started; a light breeze from the southward and westward; the sea slightly ruffled. Steered S. ½ E., along the shore by Ras el Feshkhah. The ras (cape) about 200 yards distant from the shore; between it and our late camping-place is a low, narrow plain, skirted with cane. The precipitous limestone mountain towering a thousand feet above it.
At 1.15 P. M., passed Wady Mahras, or Ravine of the Guard. It was dry, with a solitary ghurrah-tree at its mouth, larger than any we had seen upon these shores. It was about the size of a half-grown apple-tree.
Half a mile beyond is the Wady en Nar (Ravine of Fire), which is the bed of the brook Kidron. The head of that ravine is the valley of Jehoshaphat, under the eastern wall of Jerusalem. Midway down the ravine, the convent of Mar Saba is situated. Between the outlets of the two ravines of Mahras and En Nar, the debris of the mountains has formed a plain, or delta, sloping to the southeast, and rounding again to the southward.
At 1.36, stopped to examine where the Kidron empties into the sea, in the rainy season. The bed, much worn and filled with confused fragments of rock, was perfectly dry. It is a deep gorge, narrow at the base, and yawning wide at the summit, which was 1200 feet above us.
The peak of Mukulla, immediately north of this ravine, was the loftiest of the range we had thus far seen on the Judean shore; and presented, even more than the rest, the appearance of having been scathed by fire. Its summit is less sharp and more rounded, and the rapid disintegration of its face towards the sea has formed a sloping hill of half its height, resembling fine dust and ashes.
The formation of this mountain, like the rest
of the range to the north, consists of horizontal strata of lime-
284 GENERAL ASPECT.
stone; the exterior, of an incinerated brown, is so regular in its stratification as to present a scarped and fortified aspect. The mountain-sides and summits, and the shores of this sea, thus far, were almost entirely devoid of vegetation; and the solitary tree, of which I have spoken, alone refreshed the eye, while all else within the scope of vision was dreary and utter desolation. The curse of God is surely upon this unhallowed sea!
Picked up fresh-water shells in the torrent-bed, and fragments of flesh-coloured flint upon the sea shore, and gathered some specimens of rock.
At 2.12, started again; scarce any wind; weather warm but not oppressive; the sky somewhat clouded with cumuli; the course, S. ½ W. The curve of the shore forms a bay between the delta we have just left, and a point bearing S. S. E.
At 3 P. M., abreast of the high cliff Hathurah, and the Wady Sudeir, immediately north of it. 3.15, under the mouth of a large cave, which was two-thirds up the cliff. The delta, which had narrowed since leaving the bed of the Kidron, began to spread out again from the mountains towards the sea.
3.25, abreast of Wady Ghuweir, which presented a singular appearance on its summits; the northern one resembling a watch-tower, and the southern one a castle.
3.30, low land visible to the southward; a fire on the eastern shore. The face and sides of this ravine are cut into terraces by the action of the winter rains.
Narrow strips of canes and tamarisks
immediately at the foot of the cliff, -a luxuriant line of green; save the
solitary ghurrah-tree, the only thing we have seen to cheer the eye since
leaving the tawny cane-brake of Ain el Feshkhah. A beach of coarse, dark gravel below, and barren, brown mountains
above, throughout the whole intervening space.
DESOLATE SCENE. 285
At 4.15, half a mile from the shore, threw over the drag in ten fathoms water. It brought up nothing but mud.
4.30, a perfect calm. The clouds hung motionless in the still air, and their shadows chequered the rugged surface of the mountains of Arabia. It was the grandeur of desolation; no being seen-all sound unheard-we were in the midst of a profound and awful solitude.
4.41, approaching Ain Turabeh. On a point stretching out into the sea are a few ghurrah-trees and some tamarisk-bushes, and tufts of cane and grass, which alone relieved the dreary scene; all besides are brown, incinerated hills, masses of conglomerate, banks of sand and dust, impalpable as ashes, and innumerable boulders, bleached by long exposure to the sun.
4.43, rounded the point, which was low and gravelly, with some drift-wood upon it; rowed by a small but luxuriant cane-brake, and camped a short distance from the fountain.
The clear, shelving beach, the numerous tamarisk and ghurrah-trees, and the deep green of the luxuriant cane, rendered this, by contrast, a delightful spot.
The indentation of the coast formed here a perfect little bay; and the water of the fountain, although warm, is pure and sweet. Its temperature, 75°. It rather trickles than gushes from the north side of the bay, within ten paces of the sea.
We found here a pistachia* in full bloom, but
its pretty white and pink flowers yielded no fragrance. In the stream of the
little fountain were several lily-stalks, and the sand was discoloured with a
sulphureous deposit,
________
"Pistachia Terebinthus; the terebinth of
Scripture. It is here a dwarf, but is said to grow larger on
the plains. It was under the shade of a terebinth-tree that
Abraham pitched his tent at Mamre. The Arabs call it “butm."
286 VEGETABLE PRODUCTS.
as at Ain el Feshkhah. The Arabs formed a number of pools around by scooping out the sand and gravel with their hands. They brought us a species of large pea, growing each in a separate pod, a number of them clustering on a low, shrub-like plant. It is a product of cultivation, and must have come from beyond the desert of Judea, which stretches westward, from the cliffs above, nearly to the meridian of Hebron and Bethlehem, and much farther south than the first. The shell of the pea is coated with a furze, which resembles the down of the ice-plant when the dew is upon it, and is salt and bitter to the taste,-hence its name, “hamoos" (sour); when dipped in fresh water, the unpleasant taste is removed. The pea itself is like our large marrow-fat pea, but not so luscious.
An Arab brought us some dhom apples, the fruit of the nubk, or spina Christi. They were then withered, and presented the appearance of a small, dried crab-apple. It had a stone like the cherry; but the stone was larger, and there was less fruit on it in proportion to its size. It was sub-acid, and to us quite palatable; and, reclined upon the shelving beach of pebbles, we took off the edge of appetite while our cook was preparing the second and last meal of the day.
The plants we found here, besides the lily,
were the yellow henbane, with narcotic properties; the nightshade (anit et
dil), or wolf-grape, supposed, by Hasselquist, to be the wild grape alluded to
in Isaiah; the lamb's quarter, used in the manufacture of barilla; and a
species of kale (salicornea Europea). This plant is found
wherever salt water or saline formations occur. It was here
upon the shore of the Dead Sea, and Fremont saw it on the borders of the Great
Salt Lake, west of the Mississippi. Besides the single pistachia tree, there
were a great many tamarisks, now also in blossom; the flowers small and of
QUIET NIGHT SCENE. 287
a dull white colour: the wood of the tree makes excellent charcoal, and, in the season, the branches bear galls almost as acrid as the oak.
The pebbles on the beach, to-day, were agglutinated with salt, and the stones in the torrent-beds were coated with saline incrustations.
At 6.10, one of the party shot at a duck, a short distance from the shore; -dark-grey body, and black head and wings. This was fully twelve miles from the Jordan. The bird, when fired at, flew but a short distance out to sea, where it alighted and again directed its course towards the shore. We therefore inferred that its haunt was among the sedges of the little fountain. At sunset, the temperature was 70°; light and variable airs.
Soon after us the camel arrived; and an Arab brought a huge fish, of the cat-fish species, from the Jordan.
It was a strange scene, to-night. The tents among the tamarisks, the Arab watch-fires, the dark mountains in the rear, the planets and the stars above them, and the boats drawn up on the shore. The night was serene and beautiful; the moon, now beginning to wane, shone on a placid sea, upon which there was not the slightest ripple. The profound stillness was undisturbed by the faintest sound, except the tread of our sentinels.
Saturday, April 22d. Awakened early, with the intelligence that Dr. Anderson had arrived at Ain el Feshkhah, with the provisions, Sherif having neglected to apprise him of our contemplated movement. Sent his tent and some of our Arabs to escort him to Ain Jidy, yet farther south upon this shore.
Early in the morning it was quite
cool. At 6 A, M., temperature of the air 70° and very
pleasant. Took our breakfast beneath some tamarisk trees in
bloom, the grateful shade enhanced by their delicious fragrance. An Arab brought
some specimens of sulphur picked up on
288 HILLS AND RAVINES.
the banks of the Jordan near the sea, most probably washed down from the mountains by the river torrents. Some flowers were gathered and placed in our herbarium for preservation. Our arms; instruments, and everything metallic, were bronzed by the saline atmosphere.
At 7.51 A. M., started for Ain Jidy (fountain of the kid); wind light from S. E., with a short troubled swell the heavily laden boats rolled unmercifully. A few clouds in the north-east; cumulus stratus; steered S. by E. to clear the point to the southward.
The point is a projection of a low, flat delta of sand and pebbles, like the deposit of a large water-course. Two deep wadys in the rear, Wady Ta'amirah and Wady Derajeh (ravine of the step); the mountains withdrawn at their point of junction.
At 8.20, abreast of the first named ravine, at the head of which is Bethlehem. Thus on one side is the sea, the record of God's wrath; on the other the birth-place of the Redeemer of the world.
From Ain et Turabeh to this place is a range of conglomerate in thin horizontal strata, terminating in a range of sand-hills half the height of the burnt-looking mountains of limestone. The hills run south-east to a point with scattering tufts of grass and shrubs to their very summits.
8.30, Wady Husasah; 8.45, abreast of Wady Shukif; a low flat plain here extends half a mile south-easterly to a point. The ravine had water in it.
A thin, haze-like, heated vapour over the
southern sea -appearance of an island between the two shores. Wind gone down;
sun intensely hot. 9.35, Wady Muddebbeh Sa'id 'Obeideh, a singular oval chasm;
lofty cliffs, light and dark brown. 9.40, a light refreshing breeze from S.
W. 9.45, Ras Mersed, high and rugged. 9.50,
passed through a line of foam, curved to the north, and coloured
REMARKABLE CAVES. 289
brown by floating patches of what seemed to be the dust of rotten wood.
At 10.25, hailed by an Arab from the shore, but could not understand him. 10.40, passed through a line of white foam. Through the mist the peninsula looked like an island. 10.42, abreast of wady Mukaddam (ravine of the Advanced); sand cropping out near the summits on each side. At 11, under a high peak of a mountain, the escarpment furrowed with innumerable dry water-courses. The marks upon the shore indicated that the sea had fallen seven feet this season.
At 11.20, stopped to examine a ruin a short distance up the mountain side. It is an old wall of unhewn stones without cement. The wall is on the front and two sides; the rear is the mountain side, in the face of which are several caves, with apertures cut through the rock to the air above, most probably for the escape of smoke. The walls were evidently built to defend the entrance of the caves long subsequent to their excavation. The caves were filled with detritus, lime, and a deposit of salt in cubes. They were perfectly dry, without stalactites or petrifactions of any kind except the cubes of salt. The largest cave could contain twenty or thirty men, and has a long, low, narrow gallery running from one side, which would be invisible when the sun does not shine through the entrance. This is in the wilderness of Engaddi, and the fountain is just beyond the next ravine.
At 11.45, started again, and, at 12.10,
stopped at Wady Sudeir, below Ain Jidy (Engaddi). Walked up the dry torrent
bed, and finding no suitable place for encampment, directed the boats to be
taken half a mile farther south, where they were hauled up, and our tents
pitched near them, immediately in a line with, but some distance from where the
fountain stream of Ain Jidy descends the mountain side and is lost in the plain;
its course marked by a narrow strip of luxuriant green. The Wady Sudeir has water in it some distance up, but too remote for our purposes.
Instead of the fine grassy plain, which, from Dr. Robinson's description, we had anticipated, we found here a broad sloping delta at the mouth of dry gorges in the mountains. The surface of this plain is dust covered with coarse pebbles and minute fragments of stone, mostly flint, with here and there a.nubk and some osher trees. The last were in blossom, but had some of the fruit of last year, dry and fragile, hanging upon them, and we collected some for preservation. The blossom is a delicate purple, small, bell-shaped, and growing in large clusters. The leaf is oblong, about four inches long by three wide, thick, smooth, and of a dark green, and except that it is smaller, much resembling the caoutchouc. The branches are tortuous like the locust, and the light brown bark has longitudinal ash-coloured ridges upon it, like the sassafras at home. The nubk or lotus tree, the spina Christi of Hasselquist, called by the Arabs the dhom tree, has small dark-green, oval-shaped, ivy-like leaves. Clustering thick and irregularly upon the crooked branches, are sharp thorns, half an inch in length. The smaller branches are very pliant, which, in connexion with the ivy-like appearance of the leaves, sustain the legend that of them was made the mock crown of the Redeemer. Its fruit, as I have before mentioned, is subacid, and of a pleasant flavour.
There were tamarisk trees and much cane in the bed of the ravine, besides many pink oleanders. About the plain we found the rock-rose, from one of the species of which the gum ladanum is procured; also the common pink; the Aleppo senna, which is used in medicine; the common mallow, and the scentless yellow mignonette.
On the upper part of the plain were terraces,
which
CAVERNED MOUNTAIN. 291
bore marks of former cultivation, perhaps cucumber-beds, such as seen by Dr. Robinson and Mr. Smith. They were owned by the Ta'amirah, and were destroyed a short time before by a tribe of hostile Arabs. We found a few small prickly cucumbers, or gerkins, in detached places. There were two patches of barley standing, which were scarce above the ground, perhaps, at the time of the hostile incursion. Yet, although it could have been but a few weeks since, the grain was nearly ready for the harvest. The whole aspect of the country, these few trees and patches of vegetation excepted, was one incinerated brown. The mountain, with caverns in its face, towered fifteen hundred feet above us; and one-third up was the fountain, in a grove of spina Christi. It was a spot familiar to the imaginations of all, -the "Diamond of the Desert," in the tales of the crusaders.
Examined the boats for repairs. Found them very much battered, and their keels, stems, and stern-posts, fractured. Commenced a series of barometrical and thermometrical observations, and surveyed the ground for a base-line. Observed some branches of trees floating, about a mile from the shore, towards the north, confirming our impression of an eddy-current. At 6 P. M., an Arab brought in a catbird he had killed; like all the other birds, and most of the insects and animals, we had seen, it was of a stone colour.
In the evening, some of the tribe Ta'amirah
came in a little more robust, but scarcely better clad, than the
Rashayideh. They were warm and hungry, from walking a long
distance to meet us. They had no food, and I directed some
cooked rice to be given to them. They had seated themselves
round the pot, and were greedily about to devour it, when one of them suggested
that, perhaps, pork had been cooked in the same vessel. They
rose, therefore, in a body, and came to the cook to satisfy
292 ARAB SOBRIETY.
their scruple. I never saw disappointment more strongly pictured in the human countenance than when told that the vessel had often been used for that purpose. Although nearly famished, they would not touch the rice, and we could give them nothing else. Fearing that our provisions would fall short, I advised them to return; not to their houses, for they have nothing so stable as to deserve the name, but to their migratory tents.
As in all southern nations of this continent, the principal food of the Arab is rice. Almost all other nations extract an intoxicating beverage from the plant, containing saccharine matter, which constitutes their principal article of nourishment. But the Arab scarcely knows what strong drink is, and has no name for wine, the original Arabic word for which is now applied to coffee.
Our Arabs were such pilferers that we were obliged to keep a most vigilant watch over everything, except the pork, which, being an abomination to the Muslim, was left about the camp, in full confidence that it would be untouched.
At 8.30, there was a light breeze from the
south-west -no clouds visible-a, pale-blue misty appearance over the sea. At 9,
the wind shifted to the north and blew strong; forced to strengthen the
tent-stakes and pile stones upon the canvass eaves. The moon
rose clear. Sea, rough. Weather, cool and pleasant;
thermometer, 71°. A strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen,
which surprised us, as we knew of no thermal spring in this
vicinity. At midnight, sky almost cloudless; thin strata of
cirri, extending north-east and south-west. Thermometer, 70°.
. Wind ranging from north to north-east, and abating. Sherif said that he had
often heard of the tyranny of the Franks towards each other, but never thought
they would have sent their countrymen to so desolate a place as this. Most of
the Arabs, however, suspected that we came for
ANXIETY AS TO PROVISIONS. 293
gold; and Dr. Anderson's hammering at the rocks was, to them, conclusive proof of this hypothesis.
We had this afternoon measured a base line of 3350 feet across the plain, and angled upon all possible points. An Arab, with two camels loaded with salt, came from the south end of the sea, and was going up this pass to Gaza. Commerce extends even here, although her burnished keels have never ploughed this dreary sea.
Our water was brought the distance of a mile by the Arabs. There were about fifty of them around the camp, and we could not persuade them to go away. They were of the Raschayideh and Ta'amirah tribes-mere bundles of rags, very poor, and, so far, perfectly inoffensive. Some of them kissed our hands, and, pointing to their miserable garments, by comprehensible gestures solicited charity.
Our bread and rice falling short, and being uncertain about the arrival of provisions from Jerusalem, I this day sent some Arabs to Hebron for flour. Would that we could have gone there, too, and visited the cave of Macpelah, near Mamre!
One of my greatest anxieties was the difficulty of procuring provisions. Should our train, coming from Jerusalem under charge of Dr. Anderson and the Sherif, be plundered on its way, and the emissary to Hebron procure but a small supply, we should have been in a starving condition. I would have also sent either Mr. Dale or Mr. Aulick to Jerusalem, but that their presence was absolutely necessary. To sound the sea, take topographical sketches of its shores, and make astronomical and barometrical observations, gave full occupation to every one. This was to be our depot; here we were to leave our tents, and everything we could dispense with. It would be our home while upon this sea, and, in honour of the greatest man the world has yet produced, I named it "Camp Washington."
294 INACCESSIBLE CAVERNS.
April 23, Easter Sunday. Deferred all work that we could possibly set aside, until tomorrow. At 6 A. M., weather pleasant-thermometer standing at 70° in the tent. At 7, 84°; 7.30, 85°; the two extremities of the sea misty, with constant evaporation; sky cloudless, a light breeze from the north; the heat so oppressive in the tent, that we breakfasted “al fresco." A. M. Walking along the beach, saw a hawk, and shortly after some doves, near the tent, all of the same colour as the mountains and the shore. Each day, in the forenoon, the wind had prevailed from the southward, and in the afternoon, until about midnight, from the northward; the last wind quite fresh, and accompanied with a smell of sulphur. After midnight, it generally fell calm. Although the nights were mostly cloudless, there was scarcely any deposit of dew, the ground remaining heated through the night from the intensity of the solar rays during the day.
Four young wild boars were brought in by an Arab; they escaped from him and ran to the sea, but were caught, and, because we would not buy them, they were killed.
Nearly out of provisions, and, anxiously looking for Dr. Anderson and the Sherif, we gladly hailed their appearance shortly after noon, creeping like mites along the lofty crags descending to this deep chasm. Some of our party had discovered in, the face of the precipice, near the fountain, several apertures, one of them arched and faced with stone. There was no perceptible access to the caverns, which were once, perhaps, the abodes of the Essenes. Our sailors could not get to them; and where they fail, none but monkeys can succeed. . There must have been terraced pathways formerly cut in the face of the rock, which have been worn away by winter torrents.
Although we saw the Doctor and Sherif shortly
after noon, they did not reach the camp until 3.30, P. M. The provisions they
brought were very acceptable. With
AN ARAB DANCE. 295
them, came four Turkish soldiers, to guard our camp while we should be absent.
P. M. We again noticed a current, setting to the northward along the shore, and one farther out, setting to the southward. The last was no doubt the impetus given by the Jordan, and the former its eddy, deflected by Usdum and the southern shore of the sea.
Arranged with Sherif that he should remain here, in charge of our camp.
The scene at sunset was magnificent; the wild, mighty cliffs above us, the dull, dead sea, and the shadows climbing up the eastern mountains. And there was Kerak, castled upon the loftiest summit of the range. We never looked upon it but we deplored the folly and rapacity of the "Lord of Kerak," which lost to Christendom the guardianship of the Holy Sepulchre.
We all felt a great oppression about the head, and much drowsiness, particularly during the heat of the day. In the evening, it was calm and sultry.
At night we visited
Sherif. A number of Arabs were gathered in front of the tent,
and they gave us a dance. Ten or twelve of them were drawn up in a line, curved
a little inwards, and one of them stood in front, with a naked
sword. A mass of filthy rags, with black heads above and
spindle legs below! Clapping their hands, and chanting a low,
monotonous song, bowing and bending, and swinging their bodies from side to
side, they followed the motions of the one in front. In a
short time, one of them commenced chanting extempore, and the others repeated
the words with monotonous cadence; he with the sword waving it to and fro in
every direction, and keeping time and movement with the rest. Their song
referred to us. "Mr. Dale was strong and rode a horse
well." "Kobtan, (the captain) made much work for
Arabs, with his head." The dance was interrupted by an
old man sud-
296 SIILPHIIREOIIS ODOUR.
denly darting into the circle, and, bare-footed, with his aba gathered in his hands behind him, went jumping, hopping, crouching, and keeping time to the strange sounds of the others. The grotesque movements, the low monotonous tones, and the seeming ill-timed levity of the old Arab, gave to the whole affair the appearance of a wild coronach, disturbed by the antics of a mountebank. In the swaying of the body and clapping of the hands, some of us detected a resemblance to the war: dance of the South Sea Islanders.
A calm, sultry night. At this hour, last night (11 o'clock), it blew a fresh breeze from the north. In the mid-watch there was a bright meteor from the zenith, towards the north-east. The same sulphureous smell, but less unpleasant than when the wind blew fresh. Molyneaux detected the same odour the night lie spent upon the sea, whence he thought it proceeded. We have been twice upon the sea when the spray was driven in our faces; but although the water was greasy, acrid, and disagreeable, it was perfectly inodorous. I am therefore inclined to attribute the noxious smell to the foetid springs and marshes along the shores of the sea, increased, perhaps, by exhalations from stagnant pools in the flat plain which bounds it to the north.
Monday, April 24. Called all hands at 4.46 A. M.; light wind from the north; clouds, cirro-stratus, in the south and east; temperature, 78°. Wrote a note to Mr. Finn, H. B. M. consul at Jerusalem, respecting provisions. This gentleman had been exceedingly kind and attentive. He had received our money on deposit, and paid my drafts upon him. By this means we kept but little money on hand, and avoided presenting a great temptation to the Arabs.
At 6, breakfasted luxuriously on fresh bread,
brought, by the Doctor, from Jerusalem. The latter reported
THE PENINSULA. 297
Hugh Reid (seaman), one of the crew of the Fanny Skinner, as unable to work at the oar. Determined to leave him in the camp, his affection being a chronic one, uninfluenced by the climate.
At 6.38, started with Dr. Anderson, in the Fanny Mason, for the peninsula, which had so long loomed, like Cape Flyaway, in the distance. Directed Mr. Aulick to pull directly across to Wady Mojeb (the River Arnon of the Old Testament), and sound as he proceeded.
I left Mr. Dale and the rest of the party to make observations for determining the position of the camp, and measure angles for each end of the base-line. We steered, in the Fanny Mason, a south-east course, directly for the north end of the peninsula, sounding at short intervals. The first cast, near the shore, brought up slimy mud, but further out, a light-coloured mud, and many perfectly well formed cubic crystals of salt. These, as well as the mud, were carefully put up in air-tight vessels; greatest depth, 137 fathoms. One of the deepest casts, the cup to Stelwagon's lead brought up a blade of grass, faded in colour, but of as firm a texture as any plucked on the margin of a brook. It must have been washed down by one of the fresh-water streams, in connection with a heavier substance.
About midway across picked up a dead bird,
which was floating upon the water; we recognised it as a small
quail. At 11, reached the peninsula; the sun intensely
hot. It is a bold, broad promontory, from forty to sixty feet
high, with a sharp angular central ridge some twenty feet above it, and a broad
margin of sand at its foot, encrusted with salt and bitumen; the perpendicular
face extending all round and presenting the coarse and chalky appearance of
recent carbonate of lime. There were myriads of dead locusts strewed upon the
beach near the margin of the sea. The summit of the peninsula
is
298 INCRUSTATIONS ON BUSHES.
irregular and rugged; in some places showing the tent-shape formation, in others, a series of disjointed crags. On the western side, the high peninsula with its broad margin extends to the southward until it is lost in the misty sea.
Dr. Anderson describes the peninsula as a loose, calcareous marl, with incrustations of salt and indications of sulphur, nitre, gypsum, marly clays, &c.; and the northern extremity, which he estimates one-third higher than I do, as chalky, with flints; the texture soft and crumbling.
There were a few bushes, their stems partly buried in the water, and their leafless branches incrusted with salt, which sparkled as trees do at home when the sun shines upon them after a heavy sleet. Such an image, presented to the mind, while the frame was weltering with the heat, was indeed like “holding a fire in the hand and thinking of the frosty Caucasus." Near the immediate base of the cliffs was a line of drift-wood deposited by the sea at its full. Save the standing and prostrate dead trees, there was not a vestige of vegetation. The mind cannot conceive a more dreary scene, or an atmosphere more stifling and oppressive. The reverberation of heat and light from the chalk-like hills and the salt beach was almost insupportable.
Walking up the beach we saw the tracks of a
hyena, and another animal which we did not recognise, and soon after the naked
footprints of a man. To the eastward of the point is a deep bay indenting the
peninsula from the north. We followed up an arched passage
worn in the bank, and cutting steps in the salt on each side of the upper part,
crawled through a large hole worn by the rains, and clambered up the steep side
of the ridge to gain a view from the top. It presented a surface of sharp and
angular points, light coloured, bare of vegetation, and blinding to the
eye. We here collected many crystals of
ROBBERS IN THE WAY. 299
carbonate of lime. During our absence, the sailors had endeavoured to make a fire of the drift-wood as a signal to the camp, but it was so impregnated with salt that it would not burn.
At 1 P. M., started on our return, steering directly across to measure the width of the strait between the peninsula and the western shore. There was little wind, the same faint sulphureous smell, and every one struggling against a sensation of drowsiness. Arrived at the camp a little before 6 P. M., in a dead calm, very much wearied, temperature 92°. As we landed an Arab ran up, and gathering an armful of barley in the straw, threw it on the fire, and then husking the grain by rubbing it in his hands, brought it to me, and by gesture invited me to eat; it was excellent. The Fanny Skinner arrived shortly after. Mr. Aulick had sounded directly across, and found the width of the sea by patent log to be a little more than eight geographical, or about nine statute miles; the greatest depth 188 fathoms, 1128 feet. He landed at the mouth of the “Arnon;" -a considerable stream of water, clear, fresh, and moderately cool, flowing between banks of red sandstone. In it some small fish were seen.
On our first arrival here, I had despatched a
messenger to the tribes along the southern coast to procure guides. This
afternoon he returned with the information that they had been driven away, and
that the country was inhabited only by robbers. Sherif was earnest in the
advice to proceed no farther south; but we could not leave our work
unaccomplished. A sheikh of the Ta'amirah agreed to walk along the coast in
sight of the boats. We wished to visit the ruins of Sebbeh on
our route southward, and prepared for several days'
absence. At night a fresh breeze sprang up from the northward
and eastward. There were several large fires on the
peninsula. Secured a partridge and several insects for our
collection; and
300 ARAB IMPROQISATORE.
there was also gathered a specimen of every variety of flower for our herbarium. In the evening our Arabs had another entertainment. An improvisatore in Arabic poetry was engaged until a late hour reciting warlike narratives in verse; for the amusement of Sherif - some from Antar, the celebrated poet of Arabia; others, unpremeditated, in praise of Ibrahim Pasha. At the end of each couplet, some one of the audience pronounced the final rhyming word after him. This was more endurable than the one-stringed rebabeh, and less stupid than the dance of last evening. In the night, killed a tarantula and a scorpion.
Oppressively sultry. A foetid, sulphureous odour in the night; felt quite sick. At daybreak, a fine invigorating breeze from the north; air over the sea very misty. Did not rouse the camp until 6.30, for the night had been oppressive. The Arabs becoming too numerous in the camp, I sent all away, except a few to bring water to Sherif, and some to accompany us to show where water could be found along the shore.