paid twelve purses Firdeh, and thirty purses of taxes on property. Fifty men had been taken away as soldiers. The people complained bitterly of oppression; and joined in the universal expression of a wish for a Frank government. Here as elsewhere a watch was given us for the night.

Tuesday, May 22d. We had heard of deserted sites on the way to es-Sukkarîyeh, bearing the names of Um Lâkis and 'Ajlân; as also of a Tell el-Hasy on the right of the road, where from the accounts we thought there might be ruins. Leaving Bureir at 5h 25', and passing immediately the low plain of Wady Simsim, we continued along the higher undulating tract between that Wady and the Hasy, on a course E.S. At 6 10' Um Lâkis lay at our left upon a low round swell or knoll. It proved to be a former site, now covered confusedly with heaps of small round stones, with intervals between; among which were seen two or three fragments of marble columns. The place was wholly overgrown with thistles. Towards the S. E. below the hill, was a well, now almost filled up, around which were lying several columns.1

names.

We had come to this spot, not indeed in the expectation of finding here the site of ancient Lachish, but rather in order to satisfy ourselves more certainly, of the fallacy of any supposed resemblance in the two These remains are certainly not those of an ancient fortified city, which could for a time at least brave the assaults of an Assyrian army.2 Nor indeed does either the name or the position of this spot correspond to those of Lachish; although the varying form of the name might be allowed to pass, did other circumstances combine to identify the position. But

1) From the hill at Um Lâkis, Bureir bore N. 85° W. Tell elHasy S. 55° E. Kufeir S. 5° W. Tubukah S. 10° E. The two last

are deserted sites in the district of
Hasy.

2) 2 Kings xviii. 14. xix. 8.
3) Besides the addition of Um,

Lachish, although enumerated among the cities of Judah in the plain, is also mentioned between Adoraim and Azekah; and lay according to Eusebius and Jerome seven Roman miles from Eleutheropolis towards the South. This would seem to imply, that it was situated among or near the hills, somewhere to the Southward of Beit Jibrîn; while the present Um Lâkis lies in the middle of the plain west of Beit Jibrîn, three hours distant from the tract of hills.-Yet except this spot, we were not able to find, either now or afterwards, the slightest vestige which might be referred either to Lachish itself, or to the apparently neighbouring city Libneh.3

The direct road passes on from Um Lâkis to 'Ajlân by a course nearly due East; the distance being about three quarters of an hour. We sent on our servants thither, while we ourselves turned off more to the right to visit Tell el-Hasy, starting again at 6h 20'. The land descends gradually towards the Wady of the same name, which we reached in about forty minutes. The way led us through the open fields, where the people were in the midst of the wheat harvest. The beautiful tracts of grain were full of reapers of the Henâdy Arabs; and also of gleaners almost as numerous. These were mostly women; and this department seemed almost as important as the reaping itself; since the latter is done in so slovenly a manner, that not only much falls to the ground, but also many stalks remain uncut.

The Wady el-Hasy is a broad tract of fine meadow lands; on which a large number of the Henâdy were

the change of Kaph into Koph, though sometimes found, is not usual; see p. 288, Note 2, above. Further, in the Arabic form, an Alef is inserted and the Hebrew Yodh omitted.

1) Josh. x. 3, 5, 31. xv. 39. 2 Chron. xi. 9.

2) Onomast. art. Lachis.

3) Josh. x. 29, comp. verse 31. xv. 42. 2 Kings xix. 8. Onomasticon, art. Lebna.

pasturing their horses. These were said to be Bedawîn cavalry in the service of Muhammed Aly. The gravelly bed of the Wady winds through this lower tract; and in it a little water springs up at intervals. It can hardly be said to flow, but rather soaks along through the gravel. The course of the Wady in this part is N. W., and on the S. W. side Tell el-Hasy rises steeply, directly from the bed, to the height of two hundred feet or more; being connected towards the S. W. with other lower swells.-At 7h 5' we passed in the valley some unhewn foundations of a former village called Tunnŭr; and at 7h 25', reached the summit of the Tell.

The form of the Tell is singular, a truncated cone with a fine plain on the top, somewhat resembling the Frank mountain, though by no means so high. From the information of our guides, and from the remarkable appearance of this isolated Tell, we had expected to find here traces of ruins; and a finer position for a fortress or fortified city could hardly be imagined. Yet we could discover nothing whatever, to mark the existence of any former town or structure; there was nothing indeed but the level circular plain, which seemed never to have been occupied.'

The summit commands a rich and pleasing prospect, over a wide extent of undulating country, low swelling hills and broad vallies, all of the finest soil; yet without a single village or ruin rising above the ground, on which the eye can rest. Still, although in

1) Yet this must be the hill, I think, which Felix Fabri says some of his party ascended, on the way from Sukkariyeh to Gaza in 1483, and found there "thick ancient walls drawn around it;" Reissb. p. 289. It seems also to be the same hill which Volney describes near a village Hesi, as being artificial, and

having still on its summit traces of a strong citadel; Voyage II. p. 311. Traces of walls may well have formerly existed here; or after all, both these accounts may perhaps rest only on the exaggerated testimony of Arabs. That of Volney certainly does.

the language of Scripture and in common parlance, such a region without fixed habitations may well be called a 'desert,' there was here not wanting the charm of busy life. Several Arab encampments, chiefly Wahâideh and Jebârât, were in sight, surrounded by flocks and herds and troops of camels and asses; besides the tents of the Henâdy and their numerous horses, and the multitudes of reapers and gleaners scattered over the fields. The other principal Arab tribes of the region, were said to be the Zeyâdât, the Sawârikeh, the 'Amarîn, and the Henâideh. From the Tell, the site of 'Ajlân bore N. 5° W. A Wely was also seen upon a hill not far from the village ed-Dawâimeh, bearing N. 75° E.

From this point to Wady esh-Sherî'ah, the next great valley towards the South, the distance was said to be three hours or more. Wady el-Hasy itself comes down from the vicinity of el-Burj in the Southeast, passing by a place of springs called Kussâbeh with ruins in its neighbourhood. It afterwards sweeps round near Hûj, on its way to join Wady Simsim. This latter Wady, as we have seen, is the drain of all the region round Beit Jibrîn and Tell es-Sâfieh; and having received the Hasy, bends off N. W. by the village of Deir Esneid, and forms the river of Askelon.1

We heard nothing at the time of any village or ruin called el-Hasy, as reported by Volney; but a deserted site of that name is marked in our lists along with Hûj and 'Ajlân. It is therefore probably not far distant from the Tell. In the days of Saladin and Richard, this place is mentioned, in connection with the march of their armies, under the name of Elhissi and Alhassi; and is said to be near water, and

1) See above, p. 371.

2) See above, p. 390, Note.

not far remote from the mountains of Abraham or Hebron.1

We now left Tell es-Hasy at 8 o'clock, and came in half an hour directly to 'Ajlân N.W. ascending gradually from the valley. On the way we fell in with a troop of seven gazelles feeding. Here is a site of ruins much resembling Um Lâkis in appearance; a low round hillock covered with scattered heaps of unhewn stones. The name alone identifies it with the Eglon of the Old Testament; and there seems to be nothing in the position to contradict this evidence. Eglon was situated in the plain of Judah, apparently not very far distant from Lachish.2

Leaving 'Ajlân at 8h 25', we bent our course E. by S. towards the village of es-Sukkarîyeh. On the way the muleteers killed a large black snake, six feet long; the only one we saw in Palestine.3 The day proved exceedingly warm and very uncomfortable; the hot wind coming from behind us. Our eyes and faces were filled all day long with small gnats rising from the wheat fields; and large flies troubled our animals, like swarms of bees. From the dry fields here and there whirlwinds of dust frequently arose, reminding us of those we had formerly seen in the deserts of the South.

We reached es-Sukkarîyeh at twenty minutes past 9 o'clock. Like Hûj, it had recently been built up by the governor of Gaza, Sheikh Sa'îd, upon former foun

1) Bohaeddin Vit. Saladin, pp. 228, 229, 231, 233. Wilken Gesch. der Kr. IV. p. 508, 513.

2) Josh. x. 34, 36. xv. 39.-Eusebius and Jerome make Eglon identical with Adullam, and place it twelve miles east of Eleutheropolis; Onomast. art. Eglon. But this stands in direct contradiction

with Josh. xii. 12, 15. xv. 35, 39.From 'Ajlân, Bureir bore W. 'Arâk es-Suweidân N. 12° W. Beit 'Affa N. 3° W. Tell el-Hasy S. 5° E.

3) At 8h 55', at a high point in the road, Summeil bore N. 21° E. Tell es-Sâfieh N. 32° E. Fâlûjy N. 36° E. es-Sukkariyeh E.