upon the very road, by which Joseph was carried down to Egypt. At 8.15 we came upon open ground, affording views of the western plain, still far below us. At 8.30 we were on a rocky brow; and began to descend gradually along a broad shallow rocky Wady or basin. The village of Ferâsîn was close on our right at 8.50, on a rocky Tell. A few minutes later the Wady became narrower, and turned more northwest towards the plain. We rose from it towards the left; and at 9.05 were on the low ridge between it and the next valley. Our road thus far had lain chiefly among inconsiderable and inarable hills. 'Attil here came in sight, bearing S. 25° W. We turned in that direction; and descending gradually came at 9.40 to Wady Abu Nâr, the outlet of the plain of 'Arrâbeh, with a deep waterbed. It here takes this name from a Wely on a hill upon the right. It comes down on the north of Nezleh; and passes off as a broad fertile valley, on the north of Jett and south of the two Bâkahs, to the western plain. We now rose along the somewhat higher ground on the left of the valley; and kept along towards Zeita. At 10 o'clock we left the Ramleh road, which proceeds by way of Zeita; and turned directly south towards 'Attil.' We were now nearly or quite down the mountain; and almost on a level with the great plain. The region round about us was an open rocky tract or basin, with low rounded naked hills, shut in from the western plain by the low broad rocky ridges in front, on which the villages of Jett and Zeita are situated; the former on a marked Tell. All the valleys and outlets which run to the great plain, have very little descent. We crossed a fine level basin in order to reach 'Attil; the soil was stony, but strong. We came at 10.40 to that village, situated on a hill with plains on the north and south. It is a considerable village; and in the street we noticed a large fragment of a double column.5 A horseman from Zeita had overtaken us, and kept us company until our roads parted. He was very civil, and gave us a good deal of information. It appears, that the land in the district of Nâbulus including the plains, is generally freehold; and the taxes are mainly paid in the form of a poll tax. From 'Attil we now turned again up the mountain, follow 1 Bearings at 8.30: Ferâsîn 266°. Bâkah, West, 264°. Jett 253°. Zeita 241°. Nezleh 232°. Saida 197°. Kâkôn 244°. Ya'bud, about N. 65° E. 2 Bearing at 9.25: Saida S. 35° E. Bearings at 9.40: Jett S. 75° W. 1 m. Zeita S. 50° W. 14 m. Nezleh E. 1 m. Bearings at 10: Deir el-Ghŭsûn 172°. Zeita 237°, 1 m. Saida 107°. Jett 282°, 14 m. BâBâkah, East, 16°. FeNezleh 67°. 'Ellar 130°. Bearings from 'Attil: Deir el-Ghusûn 170°, 14 m. 'Ellâr 97°. Bâkah, East, 1°. Bâkah, West, 338°. Jett 319°. Saida 76° Southern end of Carmel 8°. ing the direct road to Nâbulus; and taking a guide for Râmîn. Leaving the village at 11.15, we descended into the southern basin, and then entered a long shallow valley running up on the right of Deir el-Ghusûn and its hill. A string of ten camels, led by donkeys, was slowly climbing the hill to that village. At 11.50 we were at the top of the valley; Deir el-Ghúsún bearing N. 70° E. half a mile distant. The region is full of olive trees. A valley comes down from the south nearly to the village, and then sweeps round to the west. This we crossed, and then rose upon sloping ground on our left. At 12.05 we came out upon the brow of the deep Wady Mussin, coming from the plain of Fendekûmieh; it is said to unite with Wady Abu Nâr in the western plain beyond Jett.' We reached the bottom of the valley at 12.20; and noticed its deep waterchannel, now dry.-The road thus far from 'Attil was evidently very old; but we saw no appearance of pavement. Whether this was the ancient way from Cæsarea to Sebaste may be doubted; since a more feasible route exists from the plain along the great Wady Sha'îr, which comes down from Nâbulus, and is the next valley south of Wady Mussin. We now followed up the latter valley, which is narrow, and winds a good deal. At 12.40 we were passing among the olive trees of Bela', which was on our right, but not in view. We somewhere lost the main Wady, that comes from Fendekûmieh, probably supposing it to be a side Wady coming in on the left; for we now found ourselves passing up a smaller Wady with few marks of water; and at 1 o'clock we came out at its head upon the ridge between it and Wady Sha'îr, coming from Nâbulus. Looking back down the Wady we had ascended, its course was about N. 70° W. Before us now was the deep basin of Wady Sha'ir, full of old olive trees, here too called Rûmy, as in Galilee; further up was the village of 'Anebta in the valley; and Râmîn beyond on a high hill on the north side of the Wady." A very steep descent now took us to the bottom in twenty minutes; and in twenty more we came to 'Anebta, at 1.40. A few minutes before reaching the village, there were two cisterns by the way side, filled with rain water from the road, at which women were filling their jars. There was now a small brook in the valley, which seemed just about to dry up, and then the water of cisterns becomes the sole dependence of the village. About half an hour below the village, in the valley, is a Tell of considerable size, called Na'rabeh. 'Anebta is large and well built; and has two mills on the stream, now stopped for want of water. The race of one of them is carried over the road on arches. Here were many camels, apparently resting; and we learned, with some surprise, that the great camel road from Nâbulus to Yâfa and Ramleh passes down this valley by 'Anebta and Túl Keram to the plain. This latter village was said to be in the valley, on the north side, about two hours below 'Anebta. This route is certainly circuitous; but it affords an easier ascent and descent of the mountains, than any other. A similar instance is the camel road from Jerusalem to Ramleh by el-Jib. Setting off from 'Anebta at 2.15, we proceeded up the fine valley, amid its rural scenery. The air was full of the songs of larks and other small birds; and we heard also the note of the mourning dove. The little stream was flowing along the bottom. There were also two more mills, not running; and the people in summer, it was said, had always to go to Nâbulus to get their grain ground. We were now necessarily upon the ancient way from Cæsarea to Sebaste and Neapolis; and there were evident traces of antiquity along the road; but we saw no pavement in this valley. Râmîn was before us, on the high northern shoulder or buttress, which bounds the valley as it issues from the basin of Samaria. We ascended towards it gradually; and reached the village at 3.15. Here, at once, we overlooked the whole northern portion of the great basin around Sebustieh; this northern part being drained by a Wady, which unites with Wady Sha'ir just at the foot of the hill of Râmîn. A low rocky ridge lies between the two above the point of junction. It needed but a few moments to assure us, that the observations made on our former journey in this region were wrong in several particulars, in consequence of the ignorance of the guide who then accompanied us. We therefore now took the more pains. Wady Sha'ir comes down from Nâbulus along the southern part of the basin of Sebŭstieh; and issues from its northwestern quarter between high hills. Râmîn is on the first or corner hill on the right side; while Kefr Lebad is on the left, on the second hill down the valley. We could here see Burkah upon our former route; and could also distinguish with our glasses the ancient portal west of Sebŭstieh, and some of the columns of the colonnade. The basin of Sebŭstieh has been celebrated by others, as well as by ourselves. It is beautiful; but we had now seen so many fertile regions, that it seemed to lose in the comparison. It is sur 3 1 See Vol. II. p. 311 sq. [iii. 150.] 2 The position of these two villages was reversed on our former map. Tûl Keram we could never have seen; it lies far down the valley, below 'Anebta. See Vol. II. p. 307. [iii. 144.] passed in richness and beauty by the plains of Râmeh, of elButtauf, and of Ya'bud; to say nothing of the larger plains of 'Akka and Esdraelon.' We pitched our tent on the east of the village, after some trouble; where the hill falls off towards the lower ground by terraces. On this side is the cemetery. The people seemed kindly disposed; but some were rude and intrusive. In the Shaghûr and ever since, we had found the peasants refusing to sell bread; regarding it as a disgrace to do so. In the best houses, there are rooms for strangers; where food is provided for them without charge. As we lodged in our own tent, we had to buy flour, and get it baked. Here in Râmîn they would take no pay for wood, which they gave us; and they lent us a jar, that we might fetch water for ourselves, instead of paying them for bringing it. The village is supplied wholly with rain water from cisterns. These are quite numerous; not only in this and other villages, but along the roads. Provisions and articles sold were here dear. Poultry, for which the usual price was 2 or 3 piastres a piece, cost here 4 piastres. Friday, April 23d.-We set off from Râmîn for Nâbulus at 7 o'clock; and descended obliquely and steeply into the valley coming from the northern basin. For some reason, the great road here passes up this Wady rather than the other; and then crosses obliquely the low ridge between the two, opposite Sebustieh. At 7.30 we were on the top of this ridge or swell; with Sebŭstieh not far off on the left, and the ruins of a village, called 'Aslûn, close upon our path. We now entered the southern basin; and at 7.45 struck again the little brook of yesterday, here running with a fuller stream. We followed up its right side through the broad basin; and then ascended to cross the point of a rocky ridge running down southwest; while the valley bends off to the south around the point. In the plain we met several strings of camels, hardly fewer than a hundred in all, laden with soap, on their way from Nâbulus to Gaza and Egypt. The soap of Nâbulus is regarded as the best in the country; it is manufactured on a large scale, and thus exported. It is put up in large bales; of which a camel carries two, slung across its back. One party of these animals was loaded with bales of cotton in like manner. Each string of camels was led off by a little donkey, hardly equal to the fifth part of a camel in size or weight. On the top of this ridge, at 8 o'clock, we found very distinct 1 Bearings from Râmîn: 'Anebta 313°. Kefr Rummon 332°. Bizzârieh 36°. Burkah 70°. Sebŭstieh 109°. Sheikh Sha'leh 114°. en-Nâkûrah 119°. Nâbulus 125°.---The following are south of Wady Sha'ir: Beit Ûzin 138°. Beit Îba 141°. traces of the ancient road, with walls along the sides, and the path sometimes sunk below the adjacent surface. Here were also the remains of an ancient place, with hewn stones and the fragments of two columns. It is now called Dibbârieh. In the valley below was a mill; and these now became frequent along the brook all the way to Nâbulus. Some of the mills are large; and to most of them the water is brought in at the top, in long races resting on arches. In the basin we had just left, many of the olive trees have misletoe growing upon them, called by the Arabs Suffeir. After passing the ridge, one road ascends the hill to the village Deir Sheraf; while another goes round the hill on the south. We kept the latter; and at 8.10 were opposite the village. A brook soon came in from a broad side valley on the left. At 8.40 we came to the road from Nâbulus to Sebŭstieh, our former route; and here was still Richardson's famous "ancient bridge," across the valley, namely, an Arab mill-race.' Overagainst us, on the flank of the southern mountain, around which the valley here makes a bend, were the three villages, Juneib on the top, Beit Üzin lower down but in the same line, and Beit Îba still lower and further west. At 8.55, Zawâta was above us on the left. At 9.15 the green Tell of Râfîdieh, below the village of that name, was close on our right across the brook. We came to a fork in the road at 9.35; and waited fifteen minutes for the mules to come up. Here, while waiting, some eight or ten Sheikhs from the country passed us, on their way to visit the governor of Nâbulus, on his invitation. They had on their gala dresses; and rode spirited horses. We were told, that both roads were equally good; and took the upper or left hand one; but soon came to a tract of rocks, very difficult for the horses to pass over. We therefore turned down by the next by-road, and crossed over to the road on the other side of the brook. This brought us at 10 o'clock to the western gate of the city. As the weather threatened rain, and a mist was already falling, we went directly to the house of a Protestant, named 'Audeh, who was accustomed to receive Frank travellers. The house was situated nearly midway in the city; so that we had to traverse several of the narrow streets. In some of these a stream of water was flowing; and a number were arched over. The entrance to the house was by a low gateway, and then by a dirty passage among stables to a small court. From this a narrow stairway led up outside to a terrace, upon which the family rooms opened. There were two large rooms; one of which was given up to us; and some English travellers, who arrived later, took possession of the other for the night. Our 1 See Vol. II. p. 303. [iii. 137.] |