turned off from the road, first West and then W. S. W. to Um el-'Amad, "Mother of Columns," a site of ruins thirty-five minutes distant. Here, on a low round hill, once stood apparently a town of no great size, with houses of hewn stone, the foundations of which still remain. The place takes its name from the ruins of a small church, which had originally four columns on each side of the middle aisle; of those on the south side, three with the architrave are still standing; and one on the north side. They are all of common limestone, of coarse architecture, and of no order. Near by is an excavated tomb or magazine. This spot is not far from the south side of the great Wady elKhŭlîl.'

After a stop of ten minutes, we returned E. N. E. leaving the ruined village Beit 'Amreh on our left, to the Hebron road. This we reached at 4° 40', at a point some twenty minutes north of where we had left it; thus losing in all about an hour. We soon came to the great Wady el-Khŭlîl, here running S. W. and quite deep; we reached the bottom at 5 o'clock. On a hill at the right, on the south bank, are the ruins of a village, the name of which we did not learn. Crossing the valley, we entered Wady Kirkis, which comes in from the North; on the left is a Tell with the ruins of a village called Kirkis, which we passed at 51 o'clock. Our way led up the Wady; which however soon turns more N. N. W. while our path ascended obliquely along the eastern slope to the top of the ridge; where we came out at 6 o'clock. Here, close on our right, were the foundations of another ruined village.

At this point begin the fields of grain and the cul

1) From Um el-'Amad we took bearings: Dhoherîyeh S. 74° W. Mejd el-Ba'a S. 25° E. Beit 'Amreh N. 44° E. This last is

the ruins of a large village on a hill near Wady el-Khulil, perhaps twenty minutes distant from Um el-'Amad.

tivation on this side of Hebron. We now kept along on high ground, around the heads of two cultivated Wadys running off S. E. and at 6 20′ reached the top of another ridge, from which we descended into a broad fertile Wady full of fields of wheat, running down into the valley in which Hebron is situated. We fell in with many people returning from their work, some of them with donkeys carrying home loads of sheaves. This showed that the wheat harvest was here just beginning. We came now upon the olive-groves and vineyards; and rounding the point of the hill between the two valleys, entered that in which Hebron stands. At length, at 74 o'clock, we encamped on our old spot on the green slope west of the city.

Our friend Elias was already on the look-out, and soon visited us; and we were glad to learn, in general, that all things remained as they were. The plague in Jerusalem, it was said, had not increased its ravages; although the city continued to be still shut up.

Tuesday, June 5th. Our first care now was, to decide upon our further course from Hebron; and as the journey from Wady Mûsa had occupied less time than we had anticipated, in consequence of our travelling uninterruptedly by night and day; and as much of the week was still before us; we concluded to go from Hebron to Ramleh, and thence to Yâfa or Jerusalem, as the case might be. In Hebron, however, no animals were to be had, except camels or asses; and we therefore despatched Komeh at once on a donkey to Jerusalem, to bring us beasts, money, and our letters; and return as soon as possible. We had occupation enough, and more than enough, for the day, in writing up our journals; which during our late rapid travelling had fallen greatly behind.

In the course of the forenoon, the Sheikhs of the Jehâlin, Defa' Allah and our guide Hussân, came in

to receive their money and to take leave. They and the men of Hebron, of whom many visited us, expressed great indignation at the conduct of the Arabs of Wady Mûsa, and paid us many compliments for having extricated ourselves so successfully from their clutches. We distributed a bakshish to Sheikh Hussân and his men, which appeared to satisfy them fully; with the exception of the worthless Muhammed, whom we designedly passed over, and whose disappointment seemed to amuse the Sheikhs. We had also a hint from Elias, that besides all this, a present of ten or twelve dollars to the chief Sheikh would be very proper; but as the suggestion lay very near, that if the said Sheikh deserved such a present, a similar one would be much more proper in the case of Elias himself, we could not regard the hint as entirely disinterested, and took no further notice of it. Defa' Allah himself put in no such claim.

As to the price of the camels, we could not pay it until our money should arrive from Jerusalem the next day. Meanwhile, there arose a trial of skill between Elias the Christian and Defa' Allah the Bedawy, in arranging to whom the money should be paid over. The Arabs wished to go home, leaving some one to receive the money; and Elias felt entitled to be that receiver, because he said they owed him several thousand Piastres; while, for this very reason, the Sheikh did not wish the money to go into his hands. But the policy of Elias towards us was so very crooked, that it gave the Sheikh the advantage over him, however little he might otherwise deserve it. We doubted indeed for a time the story of the debt; though Elias afterwards showed us the written obligation. Our course was plain enough; we had made the bargain with Defa' Allah for his camels; and our duty was to pay the money only to him or to his order. Accordingly,

he brought to us a man with witnesses, who testified solemnly, that this person had advanced the money to the Sheikh; and now the Sheikh, in their presence, requested us to pay over the money to the same man, when it should arrive. Elias was very indignant on learning this transaction; declaring that we ought at any rate to pay the money into his hands; because the bargain was made through him, as the agent of the Franks in Hebron.

The man to whom we were to pay the money, was the owner of camels, to whom allusion has formerly been made.' He had been a great traveller in his day, and now gave us particular information respecting 'Abdeh in the southern desert, as to which we had hitherto had some doubts. He was quite desirous of furnishing us with camels for our further journey to Damascus and Beirût. But of this offer we had no wish to avail ourselves.

We had now done with camels; and I cannot say otherwise, than that I rejoiced at the circumstance. Admirably adapted to the desert regions which are their home, they yet constitute one of the evils which travelling in the desert brings with it. Their long, slow, rolling or rocking gait, although not at first very unpleasant, becomes exceedingly fatiguing; so that I have often been more exhausted in riding five and twenty miles upon a camel, than in travelling fifty on horseback. Yet without them, how could such journeys be performed at all?

But their home is the desert; and they were made, in the wisdom of the Creator, to be the carriers of the desert. The coarse and prickly shrubs of the wastes, are to them the most delicious food; and even of these they eat but little. So few are the wants of their nature, that their power of going without food, as well 1) See Note XXI, end of Vol. I.

as without water, is wonderful. They never appear to tire, but commonly march as freshly at evening as in the morning. The only instance I remember to the contrary, was yesterday after our long march in returning to Hebron; when my young camel, on arriving at the place of encampment, seemed weary, and lay down of its own accord in order to be relieved of its load. If they once begin to fail, they soon lie down and die. Thus two camels of our train died between Suez and 'Akabah, which a few hours before had been travelling with full loads. In all our recent journey to Wady Mûsa, the camels fed only upon shrubs, and never tasted grain of any kind; although once we had them loaded for thirty-six hours, during all which time they browsed only for one hour.

Their well-known habit of lying down upon the breast to receive their burdens, is not, as is often supposed, merely the result of training; it is an admirable adaptation of their nature to their destiny as carriers. This is their natural position of repose; as is shown too by the callosities upon the joints of the legs, and especially by that upon the breast, which serves as a pedestal beneath the huge body. Hardly less wonderful, is the adaptation of their broad cushioned foot to the arid sands and gravelly soil, which it is their lot chiefly to traverse.

The camel in very many respects is not unlike the sheep. They are a silly timid animal, gregarious, and when alarmed, like sheep they run and huddle all together. They are commonly represented as patient; but if so, it is the patience of stupidity. They are rather exceedingly impatient; and utter loud cries of indignation when receiving their loads, and not seldom on being made to kneel down. They are also obstinate and frequently vicious; and the attempt to urge them forward, is often very much like trying to drive VOL. II.

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