Tawâneh, there are wells of living water belonging to the Jehâlîn, and other similar ones at Deirât and Abu Shebbân belonging to the Ka'âbineh; while both tribes water at Kurmul in common. This however does not accord with the account given us by the Jehâlîn themselves.'

As we came down from the tower, an old man sat at the foot, playing on the Kemenjeh, a little musical instrument somewhat like a viol, common also in Egypt, and described by Mr. Lane. We left Semu'a at 2 o'clock, descending first gradually into a deep valley running S. W. apparently the great drain of the basin west of Carmel and Zif;3 and then ascending to the higher tract beyond. Here, after about three quarters of an hour, Yutta lay on the right before us, having the appearance of a large modern Muhammedan town, on a low eminence, with trees around. Our guide at Semû'a told us, that there were here old foundations and walls like those in the former place. We have already seen that this is the ancient Juttah of the Old Testament, a city of the priests, which has been lost sight of since the days of Jerome. There seems, therefore, little reason to question the correctness of Reland's suggestion, that this was probably the residence of Zacharias and Elisabeth, and the birth-place of John the Baptist.

We were here of course considerably higher than the plain of Carmel. After 3 o'clock we began to get among bushes, the verdure of which we had long seen from a distance as we approached.

Descending into a cultivated valley at 3h 20', we

1) See p. 468, above. Comp.

p. 201.

2) Mann. and Cust. of the Mod. Egyptians, Vol. II. p. 63, seq. 3) See above, P. 192.

4) Josh. xv. 55. xxi. 16. See

above, pp. 190, 195. Also Reland Palaest. p. 870. Reland supposes this to be the πόλις Ιούδα of Luke i. 39; being so written by a corruption, or from a softer pronunciation, instead of πόλις Ἰούτα.

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 5 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

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

fields of grain and the cul

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 6h 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 Jehâlîn, 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.