August 13th.—I Remained Two Days At Beszeyra, And Then Set Out With The
Family Of My Guide, Consisting Of His Wife, Two Children, And A Servant
Girl.
We were on foot, and drove before us the loaded camel and a few
sheep and goats.
Our road ascended; at three quarters of an hour, we
came to a spring in the mountain. The rock is here calcareous, with
basalt. At two hours and a half was Ain Djedolat (Arabic), a spring of
excellent water; here the mountain is overgrown with short Balout trees.
At the end of two hours and three quarters, direction S. we reached the
top of the mountain, which is covered with large blocks of basalt. Here
a fine view opened upon us; to our right we had the deep valley of Wady
Dhana, with the village of the
EL GHOEYR
[p.409] same name on its S. side; farther west, about four hours from
Dhana, we saw the great valley of the Ghor, and towards the E. and S.
extended the wide Arabian desert, which the Syrian pilgrims cross in
their way to Medina. In three hours and a quarter, after a slight
descent, we reached the plain, here consisting of arable ground covered
with flints. We passed the ruins of an ancient town or large village,
called El Dhahel (Arabic). The castle of Aaneiza (Arabic), with an
insulated hillock near it, a station of the pilgrims, bore S.S.E.
distant about five hours; the town of Maan, S. distant ten or twelve
hours; and the castle El Shobak, S.S.W. East of Aaneiza runs a chain of
hills called Teloul Djaafar (Arabic). Proceeding a little farther, we
came to the high borders of a broad valley, called El Ghoeyr (Arabic),
(diminutive of Arabic El Ghor) to the S. of Wady Dhana. Looking down
into this valley, we saw at a distance a troop of horsemen encamped near
a spring; they had espied us, and immediately mounted their horses in
pursuit of us. Although several people had joined our little caravan on
the road, there was only one armed man amongst us, except myself. The
general opinion was that the horsemen belonged to the Beni Szakher, the
enemies of the Howeytat, who often make inroads into this district;
there was therefore no time to lose; we drove the cattle hastily back,
about a quarter of an hour, and hid them, with the women and baggage,
behind some rocks near the road, and we then took to our heels towards
the village of Dhana (Arabic), which we reached in about three quarters
of an hour, extremely exhausted, for it was about two o’clock in the
afternoon and the heat was excessive. In order to run more nimbly over
the rocks, I took off my heavy Arab shoes, and thus I was the first to
reach the village; but the sharp flints of the mountain wounded my feet
so much, that after reposing a little I could hardly stand upon my legs.
This was the first time I had ever felt fear during my travels
DHANA
[p.410] in the desert; for I knew that if I fell in with the Beni
Szakher, without any body to protect me, they would certainly kill me,
as they did all persons whom they supposed to belong to their inveterate
enemy, the Pasha of Damascus, and my appearance was very much that of a
Damascene. Our fears however were unfounded; the party that pursued us
proved to be Howeytat, who were coming to pay a visit to the Sheikh at
Tafyle; the consequence was that two of our companions, who had staid
behind, because being inhabitants of Maan, and friends of the Beni
Szakher, they conceived themselves secure, were stripped by the
pursuers, whose tribe was at war with the people of Maan. Dhana, which I
suppose to be the ancient Thoana, is prettily situated, on the declivity
of Tor Dhana, the highest mountain of Djebal, and has fine gardens and
very extensive tobacco plantations. The Howeytat have built a tower in
the village. The inhabitants were now at war with those of Beszeyra, but
both parties respect the lives of their enemies, and their hostile
expeditions are directed against the cattle only. Having reposed at
Dhana we returned in the evening to the spot where we had left the women
and the baggage, and rested for the night at about a quarter of an hour
beyond it.
August 14th.—We skirted, for about an hour, the eastern borders of Wady
Ghoeyr, when we descended into the valley, and reached its bottom at the
end of three hours and a half, travelling at a slow pace. This Wady
divides the district of Djebal from that of Djebal Shera (Arabic), or
the mountains of Shera, which continue southwards towards the Akaba.
These are the mountains called in the Scriptures Mount Seir, the
territory of the Edomites. The valley of Ghoeyr is a large rocky and
uneven basin, considerably lower than the eastern plain, upwards of
twelve miles across at its eastern extremity, but narrowing towards
EL GHOEYR
[p.411] the west. It is intersected by numerous Wadys of winter
torrents, and by three or four valleys watered by rivulets which unite
below and flow into the Ghor. The Ghoeyr is famous for the excellent
pasturage, produced by its numerous springs, and it has, in consequence,
become a favourite place of encampment for all the Bedouins of Djebal
and Shera. The borders of the rivulets are overgrown with Defle and the
shrub Rethem (Arabic). The rock is principally calcareous; and there are
detached pieces of basalt and large tracts of brescia formed of sand,
flint, and pieces of calcareous stone. In the bottom of the valley we
passed two rivulets, one of which is called Seil Megharye (Arabic),
where we arrived at the end of a four hours walk, and found some Bedouin
women washing their blue gowns, and the wide shirts of their husbands.
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