Into which that animal has fallen
among them; the only reason I could learn for it, is that the buffalo,
like the hog, has a habit of rolling in the mud, and of plunging into
the muddy ponds in the summer time, up to the very nose, which alone
remains visible above the surface.
The territory of Djissr Shogher extends as far as Howash; from thence,
southward, begins the district of Kalaat el Medyk. The Sheikh of Howash,
called Mohammed el Omar, is noted in the adjoining districts for his
hospitality; but within bthese few years he
AYN UKTOL.
[p.136]has been reduced from great wealth to poverty by the extortions
of Topal Aly of Djissr Shogher, and of Milly Ismayl of Kalaat el Medyk;
the troops which are continually passing from one place to another are
consuming the last remains of his property. The night we slept at his
house, there were at least fifty people at supper, of whom about thirty
were poor Arabs of his village; the others were all strangers.
We left Howash early in the morning, and rode along the eastern
mountains, in this beautiful valley, which I can compare only to the
valley of the Bekaa between the two Libani; the Ghab, however, has this
great advantage over the Bekaa, that it is copiously watered by a large
river and many rivulets, while the latter, in summer time, has little or
no water.
