Even Now The Arabs Believe That These
Stones Consist Chiefly Of Iron, And I Was Often Asked If I Did Not Know
How To Extract It.] Which I Found To Be More Porous Than Any Specimens
Of It Which I Had Seen Further Northward.
On the summit of this steep
southern ascent are the ruins of a large square building, of which the
foundations only remain, covered with heaps of stone; they are directly
opposite Araayr, and the ruins above mentioned are also called Mehatet
el Hadj.
I believe them to be of modern date.
We had now again reached a high plain. To our right, about three
quarters of an hour, was the Djebel Shyhhan, an insulated mountain, with
the ruined village of that name on its summit. To our left, on the E.
side of the Ledjoum, about two or three hours distant, is a chain of low
mountains, called El Ghoweythe (Arabic), running from N. to S. about
three or four hours. To the south of El Ghoweythe begins a chain of low
hills, called El Tarfouye (Arabic), which farther south takes the name
of Orokaraye (Arabic); it then turns westward, and terminates to the
south-west of Kerek. From the Mehatet el Hadj we followed the paved road
which leads in a straight line towards Rabba, in a S.W. direction; in
half an hour, we met some shepherds with a flock of sheep, who led us to
the tents of their people behind a hill near the side of the road. We
were much fatigued, but the kindness of our hosts soon made us forget
our laborious day’s march. We alighted under the tent of the Sheikh, who
was dying of a wound he had received a few days before from a thrust of
a lance; but such is the hospitality of these people, and their
attention to the comforts
BEIT KERM
[p.376] of the traveller, that we did not learn the Sheikh’s misfortune
till the following day. He was in the women’s apartment, and we did not
hear him utter any complaints. They supposed, with reason, that if we
were informed of his situation it would prevent us from enjoying our
supper. A lamb was killed, and a friend of the family did the honours of
the table: we should have enjoyed our repast had there not been an
absolute want of water, but there was none nearer than the Modjeb, and
the daily supply which, according to the custom of the Arabs, had been
brought in before sun-rise, was, as often happens, exhausted before
night; our own water skins too, which we had filled at the Modjeb, had
been emptied by the shepherds before we reached the encampment. This
loss was the more sensible to me, as in desert countries where water
seldom occurs, not feeling great thirst during the heat of the day, I
was seldom in the habit of drinking much at that time; but in the
evening, and the early part of the night, I always drank with great
eagerness.
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