The Provisions Consisted Of Flour, Butter, And Dried Leben, Or
Sour Milk Mixed With Flour And Hardened In The Sun, Which Makes A Most
Refreshing Drink When Dissolved In Water.
There are several Hebron
merchants at Shobak.
August 20th.—I remained in the tent of my new guide, who delayed his
departure, in order to obtain from his friends some commissions for
Cairo, upon which he might gain a few piastres. In the afternoon of this
day we had a shower of rain, with so violent a gust of wind, that all
the tents of the encampment were thrown down at the same moment, for the
poles are fastened in the ground very carelessly during the summer
months.
August 21st.—The whole encampment broke up in the morning, some Bedouins
having brought intelligence that a strong party of Beni Szakher had been
seen in the district of Djebal. The greater part of the males of the
Howeytat together with their principal Sheikh Ibn Rashyd (Arabic), were
gone to Egypt, in order to transport the Pasha’s army across the desert
to Akaba and Yambo; we had therefore no means of defence against these
formidable enemies, and were obliged to take refuge in the neighbourhood
of Shobak, where they would not dare to attack the encampment. When the
Bedouins encamp in small numbers, they choose a spot surrounded by high
ground, to prevent their tents from being
WADY NEDJED
[p.418] seen at a distance. The camp is, however, not unfrequently
betrayed by the camels which pasture in the vicinity.
In the evening we took our final departure, crossing an uneven plain,
covered with flints and the ruins of several villages, and then
descended into the Wady Nedjed (Arabic); the rivulet, whose source is in
a large paved basin in the valley, joins that of Shobak. Upon the hills
which border this pleasant valley are the ruins of a large town of the
same name, of which nothing remains but broken walls and heaps of
stones. In one hour and a quarter from our encampment, and about as far
from Shobak, we reached the camp of another tribe of Fellahein Bedouins,
called Refaya (Arabic), where we slept. They are people of good
property, for which they are indebted to their courage in opposing the
extortions of the Howeytat. Here were about sixty tents and one hundred
firelocks. Their herds of cows, sheep, and goats are very numerous, but
they have few camels. Besides corn fields they have extensive vineyards,
and sell great quantities of dried grapes at Ghaza, and to the Syrian
pilgrims of the Hadj. They have the reputation of being very daring
thieves.
August 22nd.—I was particularly desirous of visiting Wady Mousa, of the
antiquities of which I had heard the country people speak in terms of
great admiration; and from thence I had hoped to cross the desert in a
straight line to Cairo; but my guide was afraid of the hazards of a
journey through the desert, and insisted upon my taking the road by
Akaba, the ancient Eziongeber, at the extremity of the eastern branch of
the Red sea, where he said that we might join some caravans, and
continue our route towards Egypt.
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