On Its S.E. Corner Stands The Ruined Town Sowarat El Dsakeir [Arabic],

OM EZZEITOUN.

[P.218] where we found a party of Arabs Szolout encamped, with whom we breakfasted. In one hour and a quarter we passed Redheimy [Arabic], where the ground was covered with remains of ancient enclosures. One hour and a half, El Hadher [Arabic]; one hour and three quarters, El Laheda [Arabic]; two hours, Omten [Arabic]; two hours and a half, Meraszrasz [Arabic]; three hours, Om Haretein [Arabic]; three hours and a half, Essammera [Arabic]. All the above villages and towns are in ruins, and prove the once-flourishing state of the Ledja. In four hours we reached Om Ezzeitoun [Arabic], a village inhabited by Druses. The advantages of a Wady like the Lowa are incalculable in these countries, where we always find that cultivation follows the direction of the winter torrents, as it follows the Nile in Egypt. There are not many Wadys in this country which inundate the land; but the inhabitants make the best use of the water to irrigate their fields after the great rains have ceased. Springs are scarce, and it is from the Wadys that the reservoirs are filled which supply both men and cattle with water, till the return of the rainy season. It is from the numerous Wadys which rise in the Djebel Haouran that the population of the Haouran derives its means of existence, and the success of its agriculture.

Om Ezzeitoun is inhabited by thirty or forty families.

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