The Plain Had Been Covered With Rich
Herbage, But It Was Now Dried Up; A Great Variety Of Shrubs And Some Old
Palm Trees Also Grow Here:
The heat in the midst of the summer must be
suffocating.
The spring bubbles up from a basin about forty feet in
circumference, and five feet in depth, which is enclosed by ruins of
walls and buildings, and forms below a small rivulet which falls at a
short distance into the river. The water is so hot, that I found it
difficult to keep my hand in it; it deposits upon the stones over which
it flows a thick yellow sulphureous crust, which the neighbouring Arabs
collect, to rub their camels with, when diseased. Just above the basin,
which has originally been paved, is an open arched building, with the
broken shaft of a column still standing; and behind it are several
others, also arched, which may have been apartments for the
accommodation of strangers; the large stones forming these structures
are much decayed, from the influence of the exhalations. This spring is
called Hammet el Sheikh [Arabic], and is the hottest of them all. At
five minutes distance, ascending the Wady, is a second of the same kind,
but considerably cooler; it issues out of a basin covered with weeds,
and surrounded with reeds, and has some remains of ancient buildings
about it; it is called Hammet Errih [Arabic], and joins the waters from
the first source. Following the course of the river, up the Wady, eight
more hot springs are met with; I shall here mention their names, though
I did not see them.
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