Norden, Who Has Given A Drawing Of It, As Found
By Him Near The First Cataract Of The Nile, Improperly Denominates It
Oshar.]
Indigo is a very common production of the Ghor; the Ghowárene sell it to
the merchants of Jerusalem and Hebron, where it is worth twenty per
cent.
More than Egyptian indigo. One of the most interesting productions
of this valley is the Beyrouk honey, or as the Arabs call it, Assal
Beyrouk (Arabic). I suppose it to be the manna, but I never had an
opportunity of seeing it myself. It was described to me, as a juice
dropping from the
[p.393] leaves and twigs of a tree called Gharrab (Arabic), of the size
of an olive tree, with leaves like those of the poplar, but somewhat
broader. The honey collects upon the leaves like dew, and is gathered
from them, or from the ground under the tree, which is often found
completely covered with it. According to some its colour is brownish;
others said it was of a grayish hue; it is very sweet when fresh, but
turns sour after being kept two days. The Arabs eat it like honey, with
butter, they also put it into their gruel, and use it in rubbing their
water skins, in order to exclude the air. I enquired whether it was a
laxative, but was answered in the negative. The Beyrouk honey is
collected only in the months of May and June. Some persons assured me
that the same substance was likewise produced by the thorny tree
Tereshresh (Arabic), and collected at the same time as that from the
Gharrab.
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