The Valley Of Ghoeyr Is A Large Rocky And
Uneven Basin, Considerably Lower Than The Eastern Plain, Upwards Of
Twelve Miles Across At Its Eastern Extremity, But Narrowing Towards
EL GHOEYR
[P.411] the west. It is intersected by numerous Wadys of winter
torrents, and by three or four valleys watered by rivulets which unite
below and flow into the Ghor. The Ghoeyr is famous for the excellent
pasturage, produced by its numerous springs, and it has, in consequence,
become a favourite place of encampment for all the Bedouins of Djebal
and Shera. The borders of the rivulets are overgrown with Defle and the
shrub Rethem (Arabic). The rock is principally calcareous; and there are
detached pieces of basalt and large tracts of brescia formed of sand,
flint, and pieces of calcareous stone. In the bottom of the valley we
passed two rivulets, one of which is called Seil Megharye (Arabic),
where we arrived at the end of a four hours walk, and found some Bedouin
women washing their blue gowns, and the wide shirts of their husbands. I
had taken the lead of our party, accompanied by my guide’s little boy,
with whom I reached an encampment, on the southern side of the valley,
to which these women belonged. This was the encampment to which my guide
belonged, and where he assured me that I should find his camels. I was
astonished to see nobody but women in the tents, but was told that the
greater part of the men had gone to Ghaza to sell the soap-ashes which
these Arabs collect in the mountains of Shera.
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