The soil,
though flinty, is very capable of cultivation.
This valley is comprised within the appellation of Wady Mousa, because
the rain water which collects here joins, in the winter, the torrent
below Eldjy. The water was anciently conducted through this valley in an
artificial channel, of which the
AIN MEFRAK
[p.434] stone walls remain in several places. At the extremity of the
Wady are the ruins of an ancient city, called Betahy (Arabic),
consisting of large heaps of hewn blocks of silicious stone; the trees
on this mountain are thinly scattered. At a quarter of an hour from
Betahy we reached an encampment, composed of Lyathene and Naymat, where
we alighted, and rested for the night.
August 24th.—Our road lay S.S.W.; in one hour we came to Ain Mefrak
(Arabic), where are some ruins. From thence we ascended a mountain, and
continued along the upper ridge of Djebel Shera. To our right was a
tremendous precipice, on the other side of which runs the chain of sand-
rocks which begin near Wady Mousa.
