Hamd, It Is True, Bravely Offered To
Accompany Me Wherever I Chose To Go, Though He Knew Nothing Of The
Road
before us, or the Arabs upon it; but I saw little chance of success, and
knew, from what I
Had heard during my journey from Kerek to Cairo, that
the Omran not only rob but murder passengers. Ayd had seen on the shore
the footsteps of a man, which he knew to be those of a fisherman, a
friend of his who had probably passed in the course of this day. Had we
met with him he might have served as our guide, but not a soul was any
where to be seen. Under these circumstances I reluctantly determined to
retrace my steps the next day, but, instead of proceeding by the shore,
to turn off into the mountains, and return to the convent by a more
western route.
[p.509] Akaba was not far distant from the spot from whence we returned.
Before sun-set I could distinguish a black line in the plain, where my
sharp-sighted guides clearly saw the date-trees surrounding the castle,
which bore N.E. 1 E.; it could not be more than five or six hours
distant. Before us was a promontory called Ras Koreye [Arabic], and
behind this, as I was told, there is another, beyond which begins the
plain of Akaba. The castle is situated at an hour and a half or two
hours from the western chain, down which the Hadj route leads, and about
the same distance from the eastern chain, or lower continuation of Tor
Hesma, a mountain which I have mentioned in my journey through the
northern parts of Arabia Petraea.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 646 of 870
Words from 175451 to 175736
of 236498
