I See Hundreds Of Camels Loaded With Large Sacks Of Grain
Moving With Slow, Swinging Tread Toward Damascus, Or Returning
Unloaded To The Desert.
The camels proceed in single file, usually
ten or more in a train, and each is led by means
Of a rope
fastened to the animal next in front - the rope of the foremost of
all being fastened to the saddle of a donkey, on which the owner,
or driver, usually rides. Many grindstones also are shipped from
this country, one large stone constituting a load for a camel.
This land is, also a great grazing region, and for more than three
thousand years Bashan has been celebrated for its fine breed of
cattle.
Some distance south of Damascus I cross the headwaters of the
Pharpar River, whose clear, sparkling water Naaman considered much
more suitable for a general's bath than the muddy water of the
Jordan. At my place of crossing an athlete could clear the stream
at a single bound.
The distant scenery deserves more than a passing notice, though
but little more can be given here. Off to the west, in plain view,
is Mount Hermon, whose towering, snow-capped summit in all
probability looked upon the transfigured person of the Son of Man.
To the east is the Lejah, in, or near which is Edrei, where Og,
the giant king of Bashan, was slain in the attempt to hold his
realm against the home-seeking Israelites under the leadership of
Moses. South of the Lejah are the Hauran Mountains, now occupied
by the Druses, a people of a peculiar religious faith - a faith
which is a mixture of Mohammedan, Christian, and Zoroastrian
elements.
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