Page:Domestic Life in Palestine.pdf/371

364 turesome, tied their wardrobeson the backs of their laden mules. Then they plunged into the stream, and, leading their reluctant mules carefully, they walked through the water, which was as high as their waists. They were all safe over and hastily dressing themselves, by the time we reached the river-side. We found the stream very rapid, and even in the best fording-place it was at least three feet deep. My horse was rather tall for an Arab, and he carried me over so well that I did not get very wet, though in leaping and scrambling out of the stream on to the bank we were all well sprinkled. The sunset was cloudless, the sky was shaded in imperceptible gradations, from a deep red, which merged into orange tints of every shade; the palest was lost in a broad belt of delicate green, and this blended with the blue above us.

A multitude of crabs were running from their sand-holes toward the sea, and oyster-catchers were busily seeking an evening meal. The cliffs on our right hand were now considerably higher and steeper. They were formed of a conglomerate of shells and sand. In some places the beach was very narrow and rocky. The twilight deepened rapidly, and a thick mist rose from the ground, so that we could only see the upper parts of the figures moving before us. We met a long string of camels, swinging themselves lazily along, and a group of Bedouins followed them. They looked very strange and shadowy, partly concealed and partly magnified as they were by the mist. Our kawass, moving steadily before us, appeared to be gliding along without feet. We rode on quickly to El Haram, which we reached by making our way through a curious winding fissure in the cliffs. It is an ancient water-course, which now serves for a road. A low rough wall of rock stands in the center, and divides it into two natural causeways.

The groom alighted and led the way, groping along the winding road with a large lantern in his hand. As soon as we reached the top of the high cliffs we were out of the mist, and could see the silhouette of "El Haram Aly ebn