Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/261

Rh and it would take very little to make it so again. I have rarely seen a spot more suitable for every sort of culture, yet it is now a barren waste, and until the Arabs of this country are placed under some control it doubtless must remain so. The wooded mountains to the east about the ancient Dhana form a picturesque background; the ruins of this town, I was informed, were as interesting as those at Petra, with carving in rocks, &c.

Camp was pitched near the mouth of Wâdy el Weibeh, and I was extremely glad to find that a day's halt was to be made in this locality.

Next day, by starting early, I was able to visit the western side of the valley, a distance of twelve-and-a-half miles; I observed with theodolite from a trigonometrical station on the hills beyond Wady Jeib, and was able to take up the survey again on that side, thus making the gap unsurveyed as small as possible. Owing to the want of knowledge of the locality by my guide, I was unable to visit 'Ain Aeibeh, which I had much wished to do.

Armstrong explored the country towards the east, and found, six miles north-east of Fiddân, the ruins of a small town in a valley, surrounded by bold and precipitous cliffs; the ruined walls are from a foot to 3 feet high, the stones roughly squared, and of no great size; some black heaps resembling slag heaps point out that very probably ancient mines may be found in the neighbourhood. A path leads from Wâdy 'Arabah to this valley, crossing the watershed into Wâdy Ghuweir, where it joins, leading up the valley in a south-easterly direction, a beaten and well-worn track: this was probably the pilgrimage road from Gaza to Mecca. Lower down in the wâdy (Wâdy Ghuweir) are numerous springs of sweet water trickling out of the bed of the wâdy; and in a narrow gorge the rocks are literally covered with Bedouin tribe marks, Arabic inscriptions, &c., the work of pilgrims on their way to Mecca.

Next day was unfortunately extremely lazy, and for the three following days it was impossible to distinguish the western side of the valley at all.

We were not able to proceed a full day's march owing to the intrigues of the Arabs.

Camp was pitched at Ed Debbeh close to the descent to the ghôr. We passed a large ruined tank and remains of several buildings at the mouth of the Wâdy Utlah; these remains appeared to me to be of no great antiquity, and to date from after Crusading times. There is little doubt that all the eastern side of the valley was once a most fertile district, the streams of water in each valley being used to irrigate gardens and