Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/98

70 attacked. He therefore proposed the only alternative, that we should proceed across the Tîh to Gaza. This was a serious disappointment to us all; for it not only would have extended our journey over a district we did not much care to visit, but would also have obliged us to leave unexplored an important portion of the Arabah Valley, and to make a gap in our surveys between the Sinaitic peninsula and Southern Palestine. How it ultimately happened that we managed to complete our survey of the whole valley of the Arabah down to the shores of the Salt Sea, and also to visit Gaza, will appear in the sequel.

It now remained for us to take leave of our Towâra guides, and to hand them the usual “bakhsheesh,” or present, expected by all Arabs, whether well paid or otherwise, for their services. Accordingly each of us presented our camel drivers with a sum equal to about five shillings, and 50 shillings were divided amongst those who had care of the baggage. The sheikhs received double the amount of the drivers. This seemed to give satisfaction, and wishing each other “ma’as salamah,” we shook hands and parted.