Page:Thirty-five years in the East.djvu/64

24 this galat, advised us to leave behind every kind of weapon, as he suspected that the journey would be a dangerous one, undertaken thus at random. He added, that if wemet, by accident, the Arabs in the desert, and they found us to be armed, they might become suspicious ; whilst if we passed them as poor hajjees (pilgrims), saluting them with " Selam alekim," we might be saluted with their "We alekim selam," and be allowed to continue our route unmolested. We made forced marches by day and night; at noon we looked about for low ground, to light our fire on without being observed, and where we could take our mid-day meal, which consisted of rice with butter, biscuits and dried fruits. In the evening we were not allowed to light a fire, nor to whistle or sing. At a distance of about twelve or fifteen miles, on our left, we saw the famous ruins of Palmyra. Up to the ninth day we saw neither men, nor birds, nor wild beasts; when on a sudden, in the darkness of night, we happened to light on a place situated be tween some low hills, where we perceived some Arabs and their tents. Fortunately, and to our great joy, they were all women, whose husbands, as they said, were absent, hunting, that being their means of subsistence. They manifested no hostile intentions, and offered us a liberal portion of black dried meat, which had not an unpleasant taste, but I do not know what kind it was. The next day I cooked it with my rice, for ray camel driver put it into my pot without my knowledge.

To deceive the women, we told them that we were coming from Bagdad and going to Damascus, after having provided ourselves with water, we retraced our steps, but only to make them believe so ; for we had hardly got out of their sight, when we struck into an opposite direction, and marched the whole night, for fear of being overtaken by their husbands. On the eleventh day, we arrived at Quoise, a village where we rested for one day, waiting for the escort from Hit, which was to bring us to the banks of the Euphrates, On the journey, I was told how the Arabs of the desert heal their wounds. They make