herd from whose bosom no enemy shall ever be able to pluck even the weakest lambkin of the flock.

Two miles from Joaiza I took "bearings" from an elevated site called Sindiana, and a mile farther south is the pretty Tell Delwa, with a ruin upon, and a wady descending from it toward the Jordan. Three miles farther we came to Thûban and Kefr Neffakh, both very large ruins, but particularly the last, which exhibits an enormous mass of prostrate houses. After this we wandered about over broken ground for an hour in search of a Turkman sheikh, and found his camp hid away in Wady Ghadarîyeh, which joins, lower down, the far greater one of Ruzzanîyeh. This wady has many tributaries and much water, and here, where it enters the Butaiha, is called Em el 'Ajaj, and also Wady Sulam, incorrectly written Sunam on maps. Having procured a guide, we reached Selukia-the Seleucia of Philipin half an hour. The ruins of this place are extensive, but the position does not accord very well with the statements of Josephus. He, however, had never visited it, and spoke at random, as he often does in regard to matters with which he was not personally acquainted. Directly south is a place called 'Ain Selukia, from a collection of fountains whose water flows west, and unites with Wady Ruzzanîyeh. We had some difficulty in crossing another deep wady, about a mile farther south, named Tellaiya, from a number of low tells, a few miles east of our line of march. This Tellaiya may be the same that enters the Butaiha to the east of us, and is called Dalia by Dr. Robinson. It has cut a deep channel through the hard lava, and a fine stream of water rattles over its rocky bed.

Down to this Wady Tellaiya the country had been more or less wooded; though the oaks that cover the hills south of Banias and 'Ainfît gradually become more and more rare, smaller also, and more scraggy, still they are found, solitary or in groups, quite to the wady, but south of it they disppear altogether, and the country is naked and cheerless. So, also, the flocks became more rare; indeed, for many miles we saw none, although the pasturage is equally good,

WADY JERMAIAH-GAME IN THE DESERT.

19 and water even more abundant than farther north. Lively little brooks crossed our track every five minutes; but I suppose this deserted region is a sort of neutral territory between the northern and southern tribes, who are not always on such terms as renders it safe to be caught too far away from their friends.

We were obliged to make a long detour to the east, in order to get round the impracticable gorge of the Jermaiah— that wady which comes down to the lake near the southeastern corner of the Butaiha. It is the largest and most savage of all the ravines into which we looked during our ride of nine hours, and is said to be the chosen resort of leopards, wolves, hyenas, boars, and other wild animals. In fact, the whole Gaulanitis abounds in game. We saw many gazelles, and another species of deer, called waal, considerably larger and more like our American deer; partridges also, and grouse, ducks, geese, cranes, and pelicans delight in these solitudes, which their grand enemy, man, rarely invades, or if he does, has too many causes of solicitude to admit of delay, or to make it safe to have the crack of his musket heard.

After heading Wady Jermaiah we turned nearly west down a gentle declivity for half an hour, and then came to a large ruin called Kunaitera; not that of the same name on the road to Damascus from Jisr Benat Yacobe, but one more ancient, and much larger than that ever was. Sehm Jaulan is the name of a well-known ruin to the east of this, and I suppose it marks the site of the Biblical Golan, from which this province takes its name. There is also a Khurbet Saida some distance to the east of our track, but no Beit Saida. From Kunaitera to Khurbet Arba'in-ruin of forty-is half an hour. This city was originally well built for a place where no stone but basalt is found, and it must have been inhabited until a comparatively recent period. Crossing a smooth and fertile plain for some two miles, we plunged abruptly into the gorge of Wady Shukaiyif by an almost perpendicular path, down which our animals slid rather than walked, greatly to their annoyance and our amusement; and here we found Sheikh Fareij, with his large

camp, hid away so perfectly that it could not be seen until one is directly above it. Our nine hours' ride had made us all weary, and we gladly pitched our tent near that of the sheikh. He was not then at home, but a brother supplied his place, with a boisterous and rather ostentatious welcome. He berated our guide for bringing guests at an hour so late that it was impossible to give them such a reception and feast as were becoming. The sheep were all at a distance, and none could be got to sacrifice in honor of the occasion, and the parties, until morning, etc., etc. I assured him that we had all necessary provision for ourselves, and needed only provender for the horses. This was speedily brought, and every thing arranged to our mutual satisfaction.

Just after our arrival a knot of Arabs gathered round the sheikh's tent, in earnest and angry discussion, and I felt rather anxious to know whether or not we were the subject of controversy. Upon inquiry, it appeared that some of the sheikh's men had fallen in with a party of robbers that morning, who were driving off the cattle of these poor peasants who cultivate this Butaiha, and, after a skirmish with them, succeeded in rescuing the stolen cattle, and brought them into their camp. The owners had come to claim their property, and the rescuers demanded four hundred piastres before they would give them up. The case was brought before the sheikh, who ordered them to be restored without ransom; and, of course, there was grumbling on one side, and loud thanks on the other.

I noticed at all the encampments which we passed that the sheikh's tent was distinguished from the rest by a tall spear stuck upright in the ground in front of it; and it is the custom, when a party is out on an excursion for robbery or for war, that when they halt to rest, the spot where the chief reclines or sleeps is thus designated. So Saul, when he lay sleeping, had his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster, and Abner and the people lay round about him.' The whole of that scene is eminently Oriental and perfectly natural, even to the deep sleep into which all had fallen, so

11 Sam. xxvi. 7.

DAVID'S ADVENTURE WITH SAUL.

21

that David and Abishai could walk among them in safety. The Arabs sleep heavily, especially when fatigued. Often, when traveling, my muleteers and servants have resolved to watch by turns in places thought to be dangerous, but in every instance I soon found them fast asleep, and generally their slumbers were so profound that I could not only walk among them without their waking, but might have stolen the very 'aba with which they were covered. Then the cruse of water at Saul's head is in exact accordance with the customs of the people at this day. No one ventures to travel over these deserts without his cruse of water, and it is very common to place one at the "bolster," so that the owner can reach it during the night. The Arabs eat their dinner in the evening, and it is generally of such a nature as to create thirst, and the quantity of water which they drink is enormous. The cruse is, therefore, in perpetual demand. Saul and his party lay in a shady valley, steeped in heavy sleep, after the fatigues of a hot day. The camp-ground of Sheikh Fareij, in Wady Shukaiyif, is adapted in all respects to be the scene of the adventure. David, from above, marks the spot where the king slumbers, creeps cautiously down, and stands over his unconscious persecutor. Abishai asks permission to smite him once, only once, and promises not to smite a second time; but David forbade him, and, taking the spear and cruse of water, ascended to the top of the hill afar off, and cried aloud to Abner: Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? * As the

*

*

Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept. your master, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster. What a strange sensation must have run through the camp as David's voice rang out these cutting taunts from the top of the hill! But David was perfectly safe, and there are thousands of ravines where the whole scene could be enacted, every word be heard, and yet the speaker be quite beyond the reach of his enemies.

Among the incidents of that memorable ride was the fol

11 Sam. xxvi. 15.

lowing: A hardy little girl, about twelve years old, accompanied us on foot. She was the daughter of our guide, and he was bringing her to her husband, at this camp of Fareij, who had purchased her for a thousand piastres (forty dollars). She had no companion or friend of any kind, except a young donkey, as little and as lively as herself. This she drove before her with infinite trouble. It was constantly running hither and thither, and she after it, over sharp rocks and through tangled thorns; but still she never seemed to grow weary. I became quite interested in the brave girl, and from my heart hoped and prayed that she might find, in her hitherto unseen husband, a kind companion. When we arrived at the camp of Fareij, she was taken immediately into the harem of the sheikh, and I saw her no more. She carried nothing in the shape of outfit except the little donkey. I noticed that when she left her mother's tent at Joaiza she had on a pair of high red leather boots. These, however, she quickly drew off, and, tucking them under her sash or girdle, raced over the rocks after her pet in bare feet, and this she did from early morning until after sunset. Our girls don't do such things on their wedding day.

Sheikh Fareij spent the evening in our tent, and greatly interested us by his dignified manners and intelligence, and by a certain air of sadness that pervaded his whole conversation and deportment. He complained bitterly of the course pursued by government, whose tax-gatherers robbed and plundered the Arabs without mercy, and he maintained that they were compelled to plunder in turn. This was by way of apology for the admission which he seemed somewhat ashamed to make that robbing was their trade, and that he and his men were engaged in it daily, either as aggressors or defenders. He farther lamented that the ancient, generous customs of the Bedawîn were being corrupted by Turkish oppression. They now robbed one another, and even murder is often added to plunder. "I myself," said he, "live day by day by the life of this good sword," striking his hand fiercely upon the formidable tool at his side. He admitted that, without my guide from the emeer, I could