lost on the swings may
be gained on the roundabouts. Until a fixed and reasonable tariff was
adopted, we performed the function of roundabouts with great spirit and
dash, though at considerable cost. Meanwhile the fellaheen refilled their
pockets or wherever they keep their money, and lived in fatted peace.

We had scarcely halted to await orders on the outskirts of Khan Yunus
before an aged Arab, rather the worse for wear, arrived with a basket of
large and luscious oranges for sale. Ye gods, oranges! And we had seen no
fresh fruit for months! The old gentleman was fairly mobbed, and we cleared
his stock for him in a very few seconds. When he had recovered he went away
to spread the glad news abroad that a large body of madmen had arrived
thirsting for oranges, and, moreover, eager to pay for them.

Presently the ladies of the village came out _en masse_, all with baskets
of oranges, some as big as the two fists. We had a glut of them. Personally
I ate ten--this is not claimed as a record--and never enjoyed fruit so much
in my life; it was a very satisfying experience.

Later in the day we rode into the village again to water the horses and
fill the water-carts. As the well was not yet in full working order the
engineers had dug a large shallow hole in the ground, lined with a
tarpaulin, and not unlike a swimming bath in appearance. This was filled
with water from fanatis brought up by the camels, and connected up by
hand-pumps to the canvas troughs erected alongside, by which ingenious
means we were enabled to water the horses in comparative comfort. For this
blessing we were truly grateful after our recent experiences in the desert.

Coming back we met some wretched half-starved Bedouins fleeing into the
village for safety. One mournful little cavalcade struck the eye
arrestingly as it passed. At the head of the party and mounted on a white
donkey rode the handsomest Arab I ever saw in Palestine, with clean-cut
features and large, sorrowful eyes. Behind him, also on donkeys, rode his
womenfolk, heavily veiled, and his retainers in burnous and flowing robes.
Hereabouts the road was strewn with leaves and branches blown from the
trees, and the whole made a picture startlingly suggestive of that
representing Christ's entry into Jerusalem.

It must be remembered, lest this scene be set down as a figment of the
imagination, that the people of this land are still the people of the
Bible: their dress, their habits, thei