by these birds, the Arabs call them _Abu Sa'ad_, _i.e._,
"Father of good fortune."

In the middle of the afternoon we arrived at the encampment of the
Jehaleen, under the north-east side of Tell _'Arad_, the site of the
Canaanitish city in Num. xxi. I, xxxiii. 40; Judges i. 16. It was a
cheerful green site, though the verdure consisted merely of a thin and
poor grass.

We had to be introduced to the real shaikh on his own territorial domain,
namely, Hadji Daif Allah abu Dahook,--a sharp fellow in driving a
bargain,--a taller and stouter man than any of his people, who were all
extremely dirty in person and dress, and several of them but small,
withered-looking old men. One of the women, however, was tall, and
walked with exceeding dignity of manner.

Our European tents were pitched at some distance from the black hair
tents of the Arabs and we observed, soon after our arrival, that three
strangers came up on horseback, carrying spears tufted with black ostrich
feathers, on a visit to our shaikh. They were well received; and songs,
with clapping of hands, continued during a great part of the night, with
a monotonous accompaniment of the women grinding corn in their
hand-mills!

_April_ 3.--We rose early, enjoying the indescribable beauty and purity
of starlight in an oriental desert, thermometer, Fahrenheit, 53.25
degrees, at sunrise; but before sunrise I mounted to the summit of the
hill, where I found no vestiges of a city, only the foundation of a
castle, or some such edifice, of about a hundred feet by sixty. In fact,
this covered nearly the whole surface of the summit. The city must,
therefore, have been situated on the plain, the metropolis of a petty
Canaanitish king; but every trace of it is gone.

Low hills bounded the view on every side, over which some peaks of the
Moab mountains showed themselves in the east.

When fairly started on the march at 10 past 6 A.M., we went along very
cheerily, accompanied by Hadji Daif Allah and the three strangers, till,
on a sudden, the latter wheeled about, and required from us the ghuf'r,
or toll, for our future passage through their country. The shaikh
recommended us to make them a present of a couple of dollars, as they
were neighbours of Petra, and without their good-will we should not be
able to succeed in the expedition.

We complied, and they rode off southwards, Abu Dahook returning to his
camp.

Wearisome indeed is travelling with camels; but what woul