d it have been
had we been mounted upon them, as is generally the case with travellers
from Sinai and 'Akabah! We horsemen frequently imitated the practice of
old Fadladeen in _Lalla Rookh_, when he rode ahead of his caravan, and
alighted now and then to enjoy the spectacle of the procession coming up
and passing, then mounted again to repeat the pleasure.

The strongest and worst tempered one of our camels having the barrels of
water to carry, suddenly lay down and rolled them from him. Had his
burden been the skins of water instead, they would have burst, and we
should have lost their precious contents. Our Arabs not being accustomed
to the convoy of travellers, were as yet unskilful in loading the camels,
or in poising the burdens in equal divisions; and most extraordinary
noises did they make in urging the beasts forward,--sounds utterly
indescribable in European writing, or even by any combinations of the
Arabic alphabet!

We had about half a dozen men, mostly trudging on foot, and but slightly
armed, commanded by Selameh; and one of them, named Salem, was the
merry-andrew of the party, full of verbal and practical jokes. The ride
was exhilarating,--over a level plain, green with thin grass or weeds,
and low shrubs, whose roots extended to surprising distances, mostly
above the surface of the ground; the morning breeze delicious, with larks
trilling high above us in the sky, and smaller birds that sang among the
bushes.

Sometimes we caught distant views of innumerable storks devouring the
infant locusts upon the hill-sides.

Passed _'Ain Mel'hh_, (Salt-fountain,) which Robinson identifies with the
Moladah of Joshua xix. 2, by means of the transition name of Malatha in
Greek. The only building now remaining is a square weli, surmounted by a
dome. Here we were not far from Beersheba, upon our right, and fell in
with the common route from Gaza and Hebron to Ma'an. Finding a flock of
goats, we got new milk from the shepherd; when diluted with water, this
is a refreshing beverage.

On coming up to a camp of Saadeen Arabs, our cook, a vain-glorious
Maronite from the Lebanon, and ignorant of Arab customs, attempted to
fire upon a watch-dog at the tents for barking at him; and it was judged
necessary to deprive him of his pistols for the rest of the journey. Had
he succeeded in his folly, we should have got into considerable trouble;
for an Arab watch-dog is accounted so valuable, that to kill one of them
mi