o say, that having with me the small edition of Laborde and some
manuscript notes extracted from other books, by their help I saw most of
what was to be seen. I wandered through streets of the middle town;
surveyed and entered palaces hewn into crimson rocks; sat reading on the
solid benches of the theatre, and walked along its stage; then gazed with
unwearied admiration on the beautiful Khazneh, its delicate tints and
graceful proportions, and went to rest upon a green bank opposite to it,
with a running stream at my feet, bordered by gorgeous oleanders, where I
chatted with some wild Arabs arriving from the south. Such a harmony of
ruddy tints, from the darkest buds of the oleander, through gradations on
the rocks, to the most delicate pink, was truly a feast of nature for the
eyes.

These are incidents never to be forgotten, and the memory of them is
unspeakably charming. I made a few rough sketches; but it may be
sufficient here to give only a specimen of the capitals of columns that
are peculiar to Petra.

[Picture: Capital of column]

During the afternoon the thermometer stood inside the tent at 95 degrees
Fahrenheit.

The captain, my companion, went alone to explore the chasm called the
_Sik_, as my slight sprain, after being almost forgotten during the
journey, had become painful again from the effects of climbing upon Mount
Hor.

But I had come to Petra for business; and the indigenous peasantry of
Wadi Moosa were gathering around our tents from different directions.
They had not been prepared for the reception of guests arriving from the
north, _i.e._, Jerusalem, as travellers usually come from 'Akabah or
Sinai, through Nukh'l.

Our Arabs, both Jehaleen and some strangers, set to making themselves
comfortable. There arrived a large body of the Fellahheen, headed by
Shaikh Suliman es Said, a ragged and ugly crew, he as dirty as the rest,
but strutting about in a robe of bright scarlet.

Then commenced the negotiations and disputes between them and ours; noise
and menace speedily ensued, alternated with diplomatic manoeuvres, for
our champion, Selameh, was an able practitioner in such matters, at least
he had a reputation for it. The stormy scenes were not concluded till
late in the night, and they ended by an arrangement that travellers,
arriving by the new road from Jerusalem, should pay the same pecuniary
acknowledgment to the territorial owners as had been hitherto claimed