they have never yet been
chastised, notwithstanding the urgent applications made to the Turkish
Pashas of Jerusalem, Bayroot, and Damascus. We did not arrive at the
encampment till long after dark, and there was no moonlight.

The site is on a plain encircled by hills, with plenty of water
intersecting the ground; the small streams are bordered by reeds and long
grass. A khan, now in ruin, is situated in the midst--a locality
certainly deserving its name, _Beka' el Basha_, and is said to have been
a favourite camping-station for the Pashas of Damascus in former times.

Much to our vexation, the Arabs and the muleteers had pitched our tents
in a slovenly manner among the winding water-courses, so that we had wet
reeds, thistles, and long grass, beetles and grasshoppers inside the
tents, which again were wetted outside with heavy dew. They had done
this in order to keep the cattle immediately close to us, and therefore
as free from forayers as possible during the night. Such was the reason
assigned, and we were all too hungry and tired to argue the matter
further.

My people complained to me of the insolence of the Saltiyeh guides that
were with us; so I sent for the two shaikhs and scolded them. They
persisted in it that they did not deserve the rebuke, that the complaints
ought to be laid against a certain farrier who had come over from
Jerusalem, etc., etc. My servant ended the affair by shouting at them,
"Take my last word with you and feed upon it--'God send you a strong
government.'" This at least they deserved, for they are often in arms
against the Turkish government: and although so prosperous in trade and
agriculture, are many years in arrear with their taxes.

_Tuesday_, 15_th_.--Early in the morning there were Saltiyeh people
reaping harvest near us, chiefly in the Christian fields; for here the
case is not as in Palestine, where Christians generally sow and reap in
partnership with Moslems, for their own safety; but the Moslems have
their fields, and the Christians have theirs apart, which shows that
their influence is more considerable here; indeed, the Christians carry
arms, and go out to war against the Bedaween, quite like the Moslems.

Before we left, the day was becoming exceedingly hot, and we had six
hours' march before us to Jerash.

The hills abound with springs of water. We passed one called _Umm el
'Egher_, another called _Safoot_, also _Abu Mus-hhaf_, and _Tabakra_, and
_'Ain Umm ed