336 EXTRACTS FROM 
principal bait, as it is the habit of most wild beasts to eat 
small morsels before settling down to heavy work. 
This disgusting business of preparing the lure was just 
finished, and we were arranging the loopholes in the ambus- 
cade, when an Arab with a long gun came up and offered his 
services. He insisted upon sharing the night-watch with 
us, gave us much good advice, related all his successes in 
hyzena-shooting, and could hardly be made to hold his 
tongue. 
As it was not nearly time to watch we decided to return 
and to take the precaution of bringing the Arab with us, as 
we were afraid that if we sent him about his business he might 
spoil our sport out of revenge, for Ferdinand knew him to be 
a bad untrustworthy fellow who lived by shooting partridges, 
and who roamed about the neighbourhood of Bethlehem in a 
vagabond sort of way. His cunning treacherous-looking face 
confirmed this account, so I determined to make him harmless 
for the night. 
I left young Hodek to look after the ambush and to watch 
until we came back. The sun was just setting, and gilding 
with its magic light the stony hills, the castle of Tantur, the 
picturesque town of Bethlehem, and the heights of the Jordan 
valley, while the lofty barren steeps of the beautiful moun- 
tains beyond the Dead Sea were glowing in a way that 
reminded me of our Alps; there were only a few thin 
fleecy clouds in the sky, and a cool breeze swept across the 
plateau. 
The air of the country round Jerusalem and of the hills 
between Bethlehem and the sea cannot be compared to the 
mild and delightfully equable temperature of Hgypt. Raw 
winds here remind one of the high elevation of this barren 
plateau, and snowfalls in March are not of rare occurrence 
near the Holy City; but at Bethlehem, only a few miles east- 
ward of this place, the climate and the flora change, and the 
