358 EXTRACTS FROM 
shoes, and for arms he carried a short knife in his girdle and 
a whip in his hand. His companions, of whom there were 
about fifteen, were tall and gaunt, mostly bearded, and with 
brownish-yellow skins. Their turbans and tattered garments 
were partly white and partly striped with white and brown, 
their weapons being long guns, old pistols, and short knives. 
These good-hearted, very sporting fellows were also provided 
with sticks or whips, and were followed by mongrel wolf-like 
dogs, whose good qualities we soon discovered. Some of 
these Bedouins had curly hair and very dark skins—evident 
traces of Negro blood. 
With these men we left the camp and started for a somewhat 
long tramp, for we unfortunately could not use the horses, 
which had been hard at work since the early morning, as we 
wanted them to be fresh and sound for the following days. 
Salim at first led us through the so-called woods, which are 
really green luxuriant meadows and fields of wild oats, more 
or less covered with bushes and low stunted trees. Hvery- 
thing in the Jordan valley is thorny, even the high grass has 
long hooked prickles, which fasten in the flesh, and all the 
shrubs and trees are armed with thorns, soit may be imagined 
what one’s skin and clothes look like and what really severe 
sufferings the sportsman must be content to endure in these 
regions. The trees and bushes were all alive with many 
kinds of birds, for in these happy tracts of country the 
animal creation is pent within narrow bounds, and we found 
a number of beautiful species which were quite new to 
us. Everywhere we heard the cooing of the Asiatic Turtle- 
Doves, and saw the amorous males going through their aerial 
evolutions. The large Southern Grey Shrike and many 
song-birds were uttering their notes among the thickets ; 
Quails rose from the wild oats at every step, and there was 
no lack of birds of prey, such as Eagles, Kites, and Hawks. 
The lower forms of life were also fully represented by 
