520 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [1880- 



the country, in which land without the means of irrigation 

 has no value, and the principle goes back to the oldest 

 times, as appears from the Old Testament (Genesis xxvi., 

 Judges i. 15). Even in Jeddah the cisterns and wells 

 from which the town is supplied belong to private citizens, 

 and the water is sold from house to house by their slaves. 

 Among the nomads, however, springs and wells are the 

 property of the tribe, not of the individual, and neighbour 

 ing tribes are allowed to drink in time of drought on 

 principles of mutual accommodation. In time of war, the 

 water and the palm groves are the possessions through 

 which the most vital blow can be struck at an enemy. 

 Thus in the ferocious struggle between Mesha, King of 

 Moab, and the Israelites, the order was given to stop the 

 wells, cut down the good trees, and mar the cultivated 

 patches of land with stones (2 Kings iii. 19). Similar 

 tactics would still be used in Arabia in a desperate con 

 test, and the destruction of palm groves has turned many 

 a fruitful valley into a wilderness. But in the Hejaz, 

 I am informed, the palms are spared except in extreme 

 cases that is, the forces of the Shereef would not usually 

 cut down the palm groves of a rebellious tribe, but would 

 content themselves with driving off cattle and seizing 

 captives to be held to ransom. This is a modification 

 of the old ferocity of Semitic warfare in the same line as 

 the law of war in Deuteronomy. 



The great abundance of spring water in the Wady 

 Marr, or, as it is also called, the Torrent way (Derb es 

 Seil) is said by the Arabs themselves to be due to subter 

 ranean currents descending from Jebel Barada, a lofty 

 mountain above Taif. The upper springs are hot. The 

 great fountain of Zeima, which issues from a cleft in the 

 rocky side of the mountain overhanging the village, is 

 about as hot water as one can comfortably put one s 

 hand in. I had, unfortunately, no thermometer to test 

 it with. It is a very sweet, pure water, extremely pleasant 

 to drink, and quite devoid of mineral taste. The other 



