570 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [1880- 



sour milk as a ferment. In the morning it is skimmed, 

 and the cream is shaken in a skin. It is then boiled for 

 a long time, and strained several times. When well pre 

 pared, it will last at least a year without spoiling. The 

 best products of Taif are the preserved fruits in syrup. 

 The Arabs are very fond of conserves, and various districts 

 have their specialities. In the Nejd, for example, there 

 is an excellent conserve of dates, in which the stones are 

 replaced by almonds. 



My daily life in Taif did not admit of much variety. 

 I was not allowed to move out without my escort, and 

 it was with great difficulty that I could carry my search 

 after inscriptions more than a mile or two from the town 

 walls. I made one expedition about three miles south, 

 but Al Mas was most unwilling to accompany me, sulked 

 the whole way, and contrived to pick a quarrel with 

 Ismail. Had I not been hampered by him, I believe I 

 could have gone far into the interior with perfect safety, 

 for I met nothing but civility from the Bedouins abroad, 

 who, to be sure, did not know me for a Christian. But 

 I had no formal leave to go beyond Taif, and could not 

 insist on going where Al Mas and the Mohtesib said 

 there was danger. I, therefore, was obliged to confine 

 myself to the vicinity of the town, where I found four 

 inscriptions in the old character I sought for, and acquired 

 the conviction that there is a great deal still to find. I 

 am now certain that Al Mas and the Mohtesib contrived 

 to keep back from me information which they possessed, 

 and I have since learned to my great disappointment 

 that only three hours from Taif there are important 

 ruins at a place called Thimala. Had I been able to name 

 a definite goal, I might, perhaps, have got leave to make 

 an excursion in this direction, but I could not go to the 

 Sheeref Fawwaz, who is the representative of the Emeer, 

 without a definite plan. My short trip was, indeed, 

 essentially a mere reconnaissance, in which I have at least 

 satisfied myself that there is much to see and describe, 



