24 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 



this galat, advised us to leave beliind every kind of weapofTj, 

 as he suspected that the journey would be a dangerou* 

 one, ^undertaken thus at random. He added, that if wa 

 met, by accident, the Arabs in the desert, and they found 

 us to be armed, they might become suspicious ; whilst If 

 we passed them as poor hajjees (pilgrims), saluting thera 

 with " Selara alekim," we might be saluted with their 

 "We alekim selam," and be allowed to continue our route 

 unmolested. We made forced marches by day and night ;. 

 at noon we looked about for low ground, to light our fire 

 on without being observed, and where we could take our 

 mid-day meal, which consisted of rice with butter, » biscuit* 

 and dried fruits. In the evening we were not allowed to 

 light a fire, nor to whistle or sing. At a distance of about 

 twelve or fifteen miles, on our left, we saw the famous ruins 

 of Palmyra. Up to the ninth day we saw neither men, 

 nor birds, nor wild beasts; when on a sudden, in the dark- 

 ness of night, we happened to light on a place situated be* 

 tween some low hills, where we perceived some Arabs and 

 their tents. Fortunately, and to our great joy, they were 

 all women, whose husbands, as they said, were absent, 

 hunting, that being their means of subsistence. They mani^ 

 fested no hostile intentions, and offered us a liberal portion 

 of black dried meat, which had not an unpleasant taste, 

 but I do not know what kind it was. The next day I 

 cooked it with my rice, for ray camel driver put it into my 

 pot without my knowledge. 



To deceive the women, we told them that we were 

 coming from Bagdad and going to Damascus, after hav- 

 ing provided ourselves with water, we retraced our steps, 

 but only to make them believe so ; for we had hardly 

 got out of their sight, when we struck into an opposite 

 direction, and marched the whole night, for fear of being 

 overtaken by their husbands. On the eleventh day, we 

 arrived at Quoise, a village where we rested for one day, 

 waiting for the escort from Hit, which was to bring us to 

 the banks of the Euphrates, On the journey, I was told 

 how the Arabs of the desert heal their wounds. They make 



