328 EXTRACTS FROM 



mules and ponies, and a host of servants sun-worshipping 

 Druses of the Lebanon hung about the camp, among the 

 rocks. 



Mr. Howard of Beyrout, a general fitter-out of caravans 

 and expeditions, was our dragoman. He is a genuine 

 Oriental, who in the course of his varied experiences has 

 assumed an English name and has put himself under English 

 protection ; and we all learnt to appreciate his excellent 

 qualities, and the indomitable energy which he displayed on 

 occasions when difficult work fell to his share. Howard had 

 brought with him two Bedouins one a negro who had been 

 carried off from Africa when quite young, and had been 

 wandering about with a tribe of Asiatic Arabs ; the other a 

 true Bedouin of the Jordan, hardly darker than a European. 

 Both 'wore the ordinary thick white-and-brown striped 

 burnous of the Asiatic tribes, and their duty was to bring in 

 a daily supply of partridges for the larder. 



In the evening my uncle and I went out with the pale-faced 

 fellow to watch for jackals. We scrambled over hedges and 

 walls to a water-tank near the village ; but unfortunately 

 there was no moon, and nothing appeared before it got dark, 

 though we heard the beasts howling at a distance. We 

 therefore stumbled back to camp, along the same wretched 

 road, stared at by the people of Latrun, who were standing 

 about in their long robes, looking like spectres. On our return 

 we had a regular dinner in the large mess-tent, followed by 

 Turkish coffee and the refreshing repose of well-earned sleep. 



Early next morning the camp was all astir. The tents 

 were struck, everything packed on the mules, and the caravan 

 moved off, with the usual tinkling of bells, shouting of mule- 

 teers, and neighing of horses. At first the way led through 

 narrow mountain valleys, whose steep slopes were covered 

 with masses of rock and dense evergreen shrubs. There both 

 the country and its flora were of the true Mediterranean type, 



