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it. I galloped over the steppe, having to clamber across some 

 gullies, and then came to a spot where a little spring bubbled 

 out merrily among low cliffs and a perfect garden of luxu- 

 riant shrubs and flowers. Following the course of the water 

 along the top of the rocks, I reached the edge of the plateau, 

 where a steep slope fell away in front of me, and below it I 

 saw to my great joy green meadows and wooded pastures 

 with the silver thread of the Jordan running through them. 



I soon got to the riverside, the gentlemen came up one 

 after another, and we selected good places for resting and 

 bathing. At this spot the river made a considerable bend, 

 forming a peninsula covered with woods denser and more 

 exuberant in growth than any I had hitherto seen. We 

 rested on the meadow-land by the edge of this wood, in the 

 shade of the trees and bushes, and let the horses graze ; and 

 after bathing in the cool rushing waters, disposed of a modest 

 lunch consisting of bread and cold meat. Here, as throughout 

 its course, the Jordan has quite the character of a mountain- 

 stream, and tears along among rocks and large stones. 



After our frugal meal I determined to have a look at the 

 wood, and to try to get up a little beat. The first half of the 

 peninsula was covered with bushes somewhat above the height 

 of a man and closely bound together with creepers, while the 

 ground was thickly overgrown with large-leaved plants of all 

 sorts, the whole being so dense and luxuriant that it was 

 hardly possible to push through it, and every step forward 

 required the exercise of one's whole strength. Having 

 managed to get through the first part of the cover, we reached 

 an opening which bisected the wood, and there I found in the 

 loamy soil an incredible number of fresh traces of Panthers, 

 Lynxes, Wild Cats, Wild Boars, Porcupines, Wolves, and 

 Jackals. There were also the tracks of two kinds of Deer, 

 and these, which appeared to belong to a small roe-like animal 

 and to a larger fallow-deer sort of beast, interested us much, 



