58 ALEPPO TO DEIR-EL-ZOB. 



At Deir Hafr, an Arab village, it is usual to spend 

 the first night out of Alej)po. The march is a long 

 one, so that with irritating perversity my muleteer 

 seized the opportunity of making an unusually late 

 start, with the result that night was upon us long 

 before we had reached our destination. There being 

 no moon till late, we were obliged to grope our way at 

 snail's pace over the plain, with nothing whatsoever to 

 guide us but a camel-track, which under the circum- 

 stances was hardly distinguishable. The ponies with 

 the baggage did not arrive till 11 p.m., after I had 

 dined off barley bread and a delectable compound of 

 sugar and grapes, the only food the Arabs could 

 produce. 



As one approaches the Euphrates one passes over a 

 good deal of uncultivated plain covered with short 

 grass, on which small flocks of sheep are to be seen 

 grazing, and on reaching the river, comes upon the 

 three mud buildinofs which constitute Meskineh. Had 

 the scheme of navigating the Euphrates from Baghdad 

 to the latitude of Aleppo proved practicable, Meskineh, 

 which now affords the shelter of a moderate khan, 

 might have become an important place as the head- 

 quarters of the steam navigation. At the present day, 

 however, the river is only navigated by small native 

 craft, and the prospects of Meskineh rising superior to 

 its present unpretentious level are remote.-^ 



From here on, the road lies sometimes in the river- 

 plain, sometimes over the great rolling stretches of 



1 In ' The Nearer East ' Mr Hogarth says, " The river is not considered 

 navigable above Eakka, while it is not in point of fact ascended above 

 Hit." I could not learn that any steam-vessel had ascended the river even 

 as far as Hit for at least a decade, while if the above is intended to refer 

 to other vessels, it is equally incorrect, since shallow native craft carry 

 goods from Birejik to Deir, where they are transhipped into larger boats, 

 and conveyed down the rivei\ 



