CH. XVII.] Longings for Home. 41 



conspicuously under the hills in front of us. They 

 are evidently of the same date as those at El Haddr, 

 and the modern town occupies the palace just as it 

 no doubt would at El Haddr, if El Haddr should 

 be again inhabited. There are a few palm trees 

 and some gardens beyond it and, still further on to 

 the south, what seems to be a lake. But I leave 

 descriptions for to-morrow. It was quite late 

 before we arrived, and we have had great difficulty 

 in persuading Mohammed to allow us to camp out- 

 side the village, instead of enjoying the hospitality 

 of his father's house. But, by promising an early 

 visit to-morrow, we have succeeded, I hope, in 

 assuaging his wrath. We saw a cuckoo to-day 

 sitting on the ground in the middle of the plain, 

 and several swallows have come almost into our 

 tent. Wilfrid, too, has heard a bird sing, he says, 

 and begins to talk of England in a w^ay I have not 

 heard him do all the winter. This makes us more 

 than ever anxious to get on with our mission, for as 

 such we now look upon it, to the Anazeh, and then 

 turn our steps homewards. 



