cir. xxiii.] The Hanidd in Spring. 167 



one, the Hamad is one of the most heautifiil sights 

 in the world, a vast unduLiting phun of grass and 

 flowers. The purple stock which predominates on the 

 better soils gives its colour to the whole country, and 

 on it the camels feed, preferring it to all other food. 

 The hollows are filled with the richest meadow 

 grass, wild barley, wild oats and wild rye, the haunts 

 of quails, while here and there deep beds of blue 

 geranium (I)ohattery) take their place, or tracts white 

 with camomiles. On the poorer soils the flowers 

 are not less gay ; tulips, marigolds, asters, irises and 

 certain pink wallflowers, the most beautiful of all, 

 cousins each of them to our garden plants. For it 

 was from the desert doubtless that the Crusaders 

 brought us many of those we now consider essen- 

 tially English flowers. Through this, as through a 

 garden, the vast herds of camels with their attendant 

 Bedouins move slowly all the spring, and the mares, 

 starved during eight months of the year, foal and 

 grow fat upon a certain crisp grass which grows 

 amongst tlie purple stock, fine and dry and sweet 

 as sugar. No sheep accompany these southern 

 journeys. Those that belong to the Auazeh are 

 left behind in the upper plains with the Weldi 

 Aghedaat and other tributary tribes, who keep them 

 till their owners return. Sheep require constant 

 watering, and in the Hamad wells are scarce. As 

 soon as calving has commenced milk is plentiful in 

 the camps, and water is little thought of even for 

 the mares, who will go many days with nothing but 



