58 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [anNO \GQ5. 



the ruins of houses, and an octagonal tower of a considerable height, viz. 107 

 steps, and beautified on the outside with flourishes and an Arabic inscription 

 round about. It is a handsome structure, and probably the work of the Mama- 

 lukes, since whose time little has been done to adorn, but a great deal to de- 

 stroy and waste this country. After dinner we mounted sooner than ordinary, 

 hoping to reach the tents of Assyne in good time, yet it was near sun-set be- 

 fore we reached Fay, a fountain by which he lay. We had travelled still on the 

 same point N. W. with the prospect of the river the greater part of the way. 

 The king's tents spread over a large plain, and took up so vast a space, that 

 from a rising ground we could not see the utmost extent of them. The king's 

 tent was nearly in the middle ; the rest were pitched about it, not in a circular 

 manner, but stretching ont in length as the plain opened, or for the better 

 conveniency of a current of water, which from the foantain ran through the 

 middle of the tents. It was no otherwise distinguishable from the rest, but by 

 its size, being all made of a sort of hair-cloth. It cannot well be doubted but 

 they are descended from the old Arabs Scenitae, living just in the same manner, 

 without any settled abode, but remove from fountain to fountain, as they find 

 water and grass for their sheep and camels. They affect to derive themselves 

 from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. As soon as alighted, we were attended by 

 the officers of the Emir, and conducted to a very noble tent, built after the 

 Turkish mode, and pitched next to his own. Before supper the king made us 

 a visit in person, bidding us welcome to Fay, and asking what we had seen in 

 our travels that pleased us ? how we liked Tadmor ? and whether we had found 

 a treasure there ? For this people hold the notion, that the Franks go to see 

 old ruins, only because they there meet with inscriptions which direct them to 

 some hidden treasures. And therefore it is no unusual thing with them, when 

 they find a stone with an inscription on one side, to turn that down to the 

 ground, that it may not be seen or read by any. When supper was brought in, 

 there was victuals enough for three times our number ; a large dish of pilaw in 

 the middle, and 12 or 15 dishes of several sorts of meat about it, all dressed 

 after their manner, but exceedingly good. After having ate and drank what we 

 pleased, our servants took our places ; it being the custom of the Arabs and 

 Turks, from the highest to the lowest, to eat at the same table, the better sort 

 sitting down first, and so in order till all have done. 



Next morning the king went to a great entertainment, made for him by 

 one of his grandees, and expected we should follow him : two young camels 

 were killed to furnish out this sumptuous feast ; which is the highest piece of 

 magnificence and greatness to which these people, whose greatest riches consist 

 in camels, can arrive. The tent was very large, and to be still more capacious. 



