12 EGYPT AND PALESTINE, 



beauty of the first view of tlie Dead Sea so roused 

 Fran9ois' enthusiasm that, with somewhat Irish bril- 

 liancy, he exclaimed, ' Vive la Mer Morte ! ' We slept in 

 the convent. 



Friday was a gloriously fine but very hot day. No 

 one can fail to be struck by the views of the bright 

 blue lake surrounded by red and yellow rocks, and 

 the wastes of sand, every now and then relieved by strips 

 of verdure. Some of the party, of course, bathed in the 

 Dead Sea, and we lunched at the ford of the Jordan, 

 which had as little the appearance of a ford as possible. 

 A turbid stream three feet deep was pouring round the 

 tree, under the shelter of which travellers generally make 

 their midday halt. A hot ride, across a ^^lain covered 

 with brushwood, brought us to the modern Jericho. In 

 the course of the evening a troop of villagers, men and 

 women, came to dance before us ; the women exhibited 

 first, then the men, but the performances were very 

 similar — a perpetual swinging of the body and clapping 

 of hands, accompanied by a monotonous chaunt of ' Iwa 

 backsheesh Howadji ! ' The people of Jericho bear a very 

 ill name, and we took the precaution to station Francois 

 at the door of the second tent, to prevent robbery. While 

 he was keeping a look-out in front, some rascal, peering 

 through the opening at the back, where the sides of the 

 tent join, saw Cross's watch lying on the bed close by, 

 put his arm through, and abstracted it. Fortunately, the 

 Sheikh of Jericho, Mahmoud, had been ordered by the 

 Pasha to send two of his men with us from Jerusalem, as 

 a pledge of his protection during our journey through his 

 territory. The Sheikh's brothers were now in the village ; 

 their responsibility, therefore, was clearly fixed, and we 

 sent off news of our loss next mornme: to the Eng-lish 

 Consul and the Pasha, by the dragoman of a Scotch 



