60 BASHAN. 



spear stuck into tlie g-round before the door marked the 

 abode of the Sheikh. He came out and entreated us to 

 alight and partake of coffee, and whea we excused ourselves, 

 brous^ht out a hug-e bowl of milk. It was rather a relief 

 to meet with so pleasant a reception, as the Sulut tribe, to 

 which these Arabs belonged, bears anything but a good 

 character. 



The ground grew more stony and barren as we ap- 

 proached the foot of Jebel Mania ; we noticed curious rows 

 of artificial pools, made to catch and retain the waters 

 of the rainy season, but now dry and fallen into decay. 

 The first building we came to was an isolated farmhouse, 

 built like a fortress, with strong iron gates to resist the 

 marauders of the neighbouring desert. Another hour's 

 ride over a bleak plateau, during which Hermon, now 

 comparatively close at hand, towered grandly before our 

 eyes, brought us to Deir Ali, a large and prosperous Druse 

 village. The neighbourhood is rendered fertile by abun- 

 dant springs, and for the first time since leaving Bethlehem, 

 we saw the fig, the vine, the olive, and the poplar growing 

 luxuriantly. 



We lunched under the shade of some gnarled old olives, 

 finer specimens of the tree than are usually seen in Syria. 

 The further ride to Kesweh was round the bare flanks of 

 Jebel Mania, and had nothing but the distant view of 

 Hermon to make it interesting. We saw, away to our left, 

 the great caravanserai called the Khan Denun, where the 

 Mecca caravan rests on the first night after its departure 

 from Damascus. As we neared the Nahr-el-Awaj (the 

 ancient Pharpar), the white clean-looking houses and 

 minarets of Kesweh appeared on its further bank ; the 

 stream itself was hidden in the thicket of fruit-trees which 

 lines its course. The river was crossed by a stone bridge; 

 but so swollen were the waters, owing to the recent rains, 



