ON PETRA, THE ROCK-HEWN CAPITAL OF IDUMMA. lol 
we had determined to stick by. And here I may say that a great deal of 
injury is done by those travellers who give way to extortionate demands, 
If people would only have the firmness to resist these demands, and give 
only what is fair and reasonable, their action would have an excellent effect 
upon the Arabs in the interest of all future travellers. The result was that 
we camped in a sort of amphitheatre of rocks, and spent the night, and 
started off for Petra next morning at four o’clock, long before dawn. It 
was a very beautiful sight, when the sun began to illumine the sky, the 
rays being thrown back on the whole of the great plateau on the western 
side of the Arabah, lighting it up with the most wonderful colours, reflected in 
gold and silver from the heavens. We divided ourselves into two parties, one 
of which was to ascend Mount Hor and go down into the Wady Musa, or Petra, 
while I was myself to cross to Petra only, as it was too much for me to make 
the ascent. Major Kitchener was one of the party which ascended Mount 
Hor, in order to make a number of observations wherewith to connect the 
triangulation of Southern Palestine to the north and the mountains of Sinai to 
the south ; and this he accomplished. The Arabs of Petra, when they found 
we were leaving, supposed we had gone for good. They had come down on 
the previous day from the table-land of Edom, where they were tending 
their flocks, with the view of fleecing us completely ; but, on seeing us 
march back towards the Arabah, they thought we were really off, and went 
their way towards the hills. The consequence was that next day, when we 
visited Petra, it was deserted, and we came off without any of the usual an- 
noyances to which travellers in that region are exposed. Our party ascended 
Mount Hor, and came down to the valley. We were able to visit many 
of the wonderful temples, tombs, and palaces of the Wady Musa, and 
returned late in the night to the camp we had left in the morning. 
I may add one fact that came under my notice, which is that in that 
region the air is so pure and clear, as Dr. Chaplin, who knows it well, will 
bear me out in saying, that one is constantly deceived as to the size of 
objects which appear only a short distance from the observer, and it is found 
that they are much larger than one would suppose, judging from one’s 
experience in England. 
A Visiror.—Do any of those temples date back to the time of the 
Edomite occupation ? 
Professor Hutu.—I think the tombs do, but the temples are all Greek 
or Roman, indicating that the architects were, at any rate, acquainted with 
Grecian and Roman art and architecture. Some of them have points of 
resemblance to the Persian architecture, and others to that of Egypt, as seen 
in the sloping of the pilasters, and so on. But no one can say how far they 
go back, except that the date must have been several centuries before the 
Christian era. 
A Visiror.—Are there any traces in the tombs and caves of their having 
been used as places of sepulture ? 
Professor Hutt.—Yes ; there are no sarcophagi, but there are the ledges 
on which the bodies were placed. 
