212 REPORT— 1872. 



the old Sheikh and the young dragoman fell into the water, and the riders 

 ■were soon seen rolling on the ground and struggling with their enemies. 

 One of our Bedouins was Ij'ing prostrate on the ground, and bleeding pro- 

 fusely. After a few minutes the Sheikh and the dragoman were again on 

 their legs and parleying with their assailants, assuring them with solemn 

 oaths that we had not come to invade the country. "VVe were at last allowed 

 to cross, and were led by these bands of robbers into the Saphia, where a 

 place of encampment was assigned to us about three miles towards the north. 



After pitching our tents Ave clearly saw that our safety consisted in keep- 

 ing together, and not straying singly into tlio wood, since these robbers were 

 lurldng behind the trees and bushes for prey. The three tribes who occupied 

 the Saphia, and who now considered us fair game, are the Bene Attia, the 

 Maaz, and the Warroney. We were, in fact, virtually prisoners, inasmuch 

 as we did not venture to go beyond our tents ; and we therefore deemed it 

 more prudent to remain within our encampment the rest of the da}% which 

 was Tuesday, February 6th. In the mean time the robbers secretly des- 

 patched messengers to the Mugelly of Kerak to inform him that a batch of 

 European magnates were in the Saphia, and that they too should come and 

 have their share out of us. The son of the Mugelly Sheikh of Kerak, as it 

 might be supposed, immediately came over and declai'cd tliat we were in the 

 hands of cut-throats and robbers, and that he came to save us from them. 

 From the respect and deference which the Saphia tribes paid him we believed 

 his declarations, and indeed began to feel ourselves more secure and at 

 liberty. 



We now determined to explore the Saphia and the extensive ruins in the 

 neighbourhood. To do this we had to negotiate with the Sapbia robbers, 

 not only for permission but for escort. Their demands were exorbitant. As 

 we decided to see what could be seen here Ave made the best bargain Ave 

 could; and about 11 a.m., February 7th, we started on our explorations, ac- 

 companied by eight of the Saphia princes on horseback. Our direction Avas 

 south-Avest of the Saphia, and we rode through a forest of acacia, thickets of 

 tamarisk, and dwarf palms, till we came to very extensive ruins. These 

 ruins, according to our guides, are divided into three parts ; one is called 

 Sheikh Isa (Jesus), the other Kasur el Bashaira, and the third the Mashnaka 

 (hanging-place). In the second of these ruins A^■e saw corpses of women 

 lying about. 



After carefully inspecting the ruins, which cover between one and two 

 miles of the ground, it may be inferred that though the bulk of those which 

 still rise to a considerable height above the ground are decidedly remains of 

 mediaeval sugar-mills and other buildings of that period, the foundations, and 

 indeed the larger portion of the hcAvn stones strewn aboiit, are as decidedly 

 partly rehcs of buildings of the lloman period and partly the remains of edi- 

 fices of a much older date than the lloman occupation of this district. They 

 most probably exhibit the Moabite fortified frontier, both against the Jews 

 on the west of the Dead Sea and against the Edomites on the east and south-. 

 east. 



The fact that this is the southern frontier of Moab suggested another con- 

 clusion, which elucidates a geographical remarlc in the Pentateuch on the 

 limits of Moab that is greatly obsciu'cd, and is perfectly without meaning in 

 the authorized version. In Numbers xxi. 12, 13, we are told that the 

 Israelites removed from Zared, "and pitched on the other side of Arnon, 

 which is in the Avilderncss that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites."' 

 This verse therefore gives the Arnon as the northern limit of Moab, thus 



