GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATION OF MOAB. 221 



On leaving this place at 11.35, and marcliing to the Arnon, the change of 

 the soil was extraordinarily sudden. From the fertile ground around these 

 ruins we all at once came upon a most dreary wilderness, which was only 

 relieved by tremendous holes in the ground, and by dricd-up and stunted 

 bushes. It was not till we came close to the verge of the Arnon that signs 

 of fertility began to show themselves. We reached this awful ravine at 

 1.55 P.M. 



The southern side, though not as perpendicular and as grand as the descent 

 at Engedi, is exceedingly steep, being 2150 feet deep. It took us fully an 

 hour and a half before we reached the stream at the bottom at 3.30. All 

 the way down the traces of the old Roman road and unfinished Homan mile- 

 stones are to be noticed. The stream is narrow and rapid, and to the right 

 of the descent are still to be seen the ruins of two arches of the bridge, which, 

 however, in its present form, is not older than the time of the Crusades. 



The cliff at the northern ascent is 1900 feet high. As the road extends 

 over a wider ground, it is on the whole not so steep. It took, however, quite 

 as long a time to ascend it as the descent on the southern side occupied. 



Here, where the maps put the ancient Aroer, Dr. Ginsburg and Mr. Klein 

 left Dr. Tristram and his friends, A messenger had arrived from Jerusalem 

 with the sad tidings of the dangerous illness of Mr. Klein's eldest child. He 

 at once decided to return to Jerusalem, which was perfectly natural. Mr. 

 Klein was the only one who could talk with the Arabs, and we were almost 

 entirely dependent upon him for the information from the Bedouins. The 

 Arabs pronounce the same word differently ; and apart from a thorough 

 knowledge of the language in all its various provincialisms, it requires great 

 tact to obtain the necessary information from them. Mr. Klein, with his 

 complete mastery of the language, and especially his intimate acquaintance 

 ■\nth the ways, manners, and customs of the Arabs, not onlj'- knows how to 

 get information out of them (a tact which he acquired by twentj^ years' resi- 

 dence among and intercourse with them), but, above all, he understands how 

 to test the correctness of the information by a series of direct and indirect 

 cross-questioning, which is quite an Eastern art. As it appeared to Dr. 

 Ginsburg that Mr. Klein was thus an essential member of the expedition, he 

 determined to return with him. 



Dr. Ginsburg coiitinues: — 



We left the Arnon at 7.30 a.m., February 16th ; travelling due north, 

 almost all the way on the remains of the old Iloman road, and passing the 

 imaginary site of the Biblical Aroer, we came to the ruins which go by the 

 name Dibau at 8 a.m., i. e. in about half an hour. From the fact that the 

 famous Moabite Stone was discovered here, I devoted some time to the ex- 

 amination of the place. The whole of this once celebrated stronghold is in 

 ruins ; there is not a single hut to be found on the spot. The circumference 

 of the ground on which the ruins lie prostrate is at least a mile and a half. 

 Like Kirjathaim in the south of the Arnon, this town was originally built on 

 two hills, the sloping terraces of which joined at the bottom ; and by this 

 means the place, which looked at a distance like two distinct cities at the 

 top, was joined into one at the bottom. jSTotwitlistanding its undoubted age, 

 few traces of antiquity are to be seen among the shattered ruins of the walls. 



The old stones have evidently been used up for later buildings ; and it 

 would require a sojourn in the place fur at least a fortnight carefully to turn 

 up the foundations and the heaps of ruins to ascertain whether some other 

 valuable relics are to be discovered here. 



From a careful inspection of the place in connexion with the ruins not far 



