FROM JERUSALEM TO ALEPPO 



109 



but viewed it from the same standpoint 

 as the Bedouins, who raid their neighbors 

 for what they can get from them, as long 

 as they are not friends. 



HOW THE ORONTES GETS ITS ARABIC NAME 



The country over which we passed 

 after leaving Homs was at times quite 

 level and free from rocks, planted in 

 watermelons and yellow corn ; then again 

 it would become quite rocky and co^•ered 

 with boulders of tufa ; and still again, 

 as we neared Hama, level and rich with 

 extensive vineyards. The fallow ground 

 was as if sown by nature's hand with 

 countless wild holly-hocks in bloom. At 

 times the road ran quite near the edge 

 of the Orontes. whose turbid waters 

 flowed along many feet below the level 

 of the surrounding plain. 



It is called in Arabic '*E1 Asi," which 

 means stubborn or unwieldy. We asked 

 a native why this name was given to the 

 river, and he gave the following explana- 

 tion : "A Jew once filled a bottle with 

 water from the 'Sea of the Nile' (the 

 Arabic name for the Nile River) and 

 came to this country to perform magic 

 with it. Our Lord Ali^' met him and 

 asked what he had. The Jew denied that 

 he had anything, but when hard pressed, 

 he threw the bottle against a rock and a 

 river issued forth. Our Lord Ali bade 

 it stop, but it would not, and so he named 

 it El -Vsi." A fellow-passenger ques- 

 tioned if this were an actual fact, to 

 which our informant replied that a look 

 at the color of the water proved it, for 

 it was exactly like that of the Nile. 



Finding our friend communicative, we 

 asked him what use this corn was put to 

 which here grew so plentifully, but was 

 not known in Palestine. Opening his 

 capacious jaws and gesturing with his 

 fingers, he answered, "To eat ; and when 

 the loaves are hot they are mighty good, 

 but when cold it would take one of 

 Ibrahim Pasha's cannon to force it down 

 one 3 throat." 



THE HOME OF THE ARAB GEOGRAPHERS 



Shemsi Bey, to whom we had a letter 

 -of introduction, met us at the station at 



*Ali, the caliph and successor of Mohammed. 



Hama and took us to his home, where 

 we were guests during our stay. After 

 a sumptuous repast, we began our in- 

 spection of the town. It much resembles 

 Homs, and like it is located on the 

 Orontes, has a mound crowned by a 

 citadel, and cannot be seen until one is 

 right upon it. 



Like every part of this region, Hama 

 has a checkered history. It is first men- 

 tioned by the prophet Amos as "Hamath 

 the great" (Amos 6:2). .V small mosque 

 called Jami el Haiya (Mosque of the 

 Snakes), so named from its two inter- 

 twined columns, contains the tomb of 

 Abulfeda, Prince of Hama, whose geo- 

 graphical work is still renowned. Under 

 his rule Hama prospered until his death, 

 in A. D. 1331. 



The famous Arabian geographer, Ya- 

 kut, is said to be a native of Hama, and 

 while we were there we heard of a manu- 

 script written by him which is in the pos- 

 session of one of the rich families of the 

 town. 



If one would know the full beauty 

 and picturesqueness of Hama, let him 

 climb to the top of the citadel hill, and 

 around will be spread out a scene which 

 cannot be outdone in Syria. An Arabic 

 proverb says that three things make the 

 heart of man glad — water, vegetation, 

 and beautiful faces. Here we have the 

 first two, and other features in combina- 

 tion, whose value is enhanced by con- 

 trast with the arid lifelessness of the 

 country which surrounds it, for at the 

 time we were there the wheat fields were 

 all harvested and bare. 



THE WATER-WHEEI.S OF HAMA 



The Orontes flows through the town 

 and drives the large water-wheels, here 

 called nanra. They serve not only to 

 supply the town with water, but also 

 irrigate the adjacent gardens. We had 

 long before heard of these singular 

 wheels, and in fact had seen similar 

 ones at Antioch. As we began the ascent 

 of the citadel hill, creaking, groaning, 

 and other weird sounds reached our ears. 

 It at first suggested a pipe-organ, then a 

 brass band practicing, and it was not 

 until, after a little time, the top of one of 

 them came into view that we realized 



