356 
A CRUSADE IN THE EAST. 
that he wore, which he gave to one of his nieces to wash 
some time ago, telling her at the same time to he careful how 
she rubbed it, as it was of very rare and delicate texture, and 
he never would wear any thing with holes in it. Now this 
niece, being of a malicious turn, like all womankind, took the 
sash to a neighboring fountain, and belabored it with a club 
till she pounded a small hole in one end of it; and then she 
brought it to him, with tears in her eyes, and said : “I am 
very sorry, Uncle Yusef, but I’ve spoiled your sash. If you’ll 
forgive me this time, I’ll never do it again. You see what a 
great hole there is in it!” “ Yes,” said Yusef, “ I see there 
is; a pretty business you’ve made of it. You may take it 
now and wear it on your head as a token of my displeasure; 
when I have any more sashes to wash I’ll wash them my¬ 
self.” And so he did, to the best of my belief; for, during 
the whole journey, I never saw him give a sash to one of his 
nieces to wash, though I sometimes detected him giving them 
handkerchiefs and other nice little presents that were perfectly 
new. 
On leaving Ain-el-Haramayeh, we passed through some 
fine valleys, abounding on both sides of the road with luxuri¬ 
ant groves of fig-trees. The inhabitants of this part of the 
country seemed to be more industrious and thriving than 
those living between Nazareth and Nablous. Some very 
good pieces of ground, fenced in with rough walls of stone, 
were frequently to be seen on the sides of the hills; and it 
was pleasant to hear the songs of the native laborers who 
were engaged in sowing the grain for the crops of the coming 
season. 
Passing to the right of a dirty village called Jibia, we 
stopped awhile at Sinea and Infua, and thence continued on 
to Bireh, rather a larger and better looking village than we 
had seen since leaving Nablous. A short distance below 
Bireh is an old Khan, with a fountain near it, where we dis¬ 
mounted to refresh ourselves, and had the satisfaction of being 
abused for half an hour by a crowd of washerwomen, still 
more ferocious and alarming in their appearance than those 
of Haramayeh. 
