er half an hour's rest, we
followed him across very rocky and slippery hills towards the place of
our destination--dwarf shrubs of evergreen oak, honeysuckle, a spring of
water, and an old well near the village of Hhubeen, with doves cooing,
and a vulture poised in the sky above. Then a ruined village called
_Lesed_, {149} (as well as I could catch the sound from a distance,) near
which, among the shrubs, the gnats troubled our horses exceedingly as
evening drew on, which would imply the neighbourhood of water.

Arrived at _Bait Nateef_ just at sunset, but no luggage had as yet
arrived. This is _Netophah_ in the lists of Ezra and Nehemiah.

The chief and elders of the village were, according to custom of the
eventide, seated in a group, chattering or consulting, or calculating,
probably, about taxes, or respective shares of the common harvest, or the
alliances to be contracted for the next border-warfare, or marriages
being planned, or the dividing of inheritances, etc. My groom was
admitted into their circle, most likely welcomed as bringing the latest
news from Jerusalem, or as being able to describe this strange arrival,
and the road to be taken by us on the morrow.

I passed forward to select a spot for pitching the tents when they and
the food should arrive. The village shaikh of course tendered all the
hospitality in his power to offer, but this was unnecessary beyond a
supply of water, milk, and eggs.

We waited, and waited: the sun was down; the stars came out, and the moon
shone over us; but at length the mule bells became audible, and our
dwellings and supplies came up. Supper and sleep are needless to
mention.

_Wednesday_ 2_d_.--The green hills around were enlivened by the clucking
of partridges among the bushes, and the olive-trees by the cooing of
doves.

Leaving this position with its extensive prospect, and passing an
enormous evergreen oak we crossed a noble valley, and soon reached the
hill on which stands _Sh'weikeh_, (or _Shocoh_ in Hebrew.) This large
valley runs east to west, and is the _Elah_ of Scripture, the scene of
David's contest with Goliath--a wide and beautiful plain, confined within
two ranges of hills, and having a brook (dry at this season) winding at
half distance between them. The modern names for the vale of 'Elah are
_Musurr_, from the N.E. to near Sh'weikeh, and _Sunt_ after that.

The plain was waving with heavy crops of wheat and barley, and the bed of
the stream,