to be unsafe for encampment, and also
furnished us with an attendant, named Ramadan, a powerfully built man,
with sunburnt features, as a guard in case of our meeting with hostile
Bedouins. Our escort, who was mounted upon a cross-bred camel, and armed
with a long sword and Arabian firearms, proved to be a most obliging and
serviceable companion.

Soon after quitting El Harish we advanced upward into the broad clayey
bed of the Wadi, upon the opposite bank of which we found the
burial-place of the Bedouins, containing several tombs and a large
number of aloes. Then we reached the opposite side of the Wadi, of
cliff-like character, the clay of which is much worn away by the water.

A guardhouse is situated there, occupied by three soldiers, who demanded
from us certificates of health. On our telling them that everything had
been arranged at El Harish, and that we had but just left there, we were
allowed to proceed without further question.

Beyond the guardhouse the road passes through a bare plain, and then
rises for some distance over sandy hills into undulating ground, where
the hill ridges run parallel to the sea. We observed a number of
asphodels growing, and here and there patches of corn land. As we
advanced further the vegetation became thicker and thicker, the bare
sand-hills continuing on our left only. We saw many Bedouins at work on
the land--of which many extensive tracts are under cultivation--with no
other implements than ordinary hoes and a one-horse "camel." In many
places there grows an inferior kind of grass, called Hafour, which,
however, makes excellent pasturage. We saw a good number of goats and
sheep about, evidently in a thriving condition.

[Illustration: EL HARROUBA.]

After passing through the large fruitful valleys of Wadi el Geradi
(valley of the earth), and Wadi el Harrouba (valley of the St. John's
bread--the Locust or Carob tree), we ascended a hill from which there is
an extensive view (see illustration). From there the road runs through a
short valley past some cultivated tracts, the land being elsewhere
overgrown with _Artemisia monosperma_. To the right a tree may be
observed, which marks the scene of a terrible battle that took place
fifteen years ago between the Tarabin Bedouins from Gaza and the Zowarka
Bedouins from El Harish.

We found the land improve as we went on, and in many places observed
well-cultivated fields. Some attempts, moreover, had been made to define
and im