Byeways in Palestine | Page 6

us; only the locusts were troublesome.
'Abdu'l 'Azeez proposed that instead of going at once to Ammon, we
should make a detour by Heshbon and Elealeh, on the way to his
encampment. To this we all assented.
During the ride forward the old shaikh kept close to me, narrating
incidents of his life,--such as his last year's losses by the Beni Sukh'r,
who plundered him of all his flocks and herds, horses, tents, and even
most of his clothing,--then described the march of Ibrahim Pasha's
army in their disastrous attempt upon Kerak: also some of the valiant
achievements of his kinsman Gublan; and then proceeding to witticism,
gave me his etymological origin of the name of Hhesban--namely, that,
on the subsiding of the great deluge, the first object that Noah
perceived was that castle, perched as it is upon a lofty peak; whereupon
he exclaimed, Hhus'n ban--"a castle appears!" I wish I could recollect
more of his tales.
After passing through romantic scenery of rocks and evergreen trees, at
a sudden turn of the road we came to large flocks and herds drinking, or
couched beside a copious stream of water gushing from near the foot of
a rocky hill. This they called 'Ain Hhesban; and told us that the
Egyptian army above alluded to, twenty thousand in number, passed
the night there before arriving at Kerak. To many of them it was their
last night on earth.

There were remains of large masonry lying about, and the scene was
truly beautiful--to which the bells of the goats and cows added a
charming musical effect.
I asked an Arab, who was bathing in a pool, where he had come from,
and he sulkily answered, "From t'other end of the world!" And I
suppose he was right in saying so, for what meaning could he attach to
the designation, the world. He must have meant the world of his own
experience, or that of his tribe, or his parents--probably extending to the
end of the Dead Sea in one direction, to the Lake of Tiberias in another;
to the Mediterranean in the west, and in the east to the wilds unknown
beyond the road of the Hhaj pilgrimage. "From the other end of the
world," quoth he, the companion of a shepherd boy with his flute, at a
mountain spring, pitching pebbles at the sheep of his flock to keep
them from wandering away over their extent of "the world."
As we proceeded, there were several other streams issuing from the
hills, some of them falling in pretty cascades into thickets of oleander
below. All these meeting together, formed a line of river flowing
between grassy banks--near which we saw considerable remains of
water-mills, not of great antiquity.
Next we reached two small forts: the one upon our side the stream they
called Shuneh, (the usual name used for that kind of building;) the other
was across the water, and they called it Shefa 'Amer. I should wonder if
our guides knew the existence of the town called Shefa 'Amer, near
Caiffa. They told us that both these forts had been erected by Deab's
grandfather, but this is incredible.
Near the Shuneh I observed a very large sarcophagus, cut in the solid
rock, but not so far finished as to allow of its being removed. In the
court-yard there was nothing remarkable. There were, however, some
ancient rabbeted stones lying near. Here I may remark, with respect to
the sarcophagus, that such things are rare on the east of the Jordan, or
anywhere else so far to the south. There are two lids of such lying on
the plain of Sharon, alongside the Jaffa road from Jerusalem; and the
next southernmost one that I know of (excepting those at Jerusalem) is
an ornamented lid, near Sebustieh, the ancient Samaria; but they

abound in Phoenicia.
Forward again we went, higher and higher, with wild flowers in
profusion, and birds carolling all around. Then literally climbing up a
mountain side, we came to a cleft in a precipice, which they called El
Buaib, (the little gate,) with unmistakable marks of ancient cuttings
about there. Traversing a fine plain of wheat, we at length reached the
ancient city of Heshbon, with its acropolis of temple and castle.
That plain would be fine exercise-ground for the cavalry of Sihon, king
of the Amorites. Fresh, and almost chilly, was the mountain air; but the
sky rather cloudy.
How magnificent was the prospect over to Canaan! We were all
persuaded that the Mount of Olives would be visible thence on a fine
day; and I have no doubt whatever that the site on which we were
standing is that peak--the only peak breaking the regular outline of the
Moab mountains which is seen from Jerusalem.
We scattered ourselves about