and the consequences were painted in the strongest colours. No effect was produced by these conferences. Our party was continually gaining strength by armed persons dropping in from various directions until night. The reinforcements were distributed amongst the different tents, and rations were refused to such as had not brought muskets or spears. The camp now began to assume a very warlike appearance. The spears stuck in the sand, the saddled horses before the tents, with the arms hanging up within, altogether had an imposing effect.* Perceiving that such a concourse of strangers must impoverish the camp, we begged to be permitted to pay for our food and that of our horses, but Abou Raschid would not hear of it. All was freely given to us, and our animals had abundance. One circumstance seemed to turn in our favour. Hindi, an Arab chief of very poor and ordinary appearance, and almost blind, was represented to us as a man of great power and influence, who could command two thousand muskets: and though this was probably an exaggeration, yet from the effect which his interference appears to have had in the sequel, it seems probable that he was a chieftain of considerable power. He had been upon ill terms with Abou Raschid; yet from the time of our first conference with him at the advanced camp, he had seemed disposed to favour our views, and to dissuade the hostile party from their obstinate opposition. He professed great respect for the written orders of the Turkish government. On the other hand, it was said that there was a strong party among his adherents inclined to prevent his cooperation. However, towards the evening of this day, he made a solemn peace with our chief, and passed into the enemy's quarters, with the intention of bringing all his men to act in concert with Mahommed Abou Raschid, in open war against them, in case of their persisting to oppose us. Some "And behold Saul lay sleeping within communication was also made by letter, but in whose name we did not learn. The answer was expected, but did not arrive this night. Towards dark there went a rumour throughout the camp, that our opponents had given in, and that we should be at liberty on the morrow to go where we pleased. We laid down with this impression on our minds, and it was pretty general throughout the camp. Our chief seemed proud of matters having been brought to a favourable end so soon, and said exultingly, "that there were some who had the talent of carrying their point with saying very little, while others who made a great noise were obliged to give way, and behave like cattle." The same dismal weather continued. About midnight there was a cry of thieves in the camp, and it was found that they were very quietly sitting at our fire; but as there were some of our people not yet asleep, we lost nothing. In the morning we heard that two spies had also been detected in the camp, but it did not appear that any further measures had been pursued against them than their dismissal. May 22.-The fog was thicker than ever. We were surprised to find that this weather was not deemed unusual or out of season. It was now announced to us that the men of Wady Mousa did not adhere to their agreement, but in the plainest terms had declared, “that they would oppose us by main force, and that we should pay with our lives for any attempt that we should make to advance within their limits." It appeared that they had even thrown up some sort of fortification about the well. Upon our declaring that we did not wish matters to be pushed to extremities, and would willingly confine our desires to the sight of the antiqui ties only, Abou Raschid would hardly listen to the bearer of the message, and scarcely came to see us during the whole day. Armed reinforcements in small numbers were continually dropping in. the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground." selves on the morning of the 23rd. The In this predicament we found our1 Samuel, xviii. 6. result of Hindi's declaration was expected with impatience, and almost every one seemed to think that it must have great weight with the enemy. We, however, heard that their party had also had an accession of two neighbouring tribes of Arabs who had declared against us. To-day old Yousouf was unusually eloquent in our favour, giving out that we were believers in Mahommed, and that our only motive in wishing to advance was to pay our devotions at Aaron's tomb; thus giving a very plausible turn to the motive of our journey. When asked if we were of the true faith, he always replied "they are English." He recapitulated the list of the documents with which we were furnished; roundly asserting that we had recommendations from Yaffa and Egypt, though he knew that we had them not, and he attached much importance to the presence of our soldier and Tartar from Constantinople. He mentioned all the places we had visited in the country, particularly Palmyra and Szalt; adding that this was the first time we had been stopped. True to the character of an old chieftain, he dwelt again on the events of wars that had happened in his early days. His object was to carry matters by fair means, if possible, and to restrain the impetuosity of Abou Raschid, whom he warned of the usual effects of hasty measures, and, for the first time, alluded to an old grudge which the people of Wady Mousa bore towards him, on account of the fate of three or four of their fellow townsmen whom he had beheaded at Kerek. The tone, however, of old Yousouf was considerably changed, and he seemed not altogether so adverse to hostilities as he had hitherto been. He said, "I, too, could bring out the men of Kerek;" and he spoke of their numbers and courage, but he did not pledge himself to bring them out. In the course of this morning it had been discovered that one of the ruins which we were in quest of was in sight from our mountain. It proved to be that which we called the palace; it was discernible through a narrow strait formed by two craggy cliffs, which gave it a very picturesque appearance. By following the brow of the mountain, we gained a sight also of the theatre cut out of the rock, and of several of the tombs. Though they were at a considerable distance, we could make them out pretty well with the help of a spy-glass. This sight was a great encouragement to us, as it appeared possible to reach the spot without passing at all near the enemy's quarters; and we began to concert among ourselves some means of getting there secretly in the night, should all other expedients fail. While we were deliberating on this subject, we saw a great cavalcade entering our camp from the southward. There were many mounted Arabs with lances, and we observed that there were some amongst the horsemen who wore richer turbans, and of more gaudy colours, than is usual amongst Bedouins or peasants. As the procession advanced, several of Abou Raschid's Arabs went out, and led the horses of the chiefs by the bridles into the camp. The whole procession alighted at the tent of our chief, and kissed his turban; this was the signal of pacification. Peace was immediately proclaimed throughout the camp, and notice was given that the men bearing arms who had come from a distance, many of whom had joined us that very morning, were to return to their respective homes. Our late opponents were now willing to consent to our setting out that afternoon, but by the general wish it was deferred until the next day. We heard music and singing in several of the tents. One of the chiefs of the party who had been adverse to us, came very shortly to pay us a visit; amongst other things, he said in his excuse that he had misconceived the object of our journey, having supposed us Frenchmen who came with a design of poisoning the water. They dissembled the real motive of their change of conduct, which there can be little doubt was fear, and imputed their concessions entirely to their respect for the sultan and the pashas. To make the matter more formal, there came with them a person who was in the employ of the Pasha of Damascus, with two attendants, to read and examine our papers. 1t proved, however, that he was wholly unacquainted with the Turkish language, and in consequence confined himself entirely to the boyourdees of the two pashas, which he declared to be satisfactory and sufficient, although, in point of fact, they were altogether foreign to the question, being addressed to persons and places in quite a different part of the country. This man, in recompense for this favourable decision, attempted in the course of the evening to lay claim to some remuneration, but Yousouf fought off his pretensions, by asserting, that for his own part he had not seen the colour of our gold, which was so far true, that the four hundred piastres were deposited in the hands of the Greek priest at Kerek. In the evening we were visited by Abou Raschid, who was in high spirits; the weather had been considerably clearer, but it was still much colder than might have been expected at this season of the year. During the day we had explored the high land to the eastward of the camp, and found it covered, upon both its sides and on its summit, with lines of dry wall, and solid masses of masonry. These walls appeared to have inclosed cultivated grounds: the solid ruins seemed to be only the remains of towers for watching in harvest and vintage time. The whole neighbourhood of this spot bears similar traces of former industry, all which seem to indicate the vicinity of a great metropolis. CHAPTER VIII. Wady Mousa-Encampment of the Inhabitants-The Necropolis of Petra-Remarkable Tombs Narrowness of the Valley-Description of the Architecture-Romantic PassRepresentation of an Altar-Scene of the Murder of thirty Pilgrims-Course of the Stream-Magnificent Temple-Singular appearance of the Rocks-Ancient Authors on Petra-Buildings in the Valley-Houses-Tombs-Visit to the Tomb of Aaron-View from the summit-Strange liberality of the Natives-Compelled to quit Petra-Parting with Abou Raschid-Locusts-Wady-el-Ahsa-Kerek-Mountains of the Franks-Start for the Dead Sea-The Ghorneys-The Oskar plant-The Dead Sea-Salt on its Shores--Lumps of Nitre and Sulphur-Absence of living Creatures-Scene in Ismayel's TentOptical illusion-Wady Modjeb-Country of the Amorites-Mayn-Visit to the Hot Springs-A Vapour Bath-Ebn Fayes-His violent threat-The Pools of Heshbon--Palace of Hircanus-Parting from Yousouf-His character-Djerash-The Valley of the Jordan-Tiberias-Acre-Observations on the Character and Customs of the ArabsArrival at Constantinople. THE morning of the 24th May was obstructed by huge masses of sandless unfavourable than those which stone that had rolled down from above, had preceded it. Soon after sun-rise that it was obvious a very small force we set out from the camp; we were would be capable of holding it against in all about fifty persons, including the a great superiority of numbers. Todeputation from Wady Mousa and the wards the lower extremity of this pass men of Damascus, who had passed the the path branched off into two roads ; night in the tents of our chief. The it had previously been whispered to first part of our road was that by us by our chief, that, without seeming which we went to the advanced camp to take any notice, we should let the on the 20th; but before we reached men of Wady Mousa go their way, that spot we turned off in an E.S.E. while we should follow one of his men, direction, constantly descending. We who would go forward and guide us in then passed into a rocky and steep a different direction. When we reached defile, where the footing is extremely the point of separation, the others, not bad, and the passage so completely being apprised of this determination, commanded from the sides, and so said all they could to induce Abou Raschid to ascend to their tents, and follows the course of the brook. The first of these is on the right hand, and is cut in a mass of whitish rock, which is in some measure insulated and detached from the general range. The centre represents the front of a square tower, with pilasters at the corner, and with several successive bands of frieze and entablature above; two low wings project from it at right angles, and present each of them a recess, in the manner of a portico, in which are two columns, whose capitals have an affinity with the Doric order, between corresponding antæ; there are, however, no triglyphs above. Three sides of a square area are thus inclosed; the fourth has been shut in by a low wall and two colossal lions on either side of the entrance, all much decayed. The interior has been a place of sepulture for several bodies. On the front are cut little niches and hollows, as if for the reception of votive offerings. Further on, upon the left, is a wide façade of rather a low proportion, loaded with ornaments in the Roman style, but in a bad taste, with an infinity of broken lines and unnecessary angles and projections, and multiplied pediments and half pediments, and pedestals set upon columns that support nothing. It has more the air of a fantastical scene in a theatre than an architectural work in stone; and for unmeaning richness, and littleness of conception, might, as Mr. Bankes observed, have been the work of Boromini himself, whose style it exactly resembles, and carries to the extreme. This remark is applicable, more or less, to every specimen of Roman design at Petra. The doorway has triglyphs over the entablature, and flowers in the metopes. The chamber within is not so large as the exterior led us to expect; it has a broad, raised platform round three sides, on which bodies were probably Some hundred yards below this disposed. Immediately over this front spring begin the out-skirts of the vast is another of almost equal extent, but Necropolis of Petra. Many door-ways so wholly distinct from it, that even are visible, upon different levels, cut the centres do not correspond; the in the side of the mountain, which to-door-way has the same ornaments. wards this part begins to assume a The rest of the body of the design is more rugged aspect; the most remark- no more than a plain front, without able tombs stand near the road, which any other decoration than a single The defile brought us directly down into this valley, the name of which had become so familiar to us; it is, at the point where we entered it, stony but cultivated, of moderate size, without much character or beauty, and runs from E. to W. A lesser hollow, sloping down to it from the southward, meets it at an angle; at the upper end of the latter valley is the village, seen over stages of hanging fruit-grounds and gardens, which are watered by a rivulet. At the point of junction of these valleys a spring issues from the rock and forms a brook, into which the rivulet flows to this Abou Raschid pointed, with a look of exultation, observing, "there is the water about which there has been so much contention and dispute." It flows towards the westward, and is, in point of fact, the head of the stream which Pliny has dignified with the name of a river. We approached no nearer to the village than this point, but as the distance did not exceed a quarter of a mile, we could plainly perceive that there was nothing ancient there; that the houses were mean and ragged, and not more than forty or fifty in number. On the summit of a broad, green hill, rising above it, we could not only distinguish the large encampment to which the inhabitants had retired on the night of the 20th, but could plainly see them collected in great numbers on the brow looking down at and watching us. moulding. Upon this are set, in a recess, four tall and taper pyramids; the effect is singular and surprising, but they combine too little with the rest of the elevation for it to be good. Our attention was the more attracted by this monument, as it presents, perhaps, the only existing example of pyramids so applied, though we read of them as placed in a similar manner on the summit of the tomb of the Maccabees, and of the Queen of Adiabæne, both in the neighbouring province of Palestine. The interior of the mausoleum is of moderate size, with two sepulchral recesses upon each side, and one in form of an arched alcove at the upper end; a flight of steps leads up to the narrow terrace upon which it opens. The sides of the valley were now becoming very precipitous and rugged, and approaching nearer and nearer to each other, so that it might rather deserve the name of a ravine, with high detached masses of rock standing up here and there in the open space. Of these the architects had availed themselves. In some instances large and lofty towers are represented in relievo on the lower part of the precipice, and the live rock is cut down on all sides, so as to make the resemblance complete. The greater number of them face the high road, but there are others which stand back in the wild nooks and recesses of the mountain. All seemed to have been sepulchral, and it was here that we first observed a species of architecture that is, perhaps, to be found nowhere else. To erect quadrangular towers for sepulchres, seems to have been the fashion in several inland districts of the east; they abound at Palmyra, and are seen in the valley of Jehoshaphat near Jerusalem, &c.: but the details and ornaments of these universally betray an imitation of Roman architecture, whilst at Petra they bear all the marks of a peculiar and indigenous style; their sides have generally a slight degree of that inclination inwards, which is one of the characteristics of Egyptian edifices, and they are surmounted by the Egyptian torus and concave frieze. A very remarkable superstructure rises above as a parapet. Two corresponding flights of four or six steps are represented in relievo, ascending in opposite directions, from two points near the centre; they are connected together by a horizontal line drawn between the uppermost steps. At the angles are pilasters, which in many instances have a considerable diminution upwards; the capital is very peculiar, and appears like the rough draft of an unfinished Ionic capital as it comes from the quarry. It is, however, almost universal on these tombs, and may be called the Arabian order of architecture. An entablature and frieze, little differing from the Ionic or Corinthian, rests upon these pilasters; above that is a blank space, in the nature of a low attic, which is surmounted by the Egyptian torus and frieze, bearing the superstructure which I have described. There is one single example, near the theatre, of an upper door-way; it opens into this attic, to which there is no visible access; there may possibly, however, be some stairs in the interior; the lower door-way being unluckily choked up, we could not ascertain this. In some instances there are as many as four pilasters in the front, which are rounded instead of being angular. The part least peculiar in the details of these Arabian elevations, is the decorations of the door-ways, which have in many instances a pediment not distinguishable from those of Roman buildings, and in others a plain horizontal architrave with the same sort of mouldings. It is remarkable, that in very many instances the whole frame and ornament of the door has been of separate pieces, and grafted on upon the solid rock. Sometimes there are cavities for pegs or rivets, which would seem to have fastened decorations in metal or in wood; in others they seem to have been of marble or some fine sort of stone, let into grooves, which shew, in the hollow, their exact form. We were at a loss to account for the apparent conformity of this single portion of the building to the rules of the Greek and Roman |