VII.
FROM EL HARISH TO SHEIK EL ZVOYED.
But at length the time came to take leave of El Harish and its friendly inhabitants. Early on the morning of our departure the governor and all our acquaintances came once more to greet us, and, on our moving away eastward, stood until we were out of sight, making signs of farewell and other demonstrations of goodwill. The governor strongly counselled us not to stop until we reached Sheik el Zvoyed, as he judged the road between El Harish and that place 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.
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 improve the road by the construction of ditches on each side. Continuing to follow the telegraph posts, we came, after some distance, to rising ground, from which we had a wide view of the almost flat valley, which was covered with the above-named shrubs. In the distance, to the left of the valley, we could see, along the borders of an utter desert, the palms and the Koubba of Sheik el Zvoyed.