Next in age to the boy was a very pretty little girl about six years old. Unfortunately she had lost one eye; her father told me that it was in consequence of a severe attack of inflammation when she was quite little, and that the eye had fallen out of itself. Here in the south one meets with an alarming number of people who are blind or suffering from eye complaints. A doctor told me that many are born thus; with others it is the result of dust, heat, and uncleanliness.
The youngest child was a bright little fellow of two, who clung to his father, whose neck he clasped tightly in his arms.
Feeling disposed to take a stroll before retiring to rest, I bade Erzib follow me. As we crossed the court, he inquired whether I would not like to see all the dwellings. Accordingly we went first to visit the elder lady. When we entered with a light we found her crouching in a corner, her face buried in her hands; beside her lay a large dog which growled at me.
Thence we went into the son’s house. Asleep on the bed, quite dressed,—for the natives never undress at night,—was a woman wrapped in blue clothing; she was evidently the son’s wife.
We walked on and up amongst other houses till we were nearly at the top of the village. Beneath, we saw the lights and fires in the courts, and heard the incessant barking of dogs. Shortly after, we climbed a difficult ascent just over the village, to a ledge or terrace of some width cut in the side of the cliff, which from thence rose, quite straight and steep, to the old deserted village that lay in darkness on the very summit. According to Erzib, we could not reach it from the side we were on.
I contented myself with examining some real cliff caves, which I lit up by means of matches. They were excavated from the terrace, and, according to tradition, had once been inhabited; they were irregular in form, and not very large.
After an hour’s enjoyment of the beautiful evening, we descended from this high point.
Wrapping myself in my burnous I lay down on my couch on the ground; in the same room lay both Hamed and Erzib. In the side chamber, of which the door remained open, slept the children and their mother. Just as I was falling asleep a woman came and spread a covering over me; it warmed me well, and I slept till daybreak, and was only once disturbed by a little kid coming in through the open door leading from the courtyard and tripping over me. I heard then the children, who with their mother were sleeping in the next room, Hamed and Erzib moving on their beds, and, out of doors, the distant and continuous barking of dogs. I slept again, and when I awoke saw that what had been spread over me was a brand new festal garment that evidently was considered none too good for the guest.
From the doorway overlooking the courtyard I saw through the gate and down into the valley, where grew a solitary palm, and at the same time had a view of the flat roofs of several houses, and of the path where the horses and mules stood ready saddled. From a side chamber the head of a cow came peering in at the gate, and above the gateway a white dog lay on the wall watching me.
I gave some money to the children, ate a couple of dates with a sup of water, and, having thanked the women for their hospitality, mounted, with Erzib in front and Hamed behind me. As we left, the women came out to throw refuse down the slope, and vanished again behind the wall.