The muleteers singing around their watch-fire.
Monday, 7th.—Tents struck and march commenced at 7 a.m. We returned through the great avenue by which we had arrived, but soon diverged upon the road to Hebron.
Alongside of Bait Hhanoon by half-past eight, where there was abundance of bee-eaters, and these imply fruit-trees. ’Abd’errahhmân tried to shoot some, but failed, having no small shot, but only bullets for his gun.
At nine we left Timrah a little on our left. The people everywhere busied in reaping barley—a very lively scene; the reapers, as usual all over Palestine, wearing large leather aprons exactly
like those used by blacksmiths in England, only unblackened by the forge; the women had face veils of the Egyptian pattern. Cows, goats, and sheep were feeding at liberty in the fields upon the new stubble.
In thirty-five minutes more we arrived at Semsem, leaving Bait Nejed on the right.
At five minutes past ten we reached B’rair, near which we rested for an hour, the day being very sultry, under an old tamarisk-tree, which on the plains instead of Turfa is called Itil.
An intelligent old man named ’Ali came up to me from the reaping and conversed much on the sad condition of agricultural affairs, complaining of the cruel oppression suffered by the peasantry from their petty local tyrants, and entreated me if I had any means of letting the Sultan of Constantinople know of it, that I would do so. He particularly described the exactions they had to endure from Muslehh el ’Az’zi of Bait Jibreen, and all his family.
Thence passing over an extensive plain, we had in sight for a long time a distant Dair (so-called convent) and village of Karâteen, also at one time a village called Hhata.
At twenty minutes to one we reached Falooja; the heat had become intense, and incessant swarms of black stinging flies annoyed our horses beyond patience. In fact the Philistine plain (which, however, we were now soon to leave) was always noted