We passed a ruined village on the way, the name of which we could not learn. It was situate on a hill, and contained the remains of a fortress. On alighting, dibs and bread were served. Supper, on a large dish of rice as on the preceding day, coffee, and conversation concluded the evening. The wind was north, and, blowing through the crevices of the tent left us little benefit from the blazing fire in the middle. The Arabs, shivering from the unusual cold which prevailed, seemed to make no scruple of exhibiting those parts of the body which decency teaches us to conceal, and unceremoniously raised their garments to warm themselves.
In the morning the tents were struck, and the march was continued in a south-west direction for five hours. At the close of it, a flock of sheep belonging to the Beni-Khaled Arabs, whose tents were at no great distance, passed us. This was one of the tribes in subjection to Mahannah. Nasar, the son of the emir, ordered a Bedouin who was near him to seize a sheep. The man immediately launched his bludgeon at the poor animal,[31] and broke one of its hind-legs. Thus lamed, it was pricked on by the point of the lance, until, after about a quarter of an hour, we came to our encampment. It was killed and skinned in an instant, and a sparerib being cut off was thrown on the embers. It was turned occasionally with the hands, and, when half roasted, it was removed and placed on the bare ground, where, without bread or any single appurtenance of the table, each person tore off his portion and devoured it with canine greediness.[32]
We had now arrived within two leagues of the spring which the Bedouins were in search of. The village of Caryetayn was four miles off in a southerly direction. At daybreak on the 7th, the greater part of the camels were driven off to water, whilst a few, under the conduct of Nasar, Mezyad, and Hassan, sons of the emir, were sent to the village to get a supply of provisions; for the stock was now so low that nothing but dry bread had been served out, and there was not even water to make coffee. M. Lascaris accompanied Nasar, being desirous of seeing the village. At nightfall the camels arrived from the spring, but not those from the village. The day having, by me at least, been passed in fasting, I was now made sensible of the relish that hunger can give to fare however homely, and played my part on the hot bread-cakes at supper with an avidity little inferior to what I had remarked in the Bedouins.
At sunset there was a fall of snow, which continued all night, and, exposed as we were to the severity of the weather, rendered us very uncomfortable. The horses, as usual, were tethered in the open air, and suffered much from the cold.
Next morning, the snow covered the ground about six inches. We slept and warmed ourselves alternately through the day. The camels from Caryetayn had not yet returned; for, as the Bedouin has no other guide but landmarks,[33] when the atmosphere is obscured, he cannot travel. There was literally nothing to eat in the emir’s tent, and the kindness of one of his relations, named Casem, supplied me with a supper.
The unusual fall of snow argued the severity of the winter; for, in the Desert of Syria, it is an exceedingly rare thing to see snow at all. A Bedouin boy, nevertheless, ran, stark naked, in the open air through it.
On the 9th, the weather cleared up a little, and the wind changed to the East, with snow occasionally. We were absolutely without provisions, and Nasar and M. Lascaris were looked for by me with the utmost anxiety, whilst the Bedouins seemed as indifferent as men who had all the luxuries they could desire about them. At noon, Nasar and his party returned, but brought back little with them; the villagers having refused to produce any provisions unless for money; for Caryetayn is a populous village, and could brave the anger of the Arabs. A few raisins were all the addition that could be made to dry bread. Nasar, Mezyad, and Hassan, had each something new upon them, which they had procured from the inhabitants of Caryetayn, half by threats and half by presents.
On the 13th, the tents were struck, and in the evening they were replanted on the ground occupied on the 7th. Our horses had not drunk on the preceding day, and the whole care of myself and Hassan was to precede the tribe, in hopes of falling in with a puddle of water. But we were not fortunate enough to meet with one, and the poor animals would have again fasted, when, just as we halted for the night, a shower of rain fell, which we patiently endured with our backs turned to it, and, when it was over, galloped to an eminence about a mile off, upon which Hassan knew there was a hole in the rock where water generally lodged. We there slaked the thirst of the horses, and filled our water-bottles; but the water was so thick that a scullion-maid in England would have not thought it clean enough to wash her kitchen floor. However, necessity and delicacy are not akin, and we considered ourselves very fortunate.
It will be recollected that the ostensible purpose for which I had visited the Emir Mahannah was to cure him of a chronic complaint. The emir had now kept me eleven days, and had derived no great benefit from the remedies he had used: still, whenever mention was made of departing, he grew out of humour, and signified that he expected to be first cured; for an Arab has a firm idea that everything is possible to medicine. His sons tormented me in another shape. They would frequently tell me, half joking and half serious, that I was among a pack of robbers; that, as Franks visited Palmyra only to find treasures, I must not expect to get off without making them a present, with other expressions to the like effect. I was therefore somewhat alarmed, and began to be apprehensive for my safety; the more as the march had always been from, instead of towards, my destination. Resolved, however, to make a bold push, and anxious to visit Palmyra, I determined to be amused no longer with excuses, and, at all events, to steal off; so, imparting my design to Hassan, I desired him to hold himself in readiness. But he knew it would be more dangerous to offend his master, than to disoblige me, and told Mahannah what I had resolved on. Thus thwarted, it was necessary to try another scheme, and I represented to Mahannah that it would disoblige Lady Hester if I were any longer delayed in executing my mission to Palmyra. The fear of losing the presents which he expected from that quarter operated on his avarice, and I obtained permission to depart. M. Lascaris, during this my dilemma, had been of little service to me, fearing to embroil himself with Mahannah, whose friendship he was desirous of securing, in case of fixing his residence at Palmyra. He would not accompany me, as he had sent for his wife to join him, and he was obliged to wait for her before setting off. I therefore left him at the tents.
On the morning of the 14th, accompanied by Hassan only, I mounted my horse before six. We were furnished with two leather bottles of water and some raisins; and Hassan, as before, carried my carbine. For an hour, we proceeded north-east by east, until we crossed into the path of the salt caravans, which constantly trade between Palmyra, Hems, and Hamah. We then took an easterly direction. About ten, it began to rain.