the orifices of the ears (which are quite flat against the side of the head) are also black, and free from hair; the tail, or rather a little stump resembling one, is just perceptible to the touch, and from it grows a bunch or tuft of long black hair. The body is very round and fat, and particularly broad at the shoulders. These animals burrow amongst the rocks. They are eaten with great relish by the Arabs, and no doubt are very good, as the flesh is exceedingly white and fat, and resembles that of a rabbit. At about half a mile from the castle is a place called Tghrasat cjUIA’ at which a Bazaar is held weekly, and whither all the mountaineers resort. A t two we passed this place, and went about four miles south to a village called Tegerinna where the inhabitants live above as well as under ground. We pitched our tents in a saffron field, and had our horses shod by a Jew blacksmith. He afterwards prepared in his house a fine lamb, and very white bread, for our dinners, of which the Chowse pocketed all we did not eat. We made the poor man a present, to his great astonishment; for no one, if he can avoid it, performs any act of kindness to these persecuted people. In the evening we had many visitors, amongst others the Sheikh, who was all curiosity, and ready for as many presents as we chose to make him. Prom this place, three other above-ground villages bore south by west two miles. They were called Usadena. The inhabitants, male and female, had all been murdered on the Bashaw’s conquering the country, and the buildings were entirely ruined. Gharian is famed for the excellence of its oil, the richness of its saffron, which is produced in great quantities, and the goodness of its corn. The people are fine, well made men, and have an air of freedom, which their change of circumstances has not been able to conquer. In collecting the tribute for the Bey, each man pays in kind a certain portion of his harvest. The Jews are employed to weigh and prepare the Bey’s share, and are well paid by the Arabs, in order that they may give short measure; for although using false weights is by the law of Mohammed a heinous crime, yet they fancy the sin is not incurred if the Jews defraud for them. Of the dress, food, &c. of the Arabs, I shall treat more fully in a future page. Saturday, 13th February.—A t seven A. M. we left this delightful spot for Benioleed. Our road was through very diflicult passes in the mountains, where we found some rain water; with which we filled our gerbas, or water-skins, with a sufficient supply for three days. Our road the latter part of this day lay over a barren, stony plain; and having proceeded south 40° east twenty-five miles, we encamped at sunset in a small valley amongst some bushes. Our fellow travellers, after prefacing their stories by boasting of their own courage and expertness in fighting, gave us most frightful accounts of the banditti who were said to frequent this track; but how these rogues, or any one else, could manage to exist at all in such a place, was a riddle which our friends could not explain. Muskets and pistols were laid at the Chowse’s head, and two bottles of wine were drank to fortify his stomach, so that he slept undisturbed through the night, Sunday, 14th.—The country onward presented one unvaried scene of desolation: not a living creature appeared during the day; but at night the jackals kept up a continual howling. A t noon, we passed a deep ravine, for about eight miles, of basalt, which appeared as if it had been rent open by some convulsion of nature. A t five, we crossed a dry water-course, and stopped on its bank
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