Byeways in Palestine Part 27

At ten minutes past nine we were at the spot where the great eastern peninsula projects nearest to us, having in view the two extremities, north-east and south-west, now named on the maps, the former as Point Costigan, after the unfortunate explorer of 1835, and the latter, Point Molyneux, after my friend, the lieutenant of H.M.S. _Spartan_, who was there in 1847. But at that season of the year we could perceive no traces of the shallow or ford by which the Arabs occasionally pa.s.s over to it on the way to Kerak.

At half-past nine we were in front of _Sebbeh_, with a view of the ruins of Masada on its summit, to which, however, we did not climb, but contented ourselves with recalling to memory the heroic events of the Jewish defenders, as related by Josephus. Here the sea, retiring towards our side, forms a semicircular bay, terminating at _'Ain Jidi_, (Engeddi,) where we arrived at two o'clock. There we were at a considerable elevation above the sh.o.r.e, which we now abandoned, not only because all further advance in that direction is impracticable, but because our route towards Jerusalem lay in a different direction.

We were upon a platform abounding in springs of water and luxuriant neglected vegetation. The pleasure derived from the sound of gus.h.i.+ng streams can only be appreciated by those who have been in our circ.u.mstances. The contrast is not to be understood merely from words laid before a reader, between this and the dry wilderness of Edom or the salt beach of Sodom. One of our camels not only drank his fill, but rolled himself in the water.

There were some neb'k trees, some trees of the _'osher_, (apple of Sodom,) and some of the shrub _solanum melongena_, all of which may be found near Jericho, though not peculiar to that region. Canes and large weeds almost filled the watercourses, but not a blossom of any wild-flower could I find upon the ground.

The streams abound in petrifactions of vegetation, which would show that the water cannot be very wholesome for drinking. A monster crab was brought us out of a channel; my horse in drinking had been startled at the sight of it.

There were traces of buildings about the place, such as foundations of walls almost razed to the ground, and one broken tower.

But the prospect eastwards, including the peninsula, and the mountains and huge creva.s.ses of Moab, or southwards, including Sebbeh and the Salt mountain, are magnificent beyond expression. We could not be sure that Mount Hor was distinguishable. At a quarter past three, and under shade of trees, the thermometer was at 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

After considerable repose and some feeding there, we prepared for the remaining ascent, called by our people "The Ladder of _Terabeh_." This was a very toilsome climbing of near two hours up a nearly perpendicular cliff, by means of curves and zigzags turning away four or five yards.

Most of the way we were dismounted, but still the horses and camels were greatly distressed by the effort of the ascent. At first the camel-drivers sang to cheer their animals. This, however, dwindled into occasional prolonged notes, which again were deteriorated into groans instead of music.

It was a curious sight for us who were untroubled with the care of camels, and consequently getting on faster than they, to look down upon the wavy lines of moving creatures, and hear the echoes of their voices from below.

Reached the summit at half-past four, and after an hour's progress upon level ground, we halted for the night. Poor old Selameh fell down flat, not so much from the effect of mere fatigue, as from having had his ankle bitten by a spiteful camel in the morning, and then the long climbing in addition.

This was to be our last night together, and we enjoyed to the utmost the social gathering round the bivouac fire with our Arab companions, to whom, after ten days a.s.sociation, to the exclusion of all the rest of the world, we could not but feel something of temporary personal attachment.

There was Selameh, with his mended shoe and his bitten ankle, who had been our officer and diplomatist, ready for fun or a row at any minute; 'Odeh the champion, called out upon emergencies; Khamees, the slave boy, a general domestic, if this latter word may be allowed for a Bedawi Arab; and Salem the merry-man, short in stature, and drawing into the vale of years. We chatted over the fire about the events of the expedition, while some of the men were kneading and baking fresh bread upon stones made hot in the fire.

Yet this is a sad aimless life that such people lead--of course our excursion under their protection was an event to supply matter for many a conversation afterwards.

As for religion: they seem to have little or no sense of its responsibility or benefit, or even its formalities. I asked Selameh about prayers or reading, and all he had to say was that annually in Ramadan they hire a reader from some mosque of a town to come and read the Koran to them; but not one, not even Abu Dahook could read for himself. I never heard these Jehaleen mention either the word _Moslem_ or _Ghiaour_, much less the technical words _Mushrakeen_ or _Seerat el Mustakeem_. Thermometer at sunset, 79.25 degrees Fahrenheit.

_April_ 11_th_.--Our camels were loaded for the last time, as usual grunting, groaning, and tossing the head backwards while the burdens were placed upon them, and, as must be known to all desert travellers, the smell exhaled from these animals after a long journey is particularly disagreeable.

We were marching forward at half-past five, and in an hour and a half we caught a distant view of our old familiar Frank mountain, which was lost again afterwards. About ten o'clock, we saw in a valley at our left an encampment of Sair Arabs; and soon afterwards in a valley at our right, a circle of the Ta'amri tents. In another hour we arrived at a square enclosure of very large ancient stones, which was denominated _'Arkoob Sahaba_. The breezes on this high land were most refres.h.i.+ng after our southern excursion.

Pa.s.sed _Thekua'_ or Tekua', (Tekoa,) and at some distance forwards, to the north-east, some ruins called _Abu'n-jaib_, or perhaps Abu N'jaim.

Then we approached the well-remembered fragrance of the wild herbs on the uncultivated hills about Urtas and Bethlehem, redolent of homeward a.s.sociations, and between two and three o'clock were at Jerusalem, grateful for special and numerous mercies of Divine Providence.

Jewish friends were much interested in my report of Aaron's tomb on Mount Hor, and regarded it as a great achievement to have visited and returned from "Joktheel," as they called Petra, in compliance with 2 Kings xiv. 7, where King Amaziah restored its more ancient name from _Selah_, (see Joshua xv. 38.)

In conclusion of this expedition to Petra, I have a few observations to make, arising from local peculiarities connected with it.

A. _On the payment of toll_, _or Ghuf'r_, _as it is termed_, _for traversing unfrequented districts_.

Of course, this custom could never obtain in a country enjoying the benefits of a vigorous central government; but it is, and perhaps always has been, common in the far East. In Persia or Tartary, wherever a chief is able to lay hold of a tower, and collect around him a band of followers, he invariably exacts this tribute from strangers; just as in our middle ages of Europe was done by the same cla.s.s of persons in countries where feudal inst.i.tutions prevailed. The petty barons were the shaikhs of their place and period.

But some considerations may serve to show that there is, after all, something useful in the practice.

1. In such countries, the payment of this toll exempts the traveller from the violence of all other claimants.

2. Those who get the toll, (I speak now of Palestine,) are always ready to perform small services in return, which would be a.s.suredly missed if omitted, independently of the price paid for hire of camels.

3. If there were a better government existing, the traveller would expect that government to provide good roads and bridges, and to establish military posts for guarding them. This expense would be defrayed from tolls, or some such mode of taxation, and so the fee or duty would be only removed from one receiver to another. This is done at present, and probably has been for many centuries, at the _Jis'r benat Ya'koob_, between Safed and Damascus.

One cannot be surprised at the peasantry of Wadi Moosa exacting a toll from travellers on entering the valley of Petra, to see the wonders of antiquity which are attracting the attention of the most remote nations; remembering, too, the position of the place, viz., in a hollow, surrounded by crags and hills, where no Turkish rulers have ever been.

In like manner, we shall only be in a condition to remonstrate on paying ghuf'r in the shape of presents to the Adwan beyond Jordan, when we are able to find our way to Amman and Jerash without them, or to keep off the Beni Sukh'r and 'Anezeh, either by our own right hand or by means of the Turks. {339}

Finally, it must be borne in mind that the Turkish government itself pays ghuf'r to the Eastern Bedaween for allowing the Hadj pilgrims to pa.s.s from Damascus to Mecca.

B. _On the Fellahheen_, _or peasants of Wadi Moosa_.

The most experienced travellers that have visited Petra, have remarked that these men are of a different race from the Bedaween Arabs around them. They are ugly, bad in expression of countenance, and have a reputation for cruelty and treachery.

Laborde says, that the Alaween looked upon them "with contempt _and fear_." Lord Lindsay says, that Shaikh Hhussain, from 'Akabah, "was _in fear_ all the time of being there." Irby and Mangles were told by the Jehaleen that these Fellahheen murdered thirty Moslem pilgrims from Barbary, the year before their visit.

Dr Wilson stayed among them longer, I believe, than any other European, and he did not like them, yet found them gradually improve under civil treatment, which always, like some other things,

"Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros."

He divides them into two cla.s.ses as cultivators of land. First, Those residing in a village called _Eljy_; and, second, Those residing in tents under one Abu Zeitoon.

He describes them as a very exclusive people, never intermarrying with Arabs, nor burying in common grounds with them; and having a different set of personal names among them from those used by Arabs, which names greatly resemble those found in the Old Testament Scriptures.

He concludes that they are descendants of the ancient Edomites.

A most remarkable circ.u.mstance that he observed, was their calling themselves children of Israel, (Beni Israin.) This he regards as a feeble traditional reminiscence of their proselytism to the faith of Israel by the sword of the Maccabaean conquerors.

For my own part, I distinctly aver that during the altercation upon my arrival there, between them and my Jehaleen, I did hear the words "children of Israel" used. I had not chosen to take a part in the conference, or to remain long at a time among the disputants, but only pa.s.sed occasionally in and out of the tent, and my mind was chiefly engrossed with the subject-matter in hand, so that on hearing the words, "children of Israel," I thought they were alluding to some history or tradition of the Hebrew people. But afterwards, on connecting the fact with Dr Wilson's a.s.sertion, I cannot but consider it very remarkable.

But the whole subject of these Fellahheen seems to merit closer attention from those who have the leisure and opportunity for it.

I know that numerous travellers, including ladies, have been there in safety; and it is probable that some of the disputes which have arisen were occasioned either through ignorance, or from insolence of the dragomans. It would be interesting to compare the accounts of those who have suffered annoyances in Petra, so as to ascertain how far the Fellahheen were to blame, or whether difficulties are not rather due to the Arab tribes who are in the habit of tyrannising over the Fellahheen from the outside.

C. _On the 'Arabah and the Dead Sea_.

While on the spot, I had wished to believe in the theory of Leake in 1822, and afterwards turned almost into poetry by Lord Lindsay, notwithstanding the demonstrations of Bertou in 1838, and of the American expedition of 1848, namely, that the Jordan formerly flowed the whole length from the Anti-Lebanon to the Red Sea, and that the Asphalt.i.te Lake, or Dead Sea, is only formed by a stoppage of its stream.

Two facts, however, which militate against this theory, were visible to our eyes on this journey.

1. That the valleys south of the Dead Sea all point towards it, and incline the slope of their beds in that direction. This was most particularly the case with the Wadi el Jaib, where the banks between which the torrents had cut a channel became higher, which is equivalent to saying that the water fell lower as it pa.s.sed northwards.

2. That wherever there were trees or shrubs to arrest the currents of water, we found that all the rushes, thorns, or reeds carried on by the streams, were arrested on the south side of those trees, and there they remained in the dry season.

The course of the torrents was therefore from the south, towards the Dead Sea.

The best dissertation on the relative levels of lands and seas, bearing on this subject, and that which I believe to be exhaustive on the subject, till we get more of scientific realities, is contained in vol.

xviii., part 2, of the Royal Geographical Society's Journal of 1848.

Still, allowing the facts that I myself observed, as well as all the scientific calculations in the Journal above referred to, (indeed, making use of them,) there seem to remain certain considerations undisposed of, in favour of the theory that the Jordan formerly ran into the Red Sea.