ly assembled for the adjustment of the still open question; and certainly, during all this and the next day, the little world of Akabah rang with the clamorous discussions of these mighty men of the wilderness; and we felt that till they had fairly come to an understanding, it would be most indiscreet in us, to attempt the route by Petra. We had already seen enough of Desert-law to make us very circumspect on this subject.

On the third day, while our Sinaite Arabs were becoming anxious to return to their tents, Sheikh Hussein again made his appearance, accompanied by his son Mahommed, a fine young Bedawee, preparing, with no small precocity, to follow in the steps of his father. I inquired of him his age; "Allah knows," said he, "I do not." I suppose the vagrant habits of Bedaween life beget a total indifference to such matters. Mahommed and his father would have made a fine study for a painter, as they squatted together with all the wildness of the Desert visible in them. The behavior of Hussein was quite as free from embarrassment on renewing the negociation, as if we had not, on the former occasion, so decidedly checked his rapacity. He assured us that every thing was now really adjusted between him and the rest of the assembled Sheikhs, and that the journey might be taken with perfect safety—that he was quite able to command our safe conduct. We looked suspicious, as he had before misinformed us; and besides we well knew that he only wanted our money, and just as much of it as he could squeeze out of us. Our desire to pass through Edom had certainly undergone some diminution since we had arrived at Akabah; and we knew that another route to Hebron was open to us, by retaining our Sinaite Arabs; so we replied, that if he would escort us for such a remuneration as he had been content with from other Englishmen, under similar circumstances, we were willing to put ourselves under his care. I reduced our proposals to writing-stipulating for safe conduct, for four thousand five hundred piastres, and five hundred more as backsheech on reaching Hebron, together with sundry other

192

FINAL ARRANGEMENTS.

matters as to the time we should be allowed to stay, without molestation, among the remains of Petra, &c. This document was read over and explained to him in Arabic, and he appeared to make no strong objection to its contents; and said he would rather conduct us at a loss to himself, than that we should return with our Beni Saïds. We bade him consider the matter fully, and see us again at sunset. He returned some time after the hour appointed, saying he must have eight thousand piastres, and five hundred more as backsheech; and hinted something about a new dress-a not unusual present from travellers to their Sheikhs. We simply replied, we had not so much money with us, nor could we have, till we should reach Jerusalem. We now distinctly informed him that the negociation was at an end, and that we should next day enter upon another route with our Beni Saïds. Hussein evinced neither anger nor disappointment, further than that he rose up with all imaginable stateliness, and departed without a salaam.

The die being now cast, we relinquished all hope of visiting Petra-gave directions for our caravan to be put in marching order for the following morning, and made an agreement with Jumar, who was then to act as the represen tative of poor Suleiman, for fourteen camels, at two hundred piastres for each. This was to include every thing, except such backsheech as we might be disposed to give on reaching Dhaheriyeh, on the borders of Canaan, beyond which, he and his tribe had not power to escort us. So faithfully had our Bedaween served us during our former routes, that I felt no small satisfaction while looking forward to a third, under the escort of men who had attached themselves to us, and shared our dangers and difficulties.

It was on the "great and terrible wilderness" of Paran, that we were preparing to enter, with a probability of spending ten or eleven days in threading our way through its wilds and fastnesses. We had already been for twenty-two days in the wilderness of Shur or Etham,* and were pretty well

Exodus xv. 22. Numbers xxxiii 8. The wilderness of Shur seems

familiarized with all that appertains to Desert-life and habits. We reinforced our store of provisions, rice, flour, coffee, &c. from the fortress of Akabah; paid our return visit of ceremony to the governor, and awaited the return of the morning light to commence our march.

Knowing that Sheikh Hussein and his Aloeens were in full force at Akabah, and that they could not but be chagrined at our resolving to turn our backs upon them and their country, I confess I was not without apprehension that some ruse might be put in practice to intimidate us, or some insurmountable hinderance thrown in the way of our progress by another route. I even thought it possible that the rest of the Sheikhs, with whom Hussein had been so long wrangling, might on such an occasion coalesce with him, and keep us in their power, so as to attempt at forcing the terms of Hussein upon us. During the afternoon, a rumor ran like lightning through the encampment, that the Aloeens were stealing our camels (which were feeding among the low bushes), so as to cut off our means of departure. The whole of Akabah was in commotion. Arabs were seen wildly mounting and dashing away at full speed, some without their turbans, and with the long locks of hair left at the top of their shaven heads, streaming in the wind-grasping their matchlock guns in their extended right hands, as if preparing for a gramd mêlée, and shouting as it were in a loud war-cry. All this certainly looked very ominous; and it was no very pleasant thing to know, that personally we were without the slightest means of defence, against a party so strong and savage as the Aloeens, in the event of their resolving to be troublesome. In the midst of this strange scene, I was filled with apprehension at hearing shot after shot fired in the direction towards which the geneto comprehend all the western part of Arabia Petræa. If there was any difference between the wilderness of Shur and that of Etham, it seems to have been only this, that they differed one from the other, as a part from its whole. As Shur seems to have been the general name of all that part of Arabia Petræa that lay next to Egypt, so by the wilderness of Shur, was probably denoted all the Desert tract thereof; whereas only part of this Desert tract, namely, so much as lay nearest to Etham, was peculiarly called the wilderness of Etham.

194

TERMINATION OF SOJOURN AT AKABAH.

ral confluence of Arabs had been. But at length all was silent again; scarcely a voice was to be heard. The Arabs were quietly returning. The rumor was, after all, unfounded; and the gun-shots had been fired at a mark by a few Turkish soldiers belonging to the fortress, and some of the Arabs who had nothing better to do.

A quiet, calm, lovely night terminated our sojourn at Akabah. We went to our repose in that wild spot, with our hearts resting on the renewed mercies of God, and our hopes looking forth o the wilderness of Paran.

CHAPTER V.

THE DESERT;

FROM AKABAH TO DHAHERIYEH.

Wilderness of Paran-Departure from Akabah-Plain of Darfurekh-StrangersThe Haiwat Tribe-Wadey el Mushehhem-"The Way of Mount Seir"-Wadey el G'ssaim-Adventure with the Tiyahah Tribe-Adjustment of DifferencesEbodah-'Abdeh-Wadey er Ruhaibeh-Rehoboth-Wadey el Khaluseh-Elusa -The Retem-The Borders of Canaan-Bir-es-seba-Beersheba-DhaheriyehAgricultural Pursuits-Dismissal of the Bedaween.

It was in the wilderness of Paran that Ishmael dwelt, when from the days of his youth he grew up and became an archer ; and God was with the lad.* And it was in this "great and terrible wilderness," also, that for thirty-eight† of their forty years, the people of Israel wandered. Hitherto, we had trodden much in their footsteps, and perhaps pitched our tents on the very scenes of some of their encampments. A similar source of delightful satisfaction awaited us in the wilderness of Paran. We could not but feel a deepened sense of the reality of scripture narrative while journeying through these venerable localities. Indeed, the very habits of oriental life made me often feel as if I were actually living in the bible period of the world. I suppose the manners of the Arabs have undergone little, if any, modification since Ishmael came to dwell in Paran. All the world about them has undergone change; but the descendants of Ishmael are unchanged.

* Genesis, xxi. 20, 21.

+ Deut. ii. 14. The whole of this part of the Desert is called by the Arabs Et Tih-that is "the wandering." The name Et Tih, as applied to this locality, is found both in Edrîsa and Abulfeda, who refer it to the wanderings of the children of Israel.