[p.282]called El Faras. The Djebel Heish is separated from the plain bya
stony district, of one hour in breadth, where the Arabs of the country
often take refuge from the extortions of the Pasha. In three hours we
passed Wady Moakkar [Arabic], flowing from the mountain into the
Sheriat. Here the direction of our road was E.S.E. The Arab who
accompanied me presented me with a fruit which grows wild in these
parts, and is unknown in the northern parts of Syria, and even at
Damascus; it is of the size of a small egg, of the colour of the Tomato
or love-apple, of a sweet agreeable taste, and full of juice. It grows
upon a shrub about six inches high, which I did not see, but was told
that its roots were three or four feet in length, and presented the
figure of a man in all its parts. The fruit is called by the Arabs
Djerabouh [Arabic].
At three hours and a quarter, at a short distance to our left, was the
ruined village Om el Kebour [Arabic]. In three hours and a half we
passed Wady Seide [Arabic]; and at the end of three hours and three
quarters reached the bridge of Wady Hamy Sakker We met all the way Arabs
and peasants going to the Ghor to purchase barley.
The bridge of Hamy Sakker [Arabic] is situated near the commencement of
the Wady , where it is of very little depth; lower down it has a rapid
fall, and runs between precipices of perpendicular rocks of great
height, until it joins the Sheriat, about two hours and a half from the
bridge. The bridge is well built upon seven arches. At four hours we
reached a spring called Ain Keir [Arabic], and a little farther another
called Ain Deker [Arabic]. The rocky district at the foot of Djebel
Heish extends on this side as far as these springs. In five hours we
passed Wady Aallan [Arabic], a considerable torrent flowing towards the
Sheriat, with a ruined bridge; and in five hours and a half Tseil,
[Arabic], an inhabited village. Here the plain begins to be cultivated.
There
[p.283]are no villages excepting Djeibein to the south of the road by
which we had travelled, as far as the banks of the Sheriat. The
inhabitants of the country are Bedouins, several of whose encampments we
passed. Tseil is one of the principal villages of Djolan, and contains
about eighty or one hundred families, who live in the ancient buildings
of the ruined town; there are three Birkets of rain water belonging to
it. The only building of any size is a ruined mosque, which seems to
have been a church. In coming from Feik the soil of the plain is black,
or gray; at Tseil it begins to be of the same red colour as the Haouran
earth.
After dinner we continued our route. In half an hour from Tseil we
passed on our left Tel Djemoua [Arabic]. The greater part of the plain
was covered with a fine crop of wheat and barley. During the years 1810
and 1811, the crops were very bad all over Syria; the rains of last
winter, however, having been very abundant, the peasants are every where
consoled with the hopes of a good harvest. It was expected that the
Haouran and Djolan would yield twenty-five times the quantity of the
seed sown, which is reckoned an excellent crop. Half an hour north of
Tel Djemoua lies Tel Djabye [Arabic], with a village. At one hour and
three quarters from Tseil is the village Nowa [Arabic], where we slept.
This is the principal village in the Djolan, and was formerly a town of
half an hour in circumference. Its situation corresponds with that in
D'Anville's map of Neve. There are a number of ruined private dwellings,
and the remains of some public edifices. A temple, of which one column
with its entablature remains, has been converted into a mosque. At the
S. end of the village is a small square solid building, probably a
mausoleum; it has no other opening than the door. Beyond the precincts
of the village, on the N. side, are the ruins of a large square
building, of which the sculptured entrance only remains, with heaps of
broken columns before it. The village