[p.362] Szafout (Arabic), where are ruins of some extent, with a spring;
the gate of a public edifice is still standing. To the north and north-
east of this place, at the foot of the mountain on which it stands,
extends a broad valley called El Bekka (Arabic); it is extremely
fertile, and is in part cultivated by the people of Szalt, and the Arabs
of the Belka. The Beni Szakher had burnt up the whole of the crops
before they concluded peace with Szalt. In the Bekka is a ruined place
called Ain el Basha (Arabic), with a spring.
From Szafout we returned by Ardh el Hemar to Feheis, which we reached in
four hours and a half from Szafout. Near the springs of Hemar we found a
cow that had gone astray from some Bedouin encampment; my guides
immediately declared her to be a fair prize, and drove her off before
them to Feheis, where she was killed, to prevent the owner from claiming
her, and the encampment feasted upon the flesh for two days. N.E. from
Szafout, distant about two hours, is a ruined city, with several
edifices still standing, called Yadjoush (Arabic). N. of Amman, two
hours, is a ruined building called El Nowakys (Arabic), on the interior
wall of which are some busts in relief, according to the report of one
who had seen them, but whose veracity was rather doubtful.
On my return to Szalt I was obliged to remain there several days longer,
for want of a guide; for the road to Kerek is a complete desert, and
much exposed to the inroads of the Arabs. At last I found a man who
engaged to serve me, but his demands were so exorbitant, that I was
several days in bargaining with him. Mousa, (M. Seetzen), he said, had
paid his guide twenty-five piastres for the trip from hence to Kerek,
and he would not, therefore, go the same road for less than twenty-
three; this was an enormous sum for a journey of two days, in a country
where an Arab will toil for a fortnight without obtaining so great a
sum. My principal