[p.376] of the traveller, that we did not learn the Sheikhs misfortune
till the following day. He was in the womens apartment, and we did not
hear him utter any complaints. They supposed, with reason, that if we
were informed of his situation it would prevent us from enjoying our
supper. A lamb was killed, and a friend of the family did the honours of
the table: we should have enjoyed our repast had there not been an
absolute want of water, but there was none nearer than the Modjeb, and
the daily supply which, according to the custom of the Arabs, had been
brought in before sun-rise, was, as often happens, exhausted before
night; our own water skins too, which we had filled at the Modjeb, had
been emptied by the shepherds before we reached the encampment. This
loss was the more sensible to me, as in desert countries where water
seldom occurs, not feeling great thirst during the heat of the day, I
was seldom in the habit of drinking much at that time; but in the
evening, and the early part of the night, I always drank with great
eagerness.
July 15th.We left our kind hosts, who belonged to the Arabs Hamaide,
early in the morning, and continued our route along the ancient road. At
half an hour from the encampment we passed the ruined village El Ryhha
(Arabic), in one hour and a half we arrived at the ruins of an ancient
city called Beit Kerm (Arabic), belonging to which, on the side of the
road, are the remains of a temple of remote antiquity. Its shape is an
oblong square, one of the long sides forming the front, where was a
portica of eight columns in antis: the columns, three feet in diameter,
are lying on the ground. Within the temple, a great part of the walls of
which are fallen, there are fragments of smaller columns. The stones
used in the construction of the walls are about five feet long, and two
feet broad. At one hour and three quarters is the ruined village of
Hemeymat (Arabic). This district, which is an even plain, is