volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

i82 The Fountain of the Antelopes.
net result of his roll was that all the skins burst and
every drop of water was wasted ; when the beast had
finished his roll he got up and looked at us pleasantly.
The muleteers told him in very picturesque language
exactly what they thought of him, and cursed all his
ancestors, but especially his grandmother ; I tried to
find out why this ancestress was cursed with such
unanimity, but failed. Muhammad said that it was
only to be expected, for the mule was owned , by a
Christian, and that no Muslim mule would ever have
behaved so badly. Meanwhile we had lost all our
water, and as the skins were destroyed it was useless
to send back to Karyaten for more. Muhammad decided
that we had better ride to 'Ain al-Wu'fil, or "Fountain
of the Antelopes," which lay away to the east in Jabal
ar-Ruwak, where he knew he would find acquaintances
from whom we could borrow or buy water-skins. This
would make our day's ride four hours longer, but there
was nothing else to be done, and we set out for the
place at our best pace. We passed a well called 'Ain
al-Baridi on the way, but the water was full of salts
and bitter. We reached 'Ain al-Wu'ul without mishap,
and there we met Mr. Dickson's messenger, who had
been sent to bring me back to Damascus as already
stated. Muhammad found water-skins which he loaded
on his two camels. We again set out on our way and
followed the course of the Wadi al-Kabir for three hours,
and then turned off to the north-west and in two hours
more arrived at Kasr al-Her, where we decided to camp
for a few hours. We all wished for hot coffee for the
cold was great, but we were afraid to make a fire lest
its light should bring us undesirable visitors, so having
eaten our meal we tethered our beasts to each other
and ourselves and lay down and slept.
When the false dawn showed itself Muhammad rose
and throwing his large cloak on the ground knelt down
and said the dawn prayer ; this done he lighted a large
fire and we had breakfast. As the light grew stronger
I saw the ruins of Kasr al-Her close by, and went to
look at them. They covered a great deal of ground.