Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates Vol 2 - The Search For Mecca

2,6 Bcdojiin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xvh..
set on tlie face of a white slope of clialk, wliicli
ended in the cliffs called Uthahek.
To the left of it
stood eleven olive trees in a row, showing very
blackly against the white ground.
It then occurred
to us that Ave might perhaps find some one in the
village who could take us to Jedaan without going
further, and we sent Ghanim in on the white
donkey. We timed his start and his arrival, for we
could see him all the way ; and, though we had both
calculated the distance at three miles, he did it in
sixteen minutes, for the donkey is extraordinarily
fast, going at a sort of run. Ghd,nim was not long
away, and brought no news that was of any good to
us.
Mohammed had been there and was gone, and
nobody could tell anything clear about the Anazeli.
Nearly all the men of the village were away after
kemeyes, and though one person had spoken of
Jediian's being three days' journey to the south, he
either did not know where or was afraid
us.
to go with
A band of robbers had attacked the village the
night before and carried off horses, camels, and sheep
belonging to a caravan.
So, having wasted half the
morning, we went on in the direction of Tudmur,.
that is to say to the south west.
Our way lay up a long broad valley, with a
line
of perfectly regular cliffs to our left and tall hills to
our right. Down this the wind blew AA'ith a violence
which I can only compare with a Mistral in the
valley of the Ehone, and it was with the greatest
difficulty that the camels could make head against