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

44 Bcdoiun T^'ibcs of the Euphrates, [en. x^•II^.
found at El Hadclr, and both must be nearly of the
same date. It is square, and the walls have at
some more recent time been built up again and
patched out of the older Eoman materials, for the
gateway is Saracenic. The effect of this medley,
though architecturally a barbarism, is very picturesque
and serves to mark the history
Some of the blocks of stone are
of the place.
prodigious enough
to move to admiration, even the Tudmuri, who will
have it that they were put there by Siiliman ibn
Dtioud. Others on the contrary affirm that the
English once had possession of the country, long
before the days of Solomon, and were the real
builders of the city. We have constantly been
asked about this latter point of history, both here
and. in JMesopotamia, but are quite una1)le to account
for the belief, which is certainly prevalent, of
England's claim to all this part of Arabia. The
belief would be strong enough to prepare the way
for any new occupation or annexation, if such were
ever projected.
While we were waitino- for breakfast, which
Mohammed was very busy preparing for us with his
wives, his foxy-faced uncle Hassan appeared, having
come in with the caravan from Deyr yesterday
morning. We had seen nothing of him since
leaving Bir, but somehow or another, probably
while we were waitino- in the neiohbourhood of
Sokhne, he had passed us on the road and had
pushed on night and day to get home, for fear of