morning N. E. but at 11 o'clock it suddenly changed to the South, and came upon us with violence and intense heat, until it blew a perfect tempest. The atmosphere was filled with fine particles of sand, forming a bluish haze; the sun was scarcely visible, his disk exhibiting only a dun and sickly hue; and the glow of the wind came upon our faces as from a burning oven. Often we could not see ten rods around us; and our eyes, ears, mouths, and clothes, were filled with sand. The thermometer at 12 o'clock stood at 88° F. and had apparently been higher; at 2 o'clock it had fallen to 76°, although the wind still continued.

We kept on our way, proceeding among sand-drifts, the ground in spots being white with broken snailshells; and began to descend very gradually towards Wady el-Abyad. At 12h 50′ there were again walls of fields, marking an extensive enclosure. At 1 o'clock we came to an Arab cemetery, with a rude heap of stones, called the tomb of Sheikh el-'Amry, whom the Arabs never mention without a curse. A ridiculous story of Arab superstition is attached to this tomb. There seemed also to be the foundations of a village or the like, connected with the said fields. Close by is the bed of Wady el-Abyad, running to the left into the 'Arîsh; it was said to be the last Wady on our route that joins the latter valley. The region is here all sand; and we now passed among swelling hills, which, though of sand, were yet covered to the top with tufts of herbs and shrubs, like the vallies and plains; all greener than before, and indicating our approach to a land of rain. Among these hills we passed at half past two through a large basin, the head of a Wady called Nehîyeh, running off W. to Wady el-Abyad. Here we overtook our two men with a load of good water from el-Bîrein. They reported that the wells were four instead of two; all twenty-five or thirty feet

deep, walled up with hewn stone, and containing living water. The plain beyond the wells, they said, was extensively cultivated by the Arabs.

We overtook the rest of our party not long after, and soon began to descend gradually towards the head of Wady er-Ruhaibeh. The tempest continued unabated, although the burning glow had in part passed away. As we crossed a plain slightly descending towards the N. E. there were, at 3h 20', traces of walls and former fields. Ten minutes further brought us to the entrance of Wady er-Ruhaibeh, which runs from the plain towards the N. E. Here is the fork of the two main roads leading to Gaza and Hebron. We encamped at 3 o'clock in the Wady, which is at first narrow, lying between hills of gentle acclivity.

The tempest now seemed to have reached its greatest fury, and had become a tornado. It was with the utmost difficulty that we could pitch our tent, or keep it upright after it was pitched. For a time the prospect was dreadful; and the storm in itself was probably as terrific, as most of those which have given rise to the exaggerated accounts of travellers. Yet here was no danger of life; though I can well conceive that in certain circumstances, as where a traveller is without water and is previously feeble and exhausted, such a "horrible tempest" may well prove fatal. Most of our Arabs covered their faces with a handkerchief, although we were travelling before the wind. After 5 o'clock the wind fell; the air became less obscure; a breeze sprung up from the N. W. which soon purified the atmosphere, restored the sun to his splendour, and brought us a clear and pleasant evening, with a temperature of 66° F. It was no little labour to free ourselves from the casing of sand in which we were enveloped.

We had not been told of ruins at this place, or only VOL. I. 37

in general terms; and were therefore the more surprised to find here also traces of antiquity. In the valley itself, just at the left of the path, is the ruin of a small rough building with a dome, built in the manner of a mosk; it was obviously once a Wely or tomb of a Muhammedan Saint. On the right of the path is a confused heap of hewn stones, the remains of a square building of some size, perhaps a tower. On the acclivity of the eastern hill we found traces of wells; a deep cistern, or rather cavern, which seemed to have been used as such; and a fine circular threshing floor, evidently antique. But on ascending the hill on the left of the valley, we were astonished to find ourselves amid the ruins of an ancient city. Here is a level tract of ten or twelve acres in extent, entirely and thickly covered over with confused heaps of stones, with just enough of their former order remaining, to show the foundations and form of the houses, and the course of some of the streets. The houses were mostly small, all solidly built of bluish limestone, squared and often hewn on the exterior surface. Many of the dwellings had each its cistern, cut in the solid rock; and these still remain quite entire. One mass of stones larger than the rest, appeared to be the remains of a church, from the fragments of columns and entablatures strewed around. Another large mass lay further to the North, which we did not visit. There seemed to have been no public square, and no important or large public buildings; nor could we trace with certainty any city walls. We sought also in vain for inscriptions. Once, as we judged upon the spot, this must have been a city of not less than twelve or fifteen thousand inhabitants. Now, it is a perfect field of ruins, a scene of unutterable desolation; across which the passing stranger can with difficulty find his way. Multitudes of lizards were briskly and silently gliding among the stones;

and at evening, as we sat writing, the screechings of an owl were the only sound to break in upon the death-like stillness.

These ruins have apparently been seen by no former traveller; and it was only by accident that we stumbled upon them. The place must anciently have been one of some note and importance; but what city could it have been? This is a question, which after long inquiry, and with the best aid from the light of European science, I am as yet unable to answer. The name er-Ruhaibeh naturally suggests the Hebrew Rehoboth, one of Isaac's wells in the vicinity of Gerar;1 but this appears to have been nothing but a well, and there is no mention in Scripture or elsewhere of any city connected with it. The position of the well too, would seem to have been much further North; and no town of this name is spoken of in all this region. The city probably bore some other name, now utterly forgotten. The ruined Wely above mentioned seems to indicate, that the place was inhabited, or at least frequented, down to a period considerably later than the Muhammedan conquest.

As Ruhaibeh is the great point from which the roads across the desert, after having been all united, again diverge towards Gaza and Hebron, the present is a fit occasion for bringing together all that remains to be said of these routes and of the region further South. We travelled the road from this point to Hebron, a journey of two days, which is described in the following pages. Gaza (Arabic Ghŭzzeh) was said to be only one day distant from Ruhaibeh, though it must be a very long day's journey. Our guides knew of no ruins on the way; and only of one place of any 1) Gen. xxvi. 22.

note, called Nuttâr Abu Sămâr, where the Arabs have magazines of grain.

From 'Akabah to Hebron and Gaza, one road passes along nearly the whole length of the great Wady el-'Arabah, and ascends from it to the high western plateau by several passes not far from the S. end of the Dead Sea. These we shall have occasion to describe at a later period. From 'Akabah to Ruhaibeh there are two roads for a part of the way; one, the route we travelled; and the other, keeping for some time along the 'Arabah, as has been already mentioned, and then ascending through Wady elBeyâneh to join our road before reaching Jebel 'Arâif.

From the convent of Sinai, (and consequently also from Tûr,) three roads cross by the three great passes of Jebel et-Tîh, and unite before reaching Ruhaibeh. The easternmost is the road passing by el-'Ain and also by the well eth-Themed, West of the mountain Turf er-Rukn; and falling into our route at Wady el-Mâyein near Jebel 'Arâif. The middle road crosses the Tîh by the pass el-Mureikhy; and the western one by the pass er-Râkineh. These unite before reaching the Haj-route; and fall into our road on the circular plain at the head of Wady es-Serâm, about one day's jour ney from Ruhaibeh. This united route passes some distance to the eastward of the fortress Nukhl on the Haj-road; six hours, according to Seetzen's information.' A branch route, however, from both the passes, goes off by way of Nukhl, and falls in again further North; but this increases the distance one day's journey. From the convent to Ruhaibeh is reckoned nine days' journey on all the direct roads; and by way of Nukhl, ten days. The middle route,

1) Zach's Monatl. Corresp. XVII. p. 147.