a mule, the muleteer perched behind it; and with it went the saddle bags, holding lunch, the chisel and hammer for cutting the broad arrow on the summits of the hills, the hatchet for hewing down trees and copses. From two to four hours were spent at each point, fixing the position of every prominent object, tree, village, white dome or minaret visible within 10 miles. "The names were collected" (says Conder) "from the peasant who accompanied the party, and as the afternoon shadows began to lengthen, we slowly wound down the hill-side, a rough-looking cavalcade, preceded by our Bashi-bazouk in his red boots, armed to the teeth, and followed by the non-commissioned officers, who had become well accustomed to their stout little Syrian ponies, whilst the pack-mule and guide came last. We all wore revolvers and the native head-dress, the Bedawin Kufeyeh or shawl, a sure protection from sun-stroke and substitute for an umbrella. Our appearance was therefore an extraordinary compound of European and Bedawin, which is often, however, assumed by the Turkish officials in travelling, and thus attracted less attention."
The theodolite work over, and the fixed points laid down, the filling in of the detail followed. The two non-commissioned officers divided the work between them, and Major Conder took alternate days with each, to enable him to do the hill sketching and examine the geology. In open country they found the daily riding pleasant, but when the hills were precipitous and the valleys deep and stony, the labour was very severe. Starting at eight, resting at noon, returning at sunset, and sleeping immediately after dinner, the days sped by with wonderful rapidity, and the Survey spread gradually over the country.
The old cultivation was traced by the wine-presses, olive-presses, ruined terraces, and rude garden watch-towers. Ancient sites were recognised by their tombs, cisterns, and rocky scarps. In seeking to identify sites the greatest
