of affairs, without interfering or taking any part in them. In this you may be able to help me a little by quietly observing the state of the towns; for we shall probably be apart from each other in Arrabeh and Senûr. The fact of your being my fellow-traveler will perhaps induce people to receive us into their strongholds the more readily and unsuspectingly."
Thus informed, I felt a greatly-increased interest in the expedition. We were still riding in the plain, but thorns and thistles had given place to fields of wheat and barley, and plowed land. The sun was shining overhead, but rain was falling on the terraced hills before us, where olive-groves and blossoming fruit-trees flourished. As we approached them we felt the heavy drops, and were soon in the midst of a shower. We rode quickly through it, and descended into a narrow valley, at the end of which, on a rocky hill, brightened by a gleam of sunshine, we could see the town of Arrabeh, with its embattled walls and towers. After a very difficult ascent over smooth slabs of rock and loose stones, like a steep and irregular stairway, we reached Arrabeh. It was past mid-day, and rain poured down in torrents as we entered its great iron bound, well-guarded gates. This is one of the best-walled towns in Palestine, but is almost unknown to travelers, being out of the usual route. It is not even mentioned in Murray's Hand-Book, but is marked on his map.
The houses all looked like small castles; they are square, and with parapets round their flat, terraced roofs. We went direct to the residence of Mohammed Bek Abdul Hady, the Governor of the town. His house, like all Moslem town-houses, was divided into two distinct parts; the men occupying one part, called the divan, and the ladies living in the other, which is called the harem. The ground-floor was occupied by horses and soldiers, and there our attendants and servants were lodged. We mounted an uncovered stone staircase, crossed a large court-yard, and entered the divan—a vaulted chamber, with wide, arched
