Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning
upon her beloved?

_The Song of Solomon_.

The oracles are dumb;
No voice or hideous hum
Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.

MILTON.


Richard had wished ever since he came to Damascus to visit Palmyra, or
Tadmor, in the wilderness. It is about one hundred and fifty miles
distant in the open desert. His main reason for going there was his
private wish to explore, but it was also his official duty to open up the
country, now infested with hordes of wild Bedawin tribes, who attacked,
robbed, and killed right and left. Several Englishmen had been to
Palmyra, but always with a large escort of the tribe of El Mezrab,
and Richard wanted to break through the system which this tribe had
of practically levying blackmail upon travellers, which often meant as
much as six thousand francs, as each man in the escort costs about 2
pounds sterling a head. We decided therefore to go without any Bedawin
escort, to show that it could be done, and thus to throw open this most
interesting part of Syria to travellers. At first a lot of people
wanted to join us in the expedition; but when it came to the point they
gradually sneaked away, and many of them wept and wished us good-bye,
and thought it madness. Indeed, so much was said that I set out with
more than a suspicion that we were marching to our deaths. But Richard
wished it, and that was enough for me. He never permitted any obstacle