not have been considered respectful for either wife or son to ride beside
a husband. We got to Jayrud at dark, and we saw hovering near us a
party of Bedawin, armed and mounted; they eventually retired into the
mountains. But when we got back to Damascus, we heard that all through
our journey the bandits had been watching us, and would have attacked us,
only they were afraid that our rifles would carry too far.

The next day was the last. We started at sunrise, and rode all day,
reaching home at 8 p.m. I had not realized the beauty of Damascus until
then. After all those days in the desert it seemed a veritable garden
of Paradise. First of all we saw a belt of something dark lining the
horizon; then we entered by degrees under the trees, the orchards, and
the gardens. We smelt the water from afar like a thirsty horse; we heard
its gurgling long before we came to it; we scented and saw the limes,
citrons, and watermelons. We felt a mad desire to jump into the water,
to eat our fill of fruit, to lie down and sleep under the delicious
shade. At last we reached our door. The house seemed to me like a
palace of comfort. A warm welcome greeted us on all sides; and as
every one (except Richard) and all the horses were dead-beat, they all
stayed with us for the night.




CHAPTER XIV. BLUDAN IN THE ANTI-LEBANON. (1870).


Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;

Let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the