Page:Lands of the Saracen 1859.djvu/70

CHAPTER IV.

 

THE DEAD SEA AND THE RIVER JORDAN.

Bargaining for a Guard — Departure from Jerusalem — The Hill of Offence — Bethany — The Grotto of Lazarus — The Valley of Fire — Scenery of the Wilderness — The Hills of Engaddi — The shore of the Dead Sea — A Bituminous Bath — Gallop to the Jordan — A watch for Robbers — The Jordan — Baptism — The Plains of Jericho — The Fountain of Elisha — The Mount of Temptation — Return to Jerusalem.

"And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken." — Jeremiah, xlviii. 8.

 

Jerusalem, May 1, 1852.

I returned this afternoon from an excursion to the Dead Sea, the River Jordan, and the site of Jericho. Owing to the approaching heats, an early visit was deemed desirable, and the shekhs, who have charge of the road, were summoned to meet us on the day after we arrived. There are two of these gentlemen, the Shekh el-Arab (of the Bedouins), and the Shekh el-Fellaheen (of the peasants, or husbandmen), to whom each traveller is obliged to pay one hundered piastres for an escort. It is, in fact, a sort of compromise, by which the shekhs agree not to rob the traveller, and to protect him against other shekhs. If the road is not actually safe, the Turkish garrison here is a mere farce, but the arrangement is winked at by the Pasha, who, of course, gets his share of the