VtanoAiiT i^. I
��to make the seconil kiioTn diacovery of Lllmiarite inseriptioD*, of which ihcrc were nine. These were on a Mock of grsnile of enormous size, under whose thaile travellers have refreshed Ihemaelves for many cenluries, as ihese 1 n script Ion i^, supposed to be more than two thousand years old. sufficienlly hidicnte. The; are accompanied by rude outlines of bor!-«men brandbbtng the sword and lance, preei^ely similar lo skelches made In Hiiber's note-biiok by a living Arab chief at Hail- It is probable that the flrst Himlarlles establinlied them'elres In the TuHrin valley on their southward migration. Iti the nunieroiis revolutions which have devastated Arabia, it is probable that tb« valley h&s been many times depopulated.
Fariheron, thepartypa-seda siiieular rock, which, lu falling from Lbe crag, had perched Itself on a grsn- ile mass by three aburp p<iints. Ueing somewhat concave below, it resounds like a rather heavy bell to the strokes of a cane, — an infallible sign, according to the Arabs, of concealed treasures. Their camp, a few mUen l)eyn]id, was In the miilai of a remarkable rarine of a uniform width of about fifteen hundred feet, bordered by granite walls about nine hundred feet in height, presenting In the sun remarkable hues of red, violet, brown, and rose. The perfeclly level aaady roll was of a peculiar rose color, and the iin- preaxion conveyed was of a gigantic street newly swept and silent. Access to the Gou valley was ot>- tained through a very narrow ravine encumbered with fallen blocks, Iiardly affording passage for a cameL Above this it enlarges Into a circular plateau continued mi the oiber side by a long boulevard of magulRcent palms. The spot seemed a terrestrial paradise. Flocks at birds, so rare in this parched land, delighted the eye, and their songs broke the silence of the desert in a delightful manner. Vegetation was luxuriant and beautlTut; and a flowing spring re- freshed the party, thoiiglt Its temperature was not Ie<« than 82° F.
In travelling about the Jebet Aga, ascent was foDod practicable only in a very tew places. The walls rise abruptly without foot-hills, and are of a gray, ted, or reddish-brown granite of coarse grain composed of quartz, with large crystals of red and white felspar with grains of pegmatite. The dip of the beds is about 55" toward the horizon. The wind in this part o( Arabia blows always from the west.
The rood pausing through the region i>f Jcbel Setma, at no great distance from the Jehel Aga, traverses an isolated volcanic district, where the pas- sage is often only wide enough forsingle file. Several craters, one twenly-flve hundred feet across, stitl re- main, and, though now safe for travellers, were for- merly the fastnesses of Arab robbers, whose attacks made the region deserve, even more than its natural character. Its Arabian name of Gehenna. Beyond, just where the grits replace the hiksaltlc rocks, lies the little town of Feyd, containing some forty houje.i. Anciently this was a site of renown, for whose de- termination Kitter vainly spent many pages of dls- oiisslon; but Its splendor has departed. Around it, at no great distance, are tcnttered low hills uf vol- e origin, in some of which the craters are still
��evident. Water lies under a bed of basalt, very hard, and sLt or seven feet thick, covered with atmut thirty feel of sand and gravel. The wells, singularly enough, are connected by subterranean tunnels. This water, accessible only at the cost of so much labor, must be raised lo water the palm-trees, and is reported to be gradually diminiablng, to which the decay of the ancient city Is probably due. The des- ert around Feyd Ix called Aba-el-Kriis.
Thence toward El Eebafah the path traverses a re- gion of volcanic rock, which emerges from the sur- face on either hand in a singular manner. It looks as if the whole region had been once a boiling liquid lava which had been suddenly congealed, leaving solidiflpd bubbles twenty-Hve to thirty-five feel Iti diameter, which appear at every step. A little sand is found here and there in crevices, with an occasional shrub growing in It; but apart Irom this, the desert is absolutely naked rock of indescribable detolulion. — a comer of the real Arabia Teiraea. The name of this waste is E! Sar&fab. In tills region, according to the Arabs, there are some ten rainy days at the beginning of winter: the rest of the year is literally dry. Beyond Kehatah several small oases were seen of a singular geological structure, which Is, however, common In the region. They consist of elllpticnl dish-like depressions, dipping slightly toward the north, their axes north-west and south-east, and about twenty-four kilometres in length by half as much in width. The margins of these basins are abruptly elevated, rocky walls, about thirty or forty feet in heighL The wells pass through twelve or fltteeti foet of gravel and rock, beneath which is water in abundance, but coo bitter to be potable. Drinking- water is accessible In but two or three places. The road from Eehafah to 'Ayoun passes the boundary of the safe country, and enters the r^ion of roblier no- mads. A singular rock, much resembling the sphinx In form, partly covered with Illegible Ulraiarlte and Arabic Inscriptions, lies Isolated near the route, and beyond a much smaller one, from which a few in- scriptions could be transcribed. The inhnbilants of this region are ^matl, shrivelled, and sickly-loukiug, ill strong contrast with the fine physique of the people of El Jebel, which the traveller had left. They are violent fanatics, from whom his safe return was fortunate. The mean temperature of the soil here was S4°; and during one day. with a hot wind, the thermoinelcr rose to 122° F. in the shade.
��STEAM ON STREET-^RAILWAYS.
Tbb Hon, R. C. Parsons recently read a paper before the British institution of civil engineers, in which the progress of steam-locomotion on street- rnilwoys was very fully considered. It was a'serled that very Utile success had attended the efforts made to introduce steam as a motor on the common high- way, while the privileges accorded by special le^s- laticm to the street-railway companies have led lo comparatively great success in thai direction.
The British 'Board of trade' r^ulaUons have
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