HEOPTHTW OAAHNWNA TAITWOEWAW In our approach to this building we did not see a single living creature, and we were ourselves almost completely hid by the thickets; but we had only been a few minutes engaged in our examination when several Arabs, with long guns, were seen peeping over a large cairn some distance in front of the ruins. We took no notice of their movements, but continued our search for the statues; and after ascertaining that this could not be the place Burckhardt had heard of, or at least, if it were, that the statues had disappeared, Mr. Barnett and I returned to our horses. Some of the party who had reached the gate sooner than the others wished to ride off alone; but Mahmûd, pointing to the suspicious group of hungry-looking faces, now numbering ten or twelve, quietly observed that we had better all ride with him. In fact it was only the presence of this single Druze, and the well-known courage of his race, that saved us from an attack on the spot. To attempt defence in such a place would be madness, for hundreds could lie concealed behind the oak-trees and take deadly aim. Not one of these fellows saluted us as we rode past them. They looked at us with scowling faces, no doubt cursing the necessity that kept their hands off us. From Deir es-Sumeid there are traces of a good paved road to Kunawât. The present path runs near it, winding among the trees. In twenty minutes we reached the side of the deep ravine on the southern bank of which the city is built, and, crossing it by a modern bridge, we rode up a well-paved road to the ruined gate. A few yards beyond this we entered the court-yard of the sheikh, where we met with a welcome reception. After the salâms and the "thousand and one" wishes and prayers for our health and happiness, the never-failing coffee was prepared and presented. After these necessary ceremonies I proposed a walk among the ruins. The sheikh immediately offered himself as a guide, but not less than twenty others followed in his train. My object was to obtain a general view of the city preparatory to a more detailed examination on the following day, half of which we purposed to give to this place. Kunawât is built on the left bank of a deep and wild ravine, which runs past it from about south-east to northwest. As the ground slopes in the direction of the course of the wady more rapidly than the bed of the stream, the precipitous banks are much loftier at the upper than at the lower part of the ruins. I estimated the extreme length of the city at about a mile, and the breadth nearly half a mile. On the southern side of the ruins is also a wady of considerable depth, and beyond it rises up a graceful wooded hill. The ancient walls run along the brink of the ravine, being in some places founded on the very edge of the scarped rock. After reaching the top they are carried over the rocky ridge and then westward for nearly half a mile along the brow of the second wady, when they turn down the declivity in a zigzag course toward the north-west. The north-western section of the city I did not examine minutely, as it seems to contain only the ruins of private houses. The accompaning plan I drew up from sketches made from several commanding positions, and from estimates of the length of the streets by the time it took me to walk along them. It is merely intended to give the reader an idea of the situation of the city and the position of the principal ruins. After leaving the sheikh's house we walked up a street along the brow of the ravine; the ancient pavement is in excellent preservation. On the right are ruins of large private houses, solidly and elegantly built. The stone doors especially attracted my attention, as most of them are panelled and have ornamental mouldings, while a few are adorned with wreaths and fruit in bas-relief. I observed an ancient aqueduct running parallel to the street. This must have been a favourite quarter with the chief men of the city, for the private mansions appear to have been all spacious and expensively built. The situation, too, is attractive—the wild ravine lying below, with its foaming torrent dashing over a rocky bed, and its theatre and temple; and the castellated heights above, over which rose up the graceful wooded summits of the hills of Bashan. On reaching the top of the hill we turned to the right between fine buildings and entered a spacious area covered with large and closely-jointed flags. On the southern side of this area is a pile of building as striking from its great extent as from the elegance of its architecture. (Marked ƒ on the plan.) The worthy sheikh here took me by the hand, for he had become very familiar, and led me to a broken place in the pavement, and there pointed down to what he considered an object of no small curiosity. This opening showed that the whole space under our feet was one series of vaults supported on pillars and arches. This was evi |