The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1869-08-04

I
TO the tent of the Arab Sheikh. A large
crowd followed, shouting and dancing. I.
insisted on having the Rob Roy brought
into the tent. A grand palaver was held.
| told them was an Englishman. ssSowa,
sowa, they said (friend.) I SAID, must
pass on to the lake. They assured me
there was no road. / said / must go to
see. The seniors of thee tribe
assembled to consult, and several precious
hours were wasted in talk. Meanwhile
made sketches for some, gave a lesson in
! geography 10 others, fired of some wax
matches for the rest, and cooked my lun~
cheoa of hot soup in my 'scanoe euisinen
to the wonder and delight of all. Over
and over they pressed for .sbuck sheesh,'
and answered, certainly, but it must be
given to your sheikh.'' He winked at me.
L knew l had him then. privately gave
him gold Napoleon, and he pressed me
70 stop the night in his tent, but was at
last allowed to go on, and so in triumph
launched the canoe again on the fast flows
ing stream. .l5-5SS-.o s.lls.] 5illssa II
The crowd soon followed, and on both
sides of the river, when away from their
she1kh, they began again for buck sheesh.'
One man pointed his gun at me at least
twenty times, but he did not fire, Ny
speed tired them all out except a dozen. -
These were nearly all naked, and they
dashed into the water like ducks to ford
the countless streams. AT last the river
branched out into three, and the branch / 4
followed ran straight to the barrier of
reeds, papyrus and, canes. This is three
miles broad, a mile thick, and often rs
feet high. Sill I plunged on, and at !
length jumped into the water myself. a
sharp tWinge on my bare leg reminded me
that here are water snakes, and that in a
pool near Banias leeches are caught by the |
thousands merely by dip of the limbs
Having fully proved that no boat could 20 |
farther, (and probably no human being /
could in any way whatever penetrate this
this marvellous floating JUNGLE acknowl-
edged they were right, that there was no
road, and ] turned back, After most IL
ring paddle against the stream to the VII
lage, took my canoe to g tent. e The ,yil-
lage worthless assembled at night, and |
bowl OF excellent .tkuskoosco" was bro't.
With delicious clotted buffalo milk. We
at the top of the table (or floor rather) ate /
WIN three wooden spoons, the rest with
their hands, but all from one bowl. Ey-
cry one gave me his pipe TO smoke. and I /
lighted my canoe lamp and had q page of
the Times to read. Only one of them had
ever before. seen an Englishman..s The
great fire in the tent now smouldered down,
and they gave me carpets to sleep npon,
1or my clothes were wet. Seven hours be-
lore this had managed to send off one of
them on good horse to my dragman,
who was, with my tents, many milessI
away, and in. the dead of the night I heard
his distant hail, as the faithful fellow, Mi
chael Harry, of Beyrout,e come, over the /
the marsh, after IA hours riding that day. /
- l shouted aloud, and the old Arab in his
tent was, amazed. Things now, changed
entirely, and after good sleep I took the
4toD, hoy next day round the obstruction
Oh REEDS. -Four days spent in her upon
Lake Inlet, and 1 succeeded in finding the
mouth OF the Jordan there, and went up.
three mles on an inner lake of great beau
~, where most probably no man has ever
been traversed the lake 10, al directions.
and took soundings and. compass hearings
everywhere, and without entering into de.
tails, may state the following as my con.
clusions: + -, r1i,, e.f l-5 - -
Inc Hasbany river Is the true Jordan.
The river Leddan spreads almost at its !.
birth into hundred streams, and gets lost.
The Banias and Hasbany rivers each lose
one half of their bulk in this yyav. but
9ey unite at Tell Sheikh Yusuf. : The,
united stream runs south about three miles
and then spreads into a morass. eOn This
Is vast floating forest Of papyrus and
cane, perfectly dark inside. I could never
penetrate more than three feet. I meas.
ured one cane, and (alloWing one foot for
the root it was just twenty feet high. The
wafer percolates below and through the
spongy marsh and loses at least one half I
OF its volume by absorption and eVapora,
uon. The Jordan flows in a stream Ice
feet wide and 16 feet deep on the western
side Of the center of the norass, not the
eastern, as is given in KanleReIds suleu
did map, The bottom is nearly level. \ II
IS about II feet deep, and more than, three
miles across. The whole of the spacious
area might be drained dry by a single cat
81 the southern end Until itcomes to Jas
cob's bridge the river flows deem and
smooth, but the canoe had to be carried /,
past the long life of torrent. After tiat
padded her into Lake Gennesareth. q
alI l-lsaE 9lzg - 4sffE s54f4 ra-fllzl.sT II