Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-01-25
Something About Petra.

Something About Petra.
..yes.n continued Mr.. Wilson, II am
clad to get to Cincinnati. But you
mm.nted to hear about my trip. l first
Went to Egypt and sailed up the Nile:
Then | crossed over to Arabia, and
listed Mt. Sinai and the rock city, Pc
ira"
.When was this?"
.Only last year, at tho time of the
Egyptian war"
"Ihen, perhaps, you know something
about Ell Mahdi, the False Prophet"
.Only in a general way, but l know
, GOOD deal about the Arab soldiers.
they are q wild set of fellows, not very
much better than %barbarians and be-
fore disciplined army they would melt
IN. snow. Their weapons are of the
noorcst, and they have no great incen-
live, except the hope of plumber. The
GREAT majority of the Bedouins in the
desert carry old flint locks, which are
merely ornaments, as they are never
ready to shoot. Indeed, they make a
practice OF tying up the locks with col
ored handkerchiefs. The Arab of to-
dav is a very different creature from
thc chivalrous horseman of the reading
books
..Did you find any great difficulty
traveling in making yourself under
stood?"
no. English Interpreters are every
where. and when l crossed into Arabia
nv servant was able to speak the Ian
c,iages of all the people that we met.
lie was q very clever fellow, and it vas
mainly owing to his efforts that I got in
Petra
..Is it difficult of access?"
"Yes: it ear only be reached after q
tourney across the desert of nine days,
and then it is almost impossible to Get
into it. 1t lies in a deep hole in the
mountains. and tits approached through
q narrow gorge over a mile in length.
AT the entrance to this gorge is the little
village of Ely, and the Arabs living
there believe that immense treasures
are concealed in Petra, and conse.
quently they keep strangers out of the
wonderful city with Jealous care. Some
time ago'an English lord, armed with
a tirman from the Khedlve and a letter
from the Sultan, attempted to visit the
place, but the village Sheik merely
took his letters and flung them back in
to his face, telling him that he was
king of PETRA The Englishman then
tried to buy his way in, but their de-
mands were so exorbitant that he was
obliged to turn back. For nine years
Cook has in vain attempted to get a
party into the place"
How did you get IMP"
"By strategy. The guide was sent
on ahead to the village and he gathered
all the Bedouin and tcllahin, that is tho
horsemen and the tillers of the soil, to
q greast feast in the village. Mean
while we rode around a mountain path
and entered the gorge unperceived. In
some places it was so narrow that our
camcls found difficulty in squeezing
through, but we finally reached the
marvellous place, which in the Bible is
called the rock city of Edom.' 1t is an
Arab rule when a stranger is in his
house or tent to treat him with
some show of hospitality, so when we
were once in Petra they would not drive
us out, but before we left we were back
shceshed out of nearly everything we
had"
Tell me about Petra"
"Ihc mountains rise around Petra
in q semi-circle, and from their precipit-
Gus sides are carved the facadcs of tenn
piles and public buildings. Within the
rock are hewn great chambers, some
times q hundred feet in height, and
these receive no light except which en-
tiers at the door. Justopposite the end
of the gorge is q magnificent Corinthian
temple OF q delicate pink color and in
perfect repair, except that one pillar
was missing. Some vandal has battered
itdown in sheer cussedness, but other
wise the facade is as complete as on the
day that the last chisel gave the finish
ING touch. But there are hundreds OF
these rock-hewn temples, and all are
beautiful. Then there is an amphi-
theater whose tiers are cut from the liv-
ing rock. No less interesting is the al
tar of Baal, VITA the channel where
flowed the blood Of the human victims
still perfect. 1t is in fact the must curl
Gus place in the world, and none the
less SO because OF the, eternal silence
which reigns everywhere. 1t is q city
built by the dead. and the living are out
of place within it. The Arabs believe
1t TO be the worst of the genii, and will
not pass the night among its mysteriou:
structures. When We left, the Arabs
saw us half a days journey away, and,
on parting, there was a universal de.
mand for backsheese. They wanted
corn for the horses, barley for the Won.
en-, the chief wantel a new suit o.
clothes, and one tllow asked ter
pounds, because he said he had thrown
a Dit of paper into tie tent which haG
been blessed by Malomet "-Cincin
n0N Ismes-Star.