Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-06-26
EAST or THE JORDAN.
ny wArrna Williams IN corunprA HERALD.

10 Jne river ana we cOuldn't get
across. Palestine travellers seldom
60 east Of the Jordan, missing, in
consequence, much Of beauty and his
toric interest. The country to the east
of the river is often disturbed by hos
tile Bedouin tribes, and journeying
through it was formerly difiicult as
well as dangerous,
We concluded to add this part of
Syria to the lands visited and were
not disappointed. Leaving Tiberias
and its beautiful lake early one morn
ing VIC went southwark to an old ford
in the Jordan river expecting to have
easy crossing. We sent one or two
pack-animals ahead to try the ford
and after we had seen the luneh-ham-
pers baptized IN the swelling floods
and the horses submerged we con-
eluded not to make the attempt
SO journeying an hour further to the
southwark, we came to ain old stone
bridge, built in the Roman times.
Here we left western Palestine and
entered the less known region OF the
east.
Not far from the old bridge two Of
the class visited Bedouin camp and
were received with cordial hospitali-
| ty, The Bedouln is a dweller In tents,
counting himself disgraced If he sleeps
in a house. He leads the life Of a
nomad, having no settled place Of
abode. He is strong, active, coura-
geous and extremely courteous. The
tent we visited, as all Bedouin tents,
was made Of black goats hair, stretch
ed over poles with one side open. 1t
is divided into two compartments, one
for the men and one for the women.
Here we were gravely seated and
after carrying on as much Of q conyer-
sation as was possible under the cir
cumstances, coffee was served in tiny
little cups, fine coffee it was, too, it
may be remarked in passing. Where
ever one goes in the east he is served
with coffee. II he shops the shop
keeper brings cup Of coffee while the
bargaining proceeds. Ifa call is made
the visitor cannot leave until after the
coffee is served.
There is never anything more on
such occasions than coffee and cigar
cites, even in the wealthiest homes
and never anything else even among
the poorest Arabs. The Bedouin,
notorious for thieving, is careful to
respect the laws of hospitality. He
counts him as one without fault,
Who eats his bread and tastes his
salt,
And in fair battle strikes him dead,
With the same pleasure that he
gave him bread.'
THROUGH THE COUNTRY OF THE
eADARENEs.
Across the Jordan our first camp
was in the Wady-el-Arab, most
beautiful camping ground. Hereto
fore our camps had been pitched near
to some town or village, but in Wady-
el-Arab we were away from human
habitations Of any kind.
A sparkling stream ran near and an
undulating plain stretched away to
the westward while the valley TO the
east was rocky and wild A Bedouin
caravan passed in the early evening
and pitched their tents some miles
nearer the Jordan. 1t was Abraham
ic in aspect and thoroughly Oriental.
We were now in the country Of the
Gadarenes, where the swine into whom
the devil entered ran down steep
place into the sea. What pity he did
not stay there We climbed several
places but saw no swine. The ruined
city of Gadara, once one Of the Decapo-
lis or ten cities, has ruins the best
preserved Of any we visited.
There is finely-paved Roman street
"a half mile in length, colonades on
either side, and theatre in excellent
condition, its stone seats still in posi-
tion. This country is the Gilead,
Iwhere Jepthah was the warrior-jndge
and from here the sturdy prophet and
lreformer Elijah came. In that por-
tion of it known as Perea some of the
most interesting events connected
with the public ministry of Jesus took
place.
OVER THE GREAT HAURAN PLAIN.
i From Gadara pushing on to Irbid
near which village we passed the
night, we came to the great Hauran
plain, the wheat field or granery Of
the Orient. East of the Jordan was
divided by the Old Testament geogra-
! pliers into Bashan, Gilead and Moab.
The borderlines between these is not
J very distinctly defined. Through all
that which we saw there was re-
minder Of the Bible story. The
''giant cities of Bashan" with stone
window shutters, Jebel Hauran, the
mountain range where "the bulls Of
Bashanp stlll breed, "the oaks Of
Bashan," "the watch tower of
IGiiead,n the Jabbok, where Jacob
wrestled with the angel and became
Israel, and further TO the southward
the "hills OF Moab''--Yivid pictures
these present. Across the Hauran, a
treeless plain, our route led. The soil
produces an enormous yield of wheat,
the finest in all Syria. Here we saw
men blowing furrows mile in length
! and straight as an arrow could fly,
Threshing floors are near every vii
lage, not the stone floors OF west Of
the Jordan, but dirt floors trodden
hard, some fifty square yards in ex-
tent and surrounded by a low dry
dyke. Here may be seen sheaves
strewn to the depth Of two or three
feet and trodden out to-day In the
same primitive fashion as depicted
upon the ancient Egyptian monu'
ments. When the whole mass is suf'
fciently bruised IL is tossed up against
the wind with winnowing forks, the
chopped straw stored away and the
wlnnowed grain shipped OF to Damas
Gus.
Coming across the Hauran we passed
along the caravan route where Abra'
ham iourneyed with his focks and
herds toward Canaan, and where Jacot
afterward travelled. We met here 4