The San Francisco call., 1908-12-06
On the Outskirts of Damascus

He waved his cane to theu-the private signal Of his
tribe-and walked courageously within talking dis
and that the thing they saw was only horseless
carriage. lie beckoned to to come nearer and We
When we reached Faris Aga said Those tel
lows have no particular fancy for your 'ativabo-'
They agreed 10 let you come in only because they
know and accepted explanation that tns
.ativablo was simply a carriage without horses"
Didn't they ask you how it without any
horses?" 1 asked him.
Take advice he replied, "and do not try to
explain the atvablo to any people you meet as Your
e. - ron q hais - .Sot % a % e b,,
Seeing the entrance the barracks open. walked
sole occupants Of the place. They might as not
be there ALL They absolutely helpless and
.Srved 5s with corree asked one OF them what bs
thought of the automobile when he first
I'VE kind OF buzzing." he said. I'VE
looked something coming We
thought 1t racing with sandstorm- We imme-
distely decided TO take in our horses close the doors
and await your approach"
We stayed at Ain el-Bayadah about half an hour
listening the soldiers stories of exciting adventures
with Bedouins Speaking Of the we'll Shawish Ma
our well here is as old as the desert itself Every
traveller who has by this route. from the days
edged the wisdom Of sayedna solomon in building
Tadmor shelter his commercial caravans between
others which the modem caravans pass the
way to Basdad was % dug by sSlomon's order.
nobia be determined. but certainly it is old
the inside edge OF the, wells mouth inches
deep, indicating ancient After tarrying here
Palmyra. The rough tirea
this stretch before reached our destination
The the ruined city of Palmyra
melancholy sight. The shattered scattered col
depressing. and those still standing had
solitary, sad appearance if weeping the lost
which included Egypt. Palestine Minor. and
extended from the Nile to the Euphrates and north
The entire village and the sheik, Abd-Alah turned
out to the noisy visitor Sheik AbdAah had been
fO He m QIfO Ia
the fears OF the people and came out to meet US with
cordial welcome. We drove right into his court
Kuryatan to Palmyra it was hard even for him to
credit the story Faris Aga desert guest assured
Kuraytan when the sun was high up N
the sky. he said. and the Muazin had yet called
trip from Kuryatan to Palmyra. which your
swftest dromedary or horse IS hours. IN four hours
We went first to the Temple OF the Sun Between
the huted columns OF temple. with thsif
beautifully engraved capitals. built the
walls or a madhouse, and the 1900 tnhaot-
tants of the city which once Contained three or four
thousand souls live with their livestock within tia
walls OF this vast temple. From here out -
hundreds of youngsters. who were kept at
by the sheik's son. who carried bag OF photo
graphic materials. The tombs here are unique In
architecture. The crypts now robbed OF their con-
tents were hewn out Of the solid rock and saOh con-
receptaces for the dead.
We saw beautiful women the way; but ths prss-
tiest girl except one was in midst sf
the ruins of Palmyra. filing Jar with
the stream. just Rebecca had IN the land ef
the the chalaeans stood and stared at her GOins
She held the jar to Instead OF drinking sAssd
till my arms grew tired holding Jar and asksd.
Are you Zenobia?'
She said: Drink. II you please" and drank ana
meekly passed the jar my friend.
II Is always the custom when going visit O
Bedouin sheik take presents Of cose tobacco SUI
gar and sometimes articles of dress. such the aba
knives other small articles for his servants Il
wouo De an insult to oner money to a shstx