DHAMI.
110
Wahabi had killed four of his brothers ; that he fled from home,
and established himself at Dael, a village in the Haouran, which was
ransacked last summer by the same enemies, when he lost the whole
of his property. This man corroborated what I have repeatedly
been told, that a single person may travel over the Wahabi dominions -
with perfect safety.
November 29th.—I here took two Druses to conduct me into the
interior of the Ledja. The Arabs who inhabit that district pay
some deference to the Druses, but none whatever to the Turks
or Christians of the neighbouring villages. In one hour we passed
the two ruined cities Zebair (;) and Zebir (;), close to each
other. At the end of two hours and a quarter, our road lying
in the direction of the Kelab Haouran, we came to the ruined village
Djedel (). Thus far the Ledja is a level country with a stony
soil covered with heaps of rocks, amongst which are a number of
small patches of meadow, which afford excellent pasture for the
cattle of the Arabs who inhabit these parts. From Djedel the
ground becomes uneven, the pasturing places less frequent, the
rocks higher, and the road more difficult. I had intended to proceed ¬
to Aahere, where there is a fine spring ; but evening coming
on we stopped near Dhami (), three hours and three quarters
from Khabeb, and two hours distant from Aahere. It appears
strange that a city should have been built by any people in a spot
where there is neither water nor arable ground, and nothing but
a little grass amidst the stones. Dhami may contain three hundred
houses, most of which are still in good preservation. There is a
large building whose gate is ornamented with sculptured vine
leaves and grapes, like those at Kanouat.
Every house appears to have had its cistern; there are many
also in the immediate vicinity of the town: they are formed by ex
cavations in the rock, the surface of which is supported by props
