"الحج إلي نجد، مهد العرق العربي. زيارة إلي بلاط الأمير العربي، و"حملتنا الفارسية". [‎٣‎٢] (٣٣٤/٧٥)

32
A Pilgrimage to Nejd.
[ch . ir.
different race or creed, as this prevents any com
bination among them for mutiny or disobedience.
The Agheyls will be one clique, the Tudmuri
another, and the Christians a third, so that
though they may quarrel with one another, they
are never likely to unite against us. Not that
there is any prospect of difficulty from such a
cause ; but three months is a long period for a
journey, and everything must be thought of before
hand.
Mohammed was not long in the Maidan, and
came back with the news that the Jerdeh has not
been seen there, but might be at a khan some miles
on the road called Khan Demin. It was useless to
wait for them there, and so, wishing our friend, Mr.
Siouffi, good-bye (for he had accompanied us thus
far) we rode on. Nothing remarkable has marked
our first days journey ; a gazelle crossing the
track, and a rather curious squabble between a kite,
a buzzard, and a raven, in which the raven got all
the profit, being the only events. From the crest
of a low ridge we looked back and saw our last of
Damascus, with its minarets and houses imbedded
in green. We shall see no more buildings, I sup
pose, for many a day. Mount Hermon to the left
of it rose, an imposing mass, hazy in the hot sun,
for, December though it is, the summer is far from
over. Indeed, we have suffered from the heat to
day more than we did during the whole of our last
journey,