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BSY_FB_28-016
is-Summāḳiyât 1:30 A.M. Temp. 33 ° Baro. S 27.10 Bar. L 27.51
Clear. Calm Hoar Frost. & Thin ice 9:00 P.M. clouding up again, clouds moving . Left 8:44 going S. over rolling country - no road - Arrived Bâ'iḳ 9:56, a ruin of a large and interesting castle situated on a round slight rise of ground and command a good view. of il-Fedên to the W.S.W. 7 miles, Umm idj-Djimâl to the S.E. by E. 2 1/2 miles, the Djebel Ḥaurân range to the N.E. covered with snow to the 4800 ft. level, the railroad skirting the hills to the W., and the desert to the S. with its shepherds & their flocks of camels, sheep, and goats, and the small ^ Dark brown ^ clusters of tents, all set in a light bronze shade of green, fading in the distance to the dark purplish blue of the small rolling hills, ridge after ridge of which could be seen through the telescope.
Left Bâ'iḳ 2:00 P.M. going S.E. by E. over very slightly rolling country, a sort of sandy loam soil, quite free from stones in places & then covered with volcanic scoria of black basalt, thickly covered with litchen, showing that the ground had not been tilled for many years. Arrived Umm idj-Djimâl 2:45.
Way good - no roads, nearly Level, Straight G.M. pace about 3 1/3 miles per hour.
BSY_FB_28-017
Umm idj-Djimâl 8:10 A.M. Temp. 44 °F Baro. S. 27.30 " L. 27.54 nimbus clouds all, mist, light westerly air.
Same weather all day, but little mist,
About 20 Beduin tents in ruins - Some Beduin are shepherds of Druse. Many lambs about 2 weeks old - approx. 1000 of them which are kept in or around tents in day time while their mothers are sent out to pasture. Very little grass - no water in birkets.
Beduin don't seem to be either hostile or friendly, but are rather suspicious. Of course they think we have come for the gold. They keep away from the tents and from us, almost entirely.
BSY_FB_28-018
Umm idj-Djimâl 7:30 A.M. Temp. 38 ° Baro. S 27.30 Baro. L 27.55 Calm, Ciirrus clouds 1/3. Beautiful day.
Fine moon-light night in ruins. Succeed in finding a sheep which was without lamb - had to pay an English pound for it, and had it killed to make a feast, [fantasicc?] for muleteers. After they had gorged themselves with it, they squatted in a line on the ground, and two or three of their number danced & sang in front of them, cutting up all kinds of rough & uncouth antics, with the others joining in the choruses of the songs and clapping their hands. They all had huskey voices, and every evidence of intoxication, although they hadn't had a drop of liquor. One man immitated? the growl of a camel perfectly. It was all a weird experience in the ruins and the moonlight, with the desert waste on all sides.
Late at night the absolute silence was broken by the occasional hoot of an owl, the musical tinkle of a bell as one of the mules moved, or the stamp of a hoof, then all would be still until suddenly a jackall would howl, then there would be an answer from another at a distance followed all most at once by the most ungodly screeches and yells imaginable as all the jackalls for miles around got in the chorus. This would arouse the Arab dogs to do battle, and they would bark and howl each in a seperate? key. Gradually silence would reign again, except for the occasional low of the watchman guarding our tents. Then a donkey would bray.
Once during the night a wolf stoll? up to the camp, having smelled the remains of the slaughtered sheep, and there was more trouble.
BSY_FB_28-019
Umm idj-Djimâl 9:00 A.M. Temp. 43 ° Baro. S 27.50 " Baro L 27.72 1/3 in of ice at night - Clear, Calm. Beautiful day.
Very busy and fascinating day for all, finding new wonders of intense interest as this city of the past gradually opens up its secrets. Many new inscriptions & buildings throwing more light on the history of mankind.
With one week of good weather and no interference from the government or Arabs, we can obtain enough data to cause a sensation when the results are published.
This complete city of an Arabic civilization now dead - as far as known, the only thing of its kind in the world - I believe to be doomed to distruction? within a very few years, after having stodd for at least twenty centurys?. The railroad now building from Damascus to Mecca runs within ten miles to the west and even now can be seen rising in the clear air the white steam from the locomotives as they slowly pull the construction trains South along the foot hills of the blue Mountains of Gilead. From the North and East the Druse, those vultures for the ruins are crowding the Arab nomads, and even now the city is recognised as the property of the Druse village of Dhibin, some 12 miles to the N.E. Only its slight inaccesibility gives it a short respite, before the Druse swoops down on his prey and carrys? away every lintel, every inscription, every piece of earring in fact nearly every cut stone, to build his miserable hovel of a nest. (Altis Nest)
BSY_FB_28-020
Umm idj-Djimâl 8:00 A.M. Temp. 36 ° Baro. S. 27.47 " L. 27.75 Clear, light air E. 1/4 in. of ice in night.
The horses are watered at a pool some 20 mins. to the S.W. but there is only enough water to last about one more day, after which they will have to go 3/4 hours to S.E. The water we now use is about the color and nearly as thick as a cup of chocolate. It is the last dregs of a small pool from which drink sheep, goats, camels & men.
