Wed March 17. [17 March 1909] Cooler. We were deep in
negotiations with one of the Ageil (Ghazi) and a Sheikh Naif of the
Deleim to take me to the Lakhmid castles. Finally all these
negotiations fell through - they wanted too much money. We offered
Naif £T15 to go with us to Kheltar but he finally refused being afraid of
the Beni Hassan. I rode out with Mr Gunter to see the .... wells. We
looked at one near the town which produces about 50 donkey loads a
day. The largest well is called the Marj - we did not see it. It is 11/4
hours from Hit [(Is)]. They say it is inexhaustible; you can get 1000 or
2000 loads from it daily. The pitch is the best and purest. There is
another big spring, smaller than the Marj, at Ma'mureh. We went there
but it is not being worked at present. At Ma'mureh are the ruins of a
town with a big tower or minaret, medieval Arab. We then rode on to a
ruin called Mad'lubeh - it consists of a number of small tells like
mounds of ruins - a good many smaller stones with colossal worked
blocks lying about among them. We then rode back going rather to
the S. and passed a sulphur spring with no pitch. There is however a
little to the S of this a pitch spring called Lteif. They get about 20 loads
a day from it. The 5th spring is one in the Jezireh [Jazirah, Al] 'Ata'at,
near Kasr es Sa'deh but it is very small - 20 loads a day. So back to
lunch after which I photographed the town standing up on its great tell
and the curious country behind it, salt bottoms, pitch fires and mazars.
Wrote to Mr Chirol and after tea we went down to the river and saw the
pitched wooden boats and one quffah[?] the first I have seen. Then
through the town - extraordinary narrow streets and a minaret of the
same construction as that of Ma'mureh but without the dog tooth
cornice. Even the drinking vessels are pitched. Finally down to the
river at the lower side where they were burning pitch and making jir[?],
ie asphalt, among groves of palms. Meantime Fattuh has seen the
Mudir who has given us a soldier for Khubbaz [Marqab al Khubbaz]
so all is well. Mr G. and I dined together.