Monday March 8. [8 March 1909] Off at {7} 6.55. We followed the river bank more or less closely, outside the cultivation. The first village by the river is Karyet al Burhama - we saw it about a 1/2 a mile away. It has a section also in the Shamiyyeh [Shamiyah]]. At 7.30 we passed a tell with stones in it, far from the present course of the river but no doubt all this country was watered from the Dawwarin and also by loops from the Euphrates - I saw one near Dernich. At 8 Abu Hardub by the river about a quarter of a mile away. Here they have to bring up the water twice. In the lower ground they grow a little corn for the animals to eat but most of it is sown in the summer after the river has flooded it. Then they lift the water up again by a Jird and the Sakiyyah waters the upper cornfields. At 9 we passed another village Abu Hammam, but I did not see it; it was far away on the river. Then we rode over a long very dull stretch of sand, heaped up into little hills where the Tarfa bushes grow. Occasionally the river floods all this and covers it with sand. This last happened about 18 years ago. Therefore the whole ground must have altered and I fancy it wd be difficult to trace the Dawwarin. At 10.40 we were opposite Es Salihhiyyeh [Qal'at as Salihiyah (Dura Europus)] which stands high up on the hills of the opposite bank. The village in the Jezirah [Jazirah, Al] is called Al Bahra. At 11.15 we touched an old bed of the river with some pools in it. The Tarfa grew very thick here. At 11.45 Tell ech Cha'abi where we lunched till the baggage caught us up at 12.20. A little pottery of a common unglazed kind and tombs. When they bury their dead in these mounds they dig into them and get out potsherds to strew on the graves. The present inhabitants use no pottery. At 12.40 Tell Simbal, a small sandy mound. Half way between Tell ech Cha'adi and Tell Abu'l Hassan is Tell el Hajin with a small village by the river. We did not go to it. At 2.15 Tell Abu'l Hassan near which we camped. A very big tell with graves and potsherds; the tombs are those of the Jebbur who have now left these parts altogether, 30 years ago, and gone to the Tigris. The Silman also have nearly all gone away from the Khabur - there are very few of them. The Deleim have now made friends with the Agedut and these two and I think the Abu Kemal camp here together. The 'Anazeh come down to the water in the summer. Some brick fragments near my tents - there must have been a town here. Stones on the tombs on the tell; not squared, dug out of the tell. Before ech Cha'abi we saw people ploughing the sand for locusts - of which there were none there they said but many lower down. They worked by order of the Govt. Hmeidy talked of the Constitution and said they did not care what Sultan they had so long as the Govt was 'adileh -Yusef izz ud Din or another. He said he understood that Abu Hamid kept 300 women who eat the wealth of the country. He complained bitterly of the number of chifliks. He also abused Ahmed Izzet. He has 2 wives, one in Ed Der [Dayr az Zawr] and one at Abu Kemal [Abu Kamal]. He belongs to that tribe. Ech Cha'bi is opposite Gat'a [Al Qata]. We saw a large pelican swimming about in the river. Also Kat'a [Qat'ah] - sand grouse today and yesterday.