Sun April 1 [1 April 1900] We were off at 7 and rode for 21/2 hours
over our former road across the plains. Pretty dull but the way was
enlivened by looking for the R. milestones which appeared at regular
intervals of 1/4 of an hour. I nearly fell asleep on my mule (for I was
riding Mrs H [Harding]'s mount) but was wakened by hearing Ayoub
telling me interesting tales of Ibn Rashid. We then left our former road
and went a little to the E of it up a shallow valley with one tree and a
little corn. We lunched by a very dirty bi'r Ain et Tarik. There was a
little thorn bush and we hung my bsat over it to make shade. We got
there at 11 and stayed till 12. I much wanted to go round by Gharundel
[Gharandal] but it was too far. After lunch Ayoub spied some Arabs,
so he and I and Hanna and Tarif left the others and rode up the hill
over which we found a lot of them watering their flocks. Bir es Saidah.
They were people from Surifha[?] and there [sic] name was the
Hamaideh. (The people of Dana are the Alata.) We drank milk there
and followed the R road over the hills having fine views over the great
plain to the S and E with the volcanic mounds rising out of it like
islands out of a sea. Saw the Haj [Hajj] road far away. They say
there is no water there except bi'rs. As we came down the hill we
passed another bi'r, Bi'r ed Debbeh by which there were some Arabs
whom Ayoub called Suedieh (they come from the W) and so down to
the wells of Tuwaneh which we reached at 2.45 with the others. There
has been a good big town here, ruins on either side and big walls of a
castle, but nothing else. Passed a standing milestone just before we
got here. There is an encampment of gipsies and Tafileh [Tafila]
people a few hundred yards below us and I went down and sat in one
of the tents watching the women boiling leben in a big cauldron to
make a sort of cheese. They gave me some and it was quite good.
Also coffee. Some of the girls were handsome, all tatooed [sic]. Just
before dinner some gipsies came up and danced for me before the
camp fire. The woman had an Egyptian face, very slender and dark.
A little new moon.