Thurs 17. [17 May 1900] Up at 1.30 and off at 3.45. Beautiful dawn.
The desert all full of white light till the sun rose. Passed a heap of
ruins stones[?] in 11/2 hours and a Khan in an hour more. Saw the
position of Homs [Hims] over the hills to the N and a Jerboa and little
else. The valley widened out, we crossed a low bit of rising ground
and saw Karyatein [Al Qaryatayn] before us 2 hours away. Lunched
at 10 and off at 10.45. Got in at 1. Very cold in the morning and very
hot after the sun rose. White flowered harman, good for the eyes said
'Ali, and Shunnan from which they make kallu, a kind of soap [Arabic
characters] or [Arabic]. Slept for 2 hours and then went to see Fayad
Agha [Arabic] to whom L. [L¸tticke] had given me a letter. His house
is full of inscriptions Palmyrene and stele from Palmyra [Tadmur],
some very good. One supposed to be Zenobia. One I shd think Xian
St John the Baptist or the young Christ carrying a lamb. The Agha
friendly and familiar. 2 Americans returned from Palmyra, having
given[?] by a journey to Baghdad with a German because he would
not march more than 3 hours a day! I shd think for other reasons.
They seemed ill fitted for travel. Went into the hareem and home to
dinner. The Agha has 12 children, handsome lot. One son is studying
in C'ple [Istanbul (Constantinople)]. Cloudy and hot.