MAQAINAMA 111

out of a cave objecting to the intrusion of one of our men
and 'Ali went in pursuit, though he failed to get a shot.
Above the sandstone lay a thick whitish layer of limestone
surmounted by slabs and broken fragments of chert or flint—
obviously part of a more extensive bed whose remnants lay
scattered over all this section of the steppe. We found no
flint implements, though many of the smaller fragments
had jagged edges showing that they had been used for
striking lights by modern man.

The view from the summit was extensive but amazingly
monotonous. All the slight ridge features and undulations
apparent on the level had merged now in a flat, featureless
study in brown with the black splash of our baggage animals
seemingly crawling over it in the distance ahead, where also
appeared some small dark hillocks marking the position of
the Qaliba well, our immediate objective. Afar off to the
north we had our last view of the Jabrin basin, a vague,
variegated film of vegetation in which the only distinguish-
able features were the twin Jawamir ridges and the palms of
Umm al Nussi. Salim pointed out to the south-east a row of
low hills marking the position of Qasab, the eastern-most
of the Jaub waterings, with the long coast of a ridge called
Ghazala over against Birkan.

There was nothing to detain us here and we soon clambered
down the rocky slope to remount our camels, which had been
enjoying the varied vegetation of the sand-patches amid the
steppe. Since April, 1931, there had been no rain in this
part of the desert but the graceful Ghadha was already put-
ting on its spring garments of tender green and there was
Dhumran in abundance. That is good for them, said Abu
Ja'sha the coarsest of our wits, for the Dhumran is to the
camel even as women are to the Arab. And verily women
are the best of all that we possess. Falih had many virtues in
a soul corroded by the rough life of Ms kind, and that
struck me as a most profound remark. It came from his
heart. He had a passionate love for his family, and a little
daughter called Ja'sha was the apple of his eye. One
could always reduce him to tenderness by playing on that
memory. . . „..... ...