When the sun came out again the wedding party were all there in their
places, but all were turned into stone, and the boiling water still
bubbles up out of the earth round about them.
Personally I could not recognise exactly the actors in this drama; it
needed a lot of imagination to believe that one mound represented Ali
and another Ourida, while Abdallah was recognisable by his turban!
This was all that I saw of them.
* * * * *
A GOOD TURN TO A DONKEY.
Owing to the absence of roads in the country the Arabs do not use
carts. All the carrying is done by camels, mules, or donkeys. The
donkeys are the commonest, being the cheapest; and very patient,
hard-working little servants they are.
On one of our tramps we came across an Arab standing very forlornly by
his donkey, which had fallen down. There was the little beast lying on
its side with its huge load of halfa grass partly across it, and the
owner quite at a loss to know what to do. This "halfa" or "esparto"
grass is collected by the Arabs on the mountain side, and brought down
and sold to merchants to go and make paper in England.
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