'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎521] (610/905)

CHAP. XX.]
TOWN OF KERAH.
521
both a Christian church and a mosque. The town contains inhabitants of
about 150 Christian and 400 Turkish families ; the former are the town '
descendants of refugees from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, &c., who
are free from all exactions ; and the latter originally came from
the mountains of Hebron and Nabulus. A sheikh governs
Kerak, but he has no greater authority in the town than a Be-
dawin chief has over his tribe. The inhabitants are so remark
able for their hospitality that the town is almost always filled
with guests, especially the Bedawms, who delight in living
well at the expense of others. 1 The Kerakein intermarry with
the Bedawins, with whom they live on good terms; and in
some cases they receive from the latter a small tribute annually.
Three or four houses are generally built in the same court
yard, and they have flat roofs resting on two arches like those
of the Haouran. The narrow ravine southward of Kerak
contains caverns and wrought tombs, with recesses for
sarcophagi. 2 Four or five miles E.S.E. are the ruins of Ruins of
Dethas, with a temple, some ordinary Roman buildings, and Dethas '
many cisterns. 3 In the line southward of Kerak is Ain Ferayn,
a fine spring, with a ruined city near it; and two miles further
is Ketharabba, a village surrounded by gardens, and containing
both stone dwellings and the tents of the Beni Ammer. 4 Six
miles farther is Oerak, a similar village of equal size; and
between this and the borders is one of more considerable
magnitude, called Khanzir. This place occupies the declivity Khanzir.
of one of the highest mountains on the eastern side of the
Dead Sea, and in its neighbourhood are many streams which
water the fields ; there is also an extensive tract of gardens in
which a portion of the inhabitants are constantly encamped with
their cattle ; 5 the whole are under tents in the time of harvest.
The preceding, together with El Belka, El Moerad, and the
rest of the districts already noticed, represent Persea Proper,
the Decapolis, Batanea (Bothi'n), also the Gaulonitis,
Auranitis, Iturea, and Trachonitis, of the ancients; that is,
1 Burckhardt's Travels, pp. 379—385.
8 Irby and Mangles' Travels, p. 369. 3 Ibid., p. 372. * Ibid., p. 396,
5 Ibid., pp. 397, 398.
VOL. I. 3 X