There are so many dens and caves and strongholds in the mountains of Moab that it would be next to impossible for the government to rid herself of these Arab clans. I am told that now, and for many years past, the most powerful of all these lawless tribes is the one called Beni Sukrh, whose head quarters are the famous city and fortress of Kerak. This stronghold is situated on the banks and near the mouth of the river Arnon, which empties into the Dead Sea on the west side, and about fifteen miles from its north end. This clan some years ago captured Canon Tristram and party, and exacted from them a large sum of money as a ransom. In his “Land of Moab” Tristram has given a peculiarly striking description of the fortress Kerak, in which he, himself, was prisoner. It is built on an isolated rock which rises high in the air, and whose level summit is surrounded on all sides but the eastern by chasms from 800 to 1,000 feet deep, and 100 feet wide, with perpendicular sides. A well-built wall surrounds the brow of the precipice on all sides, and the only two places of entrance are through arches tunneled in the solid rock from the side of the precipice to the level within. These narrow and well-guarded entrances are approached by rock-hewn paths, barely wide enough for men or asses to walk on in single file. This is one of the most impregnable strongholds on earth. Gibraltar is not to be compared with it. In this citadel one could safely say: “I will not be afraid of death and bane Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.” This is the Kir-Hareseth of Scripture, and here it was that Mesha, King of Moab, took refuge after his army was destroyed by the combined forces of Israel, Judah, and Edom. These three kings cut Mesha’s army to pieces, but they knew it was folly to besiege his castle. Coming to this, they gave up in despair and went home. After their departure, Mesha, filled with gratitude for the safety that this fortress afforded him, “took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall.” Probably it would be well in this connection to mention a celebrated stone that I saw in a museum in Paris. Do you ask, “Why introduce that stone here?” Because this is the proper place to introduce it. It is the famous Moabite Stone that was found among the ruins of Dhiban not many miles from this place. Dhiban (the Dibon of Scripture), situated on two hills, is now only a ruined village, although the numerous traces of buildings existing in the community indicate that it was once a flourishing town. In 1868 Rev. F. A. Klein, a missionary of the English church, while digging amid the rubbish of Dhiban, made the fortunate discovery. This basaltic rock, two by three feet in size, with one side covered by a Moabite inscription, has a strange history and tells a wonderful tale.