We rode round and round one hill after another, till we reached _Dair 'Ammar_. Then opened upon us one of those few prospects which in a lifetime impress themselves indelibly on the mind. This was not lovely, but stern, consisting chiefly of a wild, dark alternation of lower hills, with the valleys between them. The villages hereabouts bear an appearance of prosperity--perhaps because Turkish officials are never seen there; but the people of _Dair 'Ammar_ behaved rudely. Down, deep deep down we went, leading our horses, in order to rise afterwards to a higher elevation. At length we reached a petty spring of water, where there were some dirty, but otherwise good-looking women, who pointed out our path towards the castle at the top of the hill. The _Ibn Simhhan_ people (being the great rivals of _Abu Gosh_) had often invited me to visit them at this castle,--describing with ardour the abundance and excellence of its springs of water, and the salubrity of its atmosphere. On arriving at the "_Ras_," after a tedious and very wearisome journey,--difficult as the place is of access,--I found it to fall far below those promises. There are no springs near it. The only water is brought up by the women from the one which we had passed far below. Only within the castle (which was begun while building forty-four years before) some old wells, with good masonry stones, were discovered. These are now put into good order, and kept full, probably in readiness at any time against a siege by the faction of Abu Gosh. Many battles and sieges take place in these remote places that the Pasha of Jerusalem never hears of. Although of modern origin, much of the earliest part of the castle is already falling to decay--such as gates, steps, etc. It was a melancholy spectacle to walk about the place, reminding one of some small middle-aged castles that I have seen in Scotland, burnt or destroyed during old times of civil warfare; or resembling my recollection, after many long years, of Scott's description of the Baron Bradwardine's castle in its later period. And the same melancholy associations recurred yesterday at Mejdal Yaba. The people assured us that the tortuous and rocky road that we had taken from Ras el 'Ain was the best and nearest that we could have taken. We were received by a couple of relatives of Ibn Simhhan, who is now Governor of Lydd; but they conducted us to the next village, _Janiah_, to be entertained there by the rest of the family. On our descent to the village, we met our hosts coming to meet us.