[p.218] where we found a party of Arabs Szolout encamped, with whom we breakfasted. In one hour and a quarter we passed Redheimy [Arabic], where the ground was covered with remains of ancient enclosures. One hour and a half, El Hadher [Arabic]; one hour and three quarters, El Laheda [Arabic]; two hours, Omten [Arabic]; two hours and a half, Meraszrasz [Arabic]; three hours, Om Haretein [Arabic]; three hours and a half, Essammera [Arabic]. All the above villages and towns are in ruins, and prove the once-flourishing state of the Ledja. In four hours we reached Om Ezzeitoun [Arabic], a village inhabited by Druses. The advantages of a Wady like the Lowa are incalculable in these countries, where we always find that cultivation follows the direction of the winter torrents, as it follows the Nile in Egypt. There are not many Wadys in this country which inundate the land; but the inhabitants make the best use of the water to irrigate their fields after the great rains have ceased. Springs are scarce, and it is from the Wadys that the reservoirs are filled which supply both men and cattle with water, till the return of the rainy season. It is from the numerous Wadys which rise in the Djebel Haouran that the population of the Haouran derives its means of existence, and the success of its agriculture. Om Ezzeitoun is inhabited by thirty or forty families. It appears, by the extent of its ruins, to have been formerly a town of some note. I here copied several inscriptions. Upon a broken stone in the wall of a public building over the great reservoir of the town, was the following: [Greek] [p.219] [Greek]. The only ancient building of any consequence is a small temple, of which an arch of the interior, and the gate, only remain; on each side of the latter are niches, between which and the gate are these inscriptions: [Greek]. The two last syllables are on the frame within which the inscription is engraved. [Greek]. Upon a stone lying on the ground near the temple is the following: [p.220] [Greek].[[Greek]. Ed.] Upon a long narrow stone in the wall of a court-yard near the temple: [Greek].