Steam mills among the Arabs are unknown. The women grind the flour as they need it. The mill consists of two stones, the upper revolving on the lower. The mill is fed through a hole in the centre, It is considered a disgrace for a man to grind at the mill. packing-cases and render such service. as they could to the natives. Mr. Forder found one day a man held down on the ground by a blacksmith and four assistants who were trying to extract a tooth with a huge pair of pinchers. The missionary offered his services and effectually cured the toothache. Soon the natives brought him all sorts of things to mend, boots, saddles, boxes and the like. He learned Arabic from a class of boys whom he taught English. Fierce fights frequently took place among the Arab tribes. In one of these eight men were killed and twenty-three desperately wounded. Mr. Forder was sent a five hours' journey into the desert to render what help he could. His first patient had nine sword, spear, dagger and gun-shot wounds. The missionary trembled like a leaf, but with a prayer for courage and wisdom for the task he set to work to sew up and bandage these gaping wounds, surrounded by some seventy or eighty men and women. He remained several days nursing the wounded and sleeping in a tent with men, women, and children, goats, kids, sheep, lambs, dogs, and puppies, two donkeys, three cows, and one calf, two horses, and one mule, and fowls without number. In these black tents of Kedar the zealous missionary read his Arabic Bible and explained the Ten Commandments. He was subjected to a fusilade of questions, as "How much did I pay for my wife?" "Where were my sword, dagger, gun and spear?" "Did the Queen have as nice tents to live in as they had?" Two weeks after the missionaries' The Arabs make many things from milk, which is plentiful in the springtime. Here is seen a very primitive churn,-it is a sheepskin slung on a tripod. By being jerked to and fro, the fat in the milk accumulates and becomes butter, which is eaten with dates and considered a great luxury. arrival at Kerak Mr. and Mrs. Lethaby left for England. Circumstances prevented their return and the new-comers were left to carry on the mission alone. Just eight months after their arrival the great tragedy A primitive windlass turned by a camel is used to draw water from the wells at Beersheba. These erections are quite modern, although water has been drawn from the wells for centuries. All the wood work is done by native carpenters. of his life befel Mr. Forder. Without a moment's warning his wife fell dead in his house, suddenly called from earth to heaven. He had so won the confidence and love of the Bedouins that they were heart-broken over his loss and showed him great kindness in these days of darkness and sorrow. The chief said, "You must not leave our country now when you have buried your dead in our midst, you have become a son of the land." The nearest post-office was a hundred miles away. He had to make the journey to send home the sad news. Almost continual fights among the rival tribes took place, and Mr. Forder was frequently in demand to sew up frightfully mutilated wounds. He was subsequently joined by his sister from England, who found the experiences of travel and sojourn among the Bedouins somewhat exciting, at least. Going along a very narrow mountain path her pack-saddle slipped, and slid down twenty or thirty feet, greatly endangering her most precious belonging, her fiddle, with which she beguiled the solitude of her mission exile. Being robbed of everything they possessed was a not uncommon experience. perience. As they had no money a Iwild Bedouin determined to have the wedding ring of his deceased wife, which Mr. Forder wore. The Bedouin, finding he could not easily remove it, was about to cut off the finger when the chief of the tribe interfered. Robbed of his clothing, the missionary received only an old sack, into which he slipped, exposed to the dews and cold of night and the burning sun by day, yet he experienced the The Arabs believe that this is the well from which water was taken by Hagar to give drink to Ishmael (Gen. xxi.. 19). The grooves in the stones have been worn by the ropes of the shepherds as they draw water, and prove how ancient this well is. The shaft is about ten feet in diameter and one hundred feet deep. fulfilment of the promise, "The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night." After nursing scores of people smitten with smallpox he fell at last a victim himself to the dread disease. He was long delirious, but the natives begged to see him, urging: "He was our friend when we were in trouble, he came to us when others were afraid." On his recovery he found opportunity to read his Arabic Bible and preach the Gospel to the crowds of men and women who thronged around his door. One man came two days' journey to be treated for a shot in the shoulder. After treatment he received a Gospel of St. John; two months later he returned for a complete Arabic Bible. But the brave missionary did not have it all his own way as a surgeon-physician. He could not give the instantaneous relief that the native doctors promised, and ofttimes the sick Arabs would pay the native quack a heavy fee for some visible and painful application rather than have the slow restoring remedies free. Fire, bleeding, and dangerous drugs were the remedies. for everything among the Arabs. Sometimes their interference caused the death of the patient who might otherwise have recovered. The most abominable dressings and plasters were put on clean wounds, and even a sheep's knuckle bone forced in as a magic charm. A burly Arab one day seized his medicine chest and demanded money. for its ransom. The missionary swiftly sprang out of the house and locked the door on the thief, who was only released by the sheik on promise of reform. A few weeks later Mr. A SECTION OF THE SIK (RAVINE), AKALIA PETKEA. Arabia Petrea is ten days' journey south of Jerusalem, and famous for the wonderful rock-hewn city of Petra. This city is entered through a long ravine called by the Arabs "The Sik." The rock on either side is of many colors, and in places covered by ferns and creepers. The gorge is about a mile long and terminates in front of a magnificent rock-hewn temple. |