the first case its original owner would have been one of later Lakhmid princes allied to the Sassanian kings, or else the Persian satrap who took the place of the house of Nu'man ibn Munthir during the years that immediately preceded the downfall of the lords of Ctesiphon; but if the second alternative be correct, Kheidhar must have been built by Persian artificers for one of the early khalifs. I incline to this opinion. There is a growing body of evidence to prove that the Umayyad khalifs were addicted to such resorts, where they could shake off, remote from prying eyes, the strict yoke of Islam. On the west side of the Syrian desert they employed Syrian workmen to build and decorate these hunting palaces; on the east side they could naturally have recourse to Persians, for it must be remembered that the invaders brought no arts with them except the art of verse. Certain structural features of Kheidhar are hard to reconcile with a date in the Sassanian period. The chief of these are the groined vaults in the passages and over the central chamber in the east annex within the court. They point to a certain amount of Syrian influence which is more easily explicable under the khalifs than under the Chosroes. It is of great significance that the architect did not venture to set a dome on columns. The twocolumned chambers in the central block of the palace, where a dome might be expected, are covered with three parallel barrel vaults. Skilful as were the builders in the construction of vaults-the span of the great hall is ten metres, and the vault is of brick, laid on the same principle as the famous Ctesiphon vault that spans 25.80 metres-they were very cautious in the matter of domes. The sole example is the dome within the north door, which covers a space of 2.80 x 3.20 metres and is set on corbels. It is instructive to compare these meagre dimensions with those of the Sassanian domes of Firuzabad and Sarvistan, both covering a chamber some 16 metres square, which are set on squinch arches. All the walls are plastered with stucco within and without, and in some places there are remains of stucco ornament. The part of the building that adjoins the north wall has two upper storeys, the uppermost of which is considerably ruined. On a level with it is the chemin de ronde running along the top of the outer walls; it is completely

preserved on the east side and interrupted only by short ruined spaces on the other three sides. The stairs in the corner towers leading up on to it are all destroyed, but we climbed up over the ruins of the gates. To the northeast of the castle there is a small detached building which the Arabs call the bath; they assured me that brackish water can be got by digging in the sand close to it. There is a mound here which may mark the site of some other structure now fallen, otherwise there are no traces of ruins round the castle except some vestiges of a wall or water channel connecting the main building with the Wady Lebay'a. Excellent sweet water is always to be got by digging in the valley, and in winter a stream runs down it. I saw no appliances for storing water within the castle, though in all probability they exist; there is a brackish well, scarcely drinkable, in the court. Under some portions of the palace are vaulted substructures now much ruined, but the need of underground chambers in which to shelter during the summer heats is not felt at Kheidhar, the roofs and walls being so massive that the rooms are always cool. There are curious devices in the vaulting for protection against the heat. The annex in the east part of the court is a later addition, and so, in all probability, are the outhouses to the north, but both belong to the same architectural period as the rest of the building.

A very short survey made it clear that Kheidhar could not be planned in a day. We had exhausted our small stock of provisions, and the materials necessary for carrying out so large a piece of work were at Kerbela with the caravan. Fattuh disposed of the difficulties at once by declaring that he intended to ride into Kerbela that night and bring out the caravan next day. Fattuh yearned for the sight of the baggage horses, and for my part I longed for a bed and for a table more than I could have thought it possible. I was weary of sleeping on the stony face of the desert, of sitting in the dust and eating my meals with a sauce of sand-so infirm is feminine endurance. An Arab called Ghanim, clean-limbed and spare, like all his half-fed tribe, offered himself as guide, and 'Ali assured us that he knew every inch of the way. But when the zaptiehs heard that one of them was to accompany the expedition they turned white with fear.

To ride through the desert at night, they declared, was a venture from which no man was likely to come out alive. I hesitated-it requires much courage to face risks for others-but Fattuh stood firm, 'Ali laughed, and the thought of the bed carried the day. They started at eight in the evening, and I watched them disappear across the sands with some sinking of heart. All next day I was too well occupied to give them much thought, but when six o'clock came and 'Ali set watchers upon the castle walls, I began to feel anxious. Half an hour later Ma'ashi, the sheikh's brother, and my particular friend, came running down to my tent.

'Praise God! my lady khan, they are here.'

The Arabs gathered round to offer their congratulations, and Fattuh rode in, grey with fatigue and dust, the caravan at his heels. He had reached Kerbela at five in the morning, found the muleteers, bought provisions, loaded the animals, and set off again about ten.

'And the oranges are good in Kerbela,' he ended triumphantly. I have brought your Excellency a whole bag of them.'

It was a fine performance.

The Arabs who inhabited Kheidhar had come there two years before from Jof in Nejd: 'Because we were vexed with the government of Ibn er Rashid,' explained 'Ali, and I readily understood that his could not be a soothing rule. The wooden howdahs in which the women had travelled blocked one of the long corridors, and some twenty families lodged upon the ground in the vaulted chambers of princes. They lived and starved and died in this most splendid memorial of their own civilisation, and even in decay Kheidhar offered a shelter more than sufficient for their needs to the race at whose command it had been reared. Their presence was an essential part of its proud decline. The sheikh and his brothers passed like ghosts along the passages, they trailed their white robes down the stairways that led to the high chambers where they lived with their women, and at night they gathered round the hearth in the great hall, where their forefathers had beguiled the hours with tale and song in the same rolling tongue of Nejd. Then they would pile up the desert scrub till the embers glowed under the coffee-pots, while Ma'ashi handed round the delicious