The next morning (June 30th), the road in front being very steep, rising continually, with often a drop of several hundred feet on either side, units started at half-hour intervals.

FOOTNOTES: 

[14] Ludd was the birthplace of St. George, the Patron Saint of England.  A church built here, after his martyrdom, was destroyed on the approach of the First Crusaders.  It was re-built, however, but was destroyed again by order of Saladin in A.D. 1191.  Of this church, two apses, two bays and the crypt still remain, and to-day the eastern end has been restored by the Greeks, while the western end is used as a mosque!  In the crypt (belonging to the Greeks) is shown the Tomb of St. George.

    Ludd = Lod of the Scriptures, a city of Benjamin, see I Chron. viii,
    12; Neh. xi, 35; Ezra ii, 33; Acts ix, 32.

AN EXCITING MARCH ALONG THE EDGE OF PRECIPICES.

The necessity of this soon became evident.  The road was crowded with motors of all kinds, and it was by no means a joke to ride a restive horse while leading an obstinate mule, along the brink of a precipice!  At 13.00 Enab was reached, where the Squadron was allotted its ground, rather stony, but next to the water troughs, which, however, saved a lot of work.

The following afternoon (July 1st), the road being steeper still, the transport ("A” Echelon), went ahead of the Brigade.  The Squadron started at 14.30 (units still moving at half-hour intervals), and proceeded along the main Jerusalem road through the new town, past the Damascus Gate (at 17.30), to the eastern side of the town, where the transport was passed and the Brigade concentrated, the highest point having now been reached (2,590 feet above sea level).  A halt of two hours was made, and at 20.00 the descent to the Jordan was commenced.  Henceforth it was “down,” “down,” all the way, with roads just as precipitous as before, but the mountains being so high and steep on both sides, not a breath of air reached us.  At 02.30 after a tiring march, and after passing the “Inn of the Good Samaritan,” we arrived at the water troughs at Talat-ed-Dumm (1,018 feet above sea level).  After watering, about half an hour later, the Squadron found its camping ground, a space barely large enough for a section.  In this cramped area the whole of the Squadron was crammed “as tight as sardines in a tin,” with, literally, not an inch to spare!

Early next morning, when the sun began to rise, some idea was gained of what might be expected in the Jordan Valley.  Although Talat-ed-Dumm, as already stated, is 1,018 feet above the level of the sea, shut in, as it is, among the mountains away from any breeze, the heat there is almost unbearable; the rays of the sun seem to take on a hundred times more power than ever could be believed possible, blazing down from right overhead, and leaving no shade, thus turning the place into a veritable furnace.