THE UNPOPULAR LANDOWNER I had decided to buy land and settle down in Syria; and had obtained consent from home upon condition that I did not spend more than a certain sum of money, not a large one, which, Suleyman had told me, would be quite sufficient for the purpose.

He pointed out how lands, at present desert, and to be bought for a mere song, could be rendered profitable for the cost of bringing water to them.

There was such a tract of land adjacent to the village where he had a house, with water running under it at no great depth.

Rashid, my servant, did not like this notion of converting deserts into gardens.

He called it simple waste of time and labour, when gardens ready made were going cheap.
There was a nice estate, with two perennial springs within its boundaries, near his village in the north.