Khanyunis (or Khan Yunas) is the furthest Syrian place in the direction of Egypt, and in some respects the last outpost of the immediate authority of the Porte, as El Harish is of that of the Khedive. Between the two lies that desert tract in which the Rafah pillars stand, indicating the supposed boundary between the two countries. The Bedouin, however, wanders at will over the waste land, caring little whether he happens to be in Egypt or Syria.

As in El Harish, the Kala constitutes the castle of the place, and is at the same time the nucleus around which the other buildings have gradually clustered.

Khanyunis is now a pleasant village, but does not at present contain more than 1000 inhabitants. Formerly the population was larger, having reached 1800, but it has decreased owing to the frequent inroads of the Tarabin Bedouins, who only three years ago set fire to the crops of the poor villagers. All the Bedouins who haunt the neighbourhood are Tarabins. They are generally well provided with horses and asses, some of the former being fine animals, of great powers of endurance. Since Khanyunis has been supplied with a stronger garrison, they are kept in check, and the state of affairs is consequently much improved. There are now fifty foot and fifty horse soldiers, almost exclusively sons of the desert, who look quite picturesque with their Koufi as head-dress, and Arabian costume. They are fine muscular fellows, and extremely courteous in manner. The villagers wear the usual South Syrian costume, and are of fairly strong build. Some of the boys have two ringlets hanging at the sides of their heads,—a fashion not uncommon among the Bedouins. There are two schools for the instruction of youth, and, judging from the fact that nearly every one can read, they must be well attended.

The interior of the village presents but a poor appearance, the streets being dirty and disfigured by numerous trenches for carrying off the rain. The houses, between which lofty palms raise their towering heads, are built of mud and stone. The inferior quality of stone consists of shell detritus and shale conglomerate from the neighbouring sea-shore, and the better material is brought from different ruins, sometimes from a distance of ten to twelve hours' journey. The roofs of the houses are flat, and over many of the entrances, which have wooden lintels, a piece of bone is fixed as a protection against the influence of the Evil eye. For the better defence of the inhabitants against the incursions of the Bedouins, the houses have loopholes; ventilation is provided for by a number of round holes arranged either in rows or tasteful designs. As has been said, the principal feature of Khanyunis is its Kala (see sketch), which abuts on a broad place or square, the left side of which still shows traces of a former enclosure. On either side of the entrance is a hall, with a fragment of a pedestal. That on the left contains the modest dwelling of the governor, who lives quite alone here, with but one servant. The Kala, which is 850 years old, once formed a square, at the corners of which were circular towers, with oval cupolas, and three embrasures. The two front towers only now remain, the back wall having been quite destroyed, and the once enclosed square is now filled with a wild confusion of wretched houses, half in ruins, which serve the soldiers as a place of habitation. In the centre of the front side is a gate with loopholes within the pointed arch, above which is a Moorish frieze crowned with lilies. On both sides of the gate, and on the broad front wall, are pyramidical battlements with tapering ends. Inside the archway is an inscription of Sultan Bargut of Cairo, and either side is ornamented with a lion, rudely sculptured in relief. Arabic inscriptions are cut in the walls on both sides of the gate, and in the gateway itself; no regard having been paid to keeping within the stone rows. To the right of the gate, within the Kala, rises the octagonal minaret of the mosque, from which is obtained a fine view of the ruinous interior, with its labyrinth of dilapidated houses, as well as of the whole village. From here four roads can be seen diverging from Khanyunis, namely the El Harish road, the road leading to Suez vi Akaba, the Benishaela road, and lastly, the Gaza road. At the entrances to these roads are grouped the houses of the village. Raising our eyes towards the horizon we saw the yellow sand-hills which bound the plantations towards the sea, strikingly contrasting with the bright green trees, and on the other side the rich verdant plain stretching away towards Gaza, which may be discerned in the distance. The numerous prickly-pear bushes surrounding the village on the Gaza side are a conspicuous feature in the landscape.

We now descended to complete our inspection of the Kala. In the interior the mosque, with its oval dome, has almost gone to ruin; but the fine though simple marble pulpit still stands in good preservation. In the midst of the ruins, which have a somewhat picturesque appearance, is a house in a very dangerous condition, in consequence of a considerable portion of the mosque having fallen on it a short time since. Notwithstanding this, however, the people are heedless enough to continue occupying it. Only a few steps' distance a lofty palm was recently blown down by a violent storm. Thus the works both of man and nature meet with a common destruction, the inhabitants not thinking it worth while to do the least in the way of repair, or to make the slightest attempt to protect themselves against impending danger. Lethargy and nonchalance are the leading characteristics of Eastern nations, and a certain evidence of the gradual decay of their religion and race.

There is another mosque in the village opposite the Kala, but without a minaret. From its exterior it is scarcely to be recognised as a Jama. Near one of the ruined towers of the Kala's outer enclosure, and at the corner of a house on the road to Gaza, stand ancient pedestals, serving as seats for the Mayor, Sheik el Beled.

The Souk or Bazaar of Khanyunis is formed by two streets lined with wretched Turkish shops, with mud or clay projections for seats. The doors are made to flap upward, but they close imperfectly; the roofs are, as usual, made of the Artemisia shrub. The goods exposed in these shops come for the most part from Gaza and Jaffa; but the caps of camel's hair and of cotton, as well as the white and black Syrian mantles, are made by the villagers themselves. At the end of the village, near the Souk, and on the road to El Harish, is the second public well, about 18 fathoms deep, and built entirely of ancient marble fragments. At the side is a cistern with cattle-troughs of the same material, which evidently belongs to a more flourishing period than the present. Somewhat further on, behind a slight hollow with stagnant water and a few palm trees, in the Akaba and Suez road, is the burial-ground, containing a few whitewashed tombs of step-like construction. At the opposite end of the village, where the road is open to the surrounding country, we came upon a hollow with embankments, and then took the road leading to Benishaela.

In the neighbourhood of Benishaela there are many gardens, which bear witness to the extreme fertility of the soil; though unfortunately there is not a single well among them. Almonds and apricots are the chief productions, and the raised ground enclosing them is often covered with small branches of the thorny "Sidr." Near the village we saw several "Sidr" trees, as well as tamarisks (Atel) and sycamores. The most numerous class are the thorny Opuntias, which grow round some of the gardens in rank luxuriance.

The people of Khanyunis do not live exclusively from the cultivation of the ground; they are also largely engaged in cattle-breeding, and a great many cows are to be seen in the neighbourhood. Of camels there are but few; horses, on the other hand, are numerous. I also saw four greyhounds of the Syrian breed. As is well known, it is Richard Coe]ur de Lion to whom is ascribed the introduction into the Holy Land of the greyhound, which, crossing with the ordinary street dog, originated the above-mentioned breed. These dogs were not of pure blood; they were spotted white and yellow, with shaggy hair and blue stripes, studded with cowries, on their haunches. They are used for hunting gazelles, which are frequently caught alive when very young. One of these graceful creatures was brought to us and offered for a sum equal to six shillings; it was very tame, and we carried it for some distance. But at length it died, in consequence, as was said, of having eaten bread, which, according to Abou Nabout's assertion, is very unwholesome for these animals. The more probable cause was the trying journey it made in a basket on a camel's back. There are only a few street dogs in Khanyunis; but, as a compensation, any quantity of kites, kestrels, and crows, which alight in hundreds on the loftier sidr or sycamore trees in the neighbourhood, and may often be seen hovering over the village on the look-out for prey and carrion.