Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Route in Northern Arabia
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
[-Suwcyid,-]{+Dr. Walun’s Route in Northern Arabia.
13
Suwcyid,+} and tlu; district about al-Wegh’(Wejli). The fluweitat
give the name of Reishy (Reishf) to the ancestor of their tribe, but
in tbe Arab genealogies which I had an opportunity of seeing I
could not find any notice, at least any direct notice, either of him
or of his descendants.
Besides the Huweitat, there is also a small tribe called
al-Messa’id (al Messa’fd), who represent themselves as having
originally come from a valley named Wadi Lif, in al-Yaman :
they usually reside in the vicinity of Makna,* a place consisting
of an assemblage, as I was told, of date-tree huts (bakkar) two
days S. of Akaba (’Akabah).
Extensive date plantations, belonging to the Beni ’Ukba (Bein’
’Ukbah), and other Bedooins of the surrounding country, are
cultivated at Makna, along a stream of running water, by a tribe
of nomadic fellahs, called al-Fawaide (Fawaydeh), who, in the
same manner as the Gabaliye (Jabaliyeli) in the Sina mountains,
associate themselves with the Bcdooin owners of tbe plantations,
and receive for their labour and care in cultivating them a certain
proportion of the dates annually produced. At the season when
tbe fruit is ripe the owners assemble here to gather their respective
crops; and, as at the same time a sort of fair is going on, the
prospect of trading and bargaining seldom fails to attract from
remoter districts many Arabs who have no interest in the
plantations.
On the 20th of February, 1848, I left Muweilah in company is-m.
with a man of the Beni ’Ukba tribe. Our way lay over the Feb. 20.
sterile, sandy plain of the shore, nearly along the pilgrim road, for
one hour, when we entered a flat valley bearing slight vegetation,
called al-Kamira (Kdmirah). Half an hour afterwards low
sandstone hills, or rather irregular hillocks, and masses of
conglomerate, such as are usually found at the foot of a chain of mountains,
commenced. We continued our course towards the N.E., through
gently ascending valleys between hills of similar character, but
somewhat darker in colour, and becoming gradually higher, until
we arrived at the tents of my guide and his clan, after a journey
of G hours from Muweilah.
On the 21st we resumed our journey in the company of the Feb. 21.
whole clan, the members of which had decided upon moving from
the place they occupied on the previous day. Passing through
a small valley called Weiwi (Weiwf), we entered a larger one,
the Wadi Sadr, which, formed by the accession of various ravines
and smaller valleys running down from between the peaks of the
main chain, gradually expands into an open plain along its foot.
The ravines in the mountains are steep and rugged, but afford
plenty of water and contain some date-trees, which belong to the
* Spelt Maku’a in Captain Moresby ’s Chart of the Bed Sea.—A.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
