Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/253

Rh cliffs. A broad valley leads away to the north called Wâdy Shiah, joining eventually the Wâdy Jerafeh, and thus falling into Wâdy 'Arabah and the Dead Sea. To the east of this valley are the granite hills of Jebel Humra jutting up in innumerable sharp peaks. The Derbel Haj runs immediately south of the Jebel Humra, through an open plain which is bounded on the south by a line of cliffs running east from the watershed. We passed along the plain and camped above the Nukb, or descent to the Gulf of 'Akabah.

The Derb el Haj descends about 2,000 feet to the plain of 'Akabah, by a carefully constructed road; the rock had to be considerably excavated in places, and bridges span the watercourses when necessary. A carriage could be driven down the descent without much risk; the road winds down a steep hillside for the first mile, and then descends by a valley through granite hills to the plain below. Before descending I had to make a long detour in order to obtain a good station to observe from, and I was fortunate in finding a point from which I had a splendid view of the Wâdy 'Arabah, which became afterwards one of my trigonometrical stations when passing up the valley.

The Admiralty Survey does not correctly give the form of the head of the bay, which is not so pointed as shown. At the lowest part of the valley the soil is soft and loamy; the remainder of the broad bed is sand and débris from the hills.

The castle of 'Akabah is an extensive, but ruined, building situated close by the sea-shore on the eastern side of the bay, and is surrounded by a few wretched hovels and extensive groves of palm-trees along the shore. It is the abode of an Egyptian Governor, who has a few soldiers at his disposal, and is considered an important station on the Egyptian Haj road. There is practically no trade in the place, as ships never come there. The bay contains sharks and numerous other fish.

The party had to remain three days at 'Akabah, while arrangements were being made with Sheikh Muhammed Ibn Jhad, of the 'Allawin Arab tribe, to take us up the Wâdy 'Arabah.

During this period I was fully occupied measuring a base line on the plain and starting the triangulation of the valley. I was also able to survey some portion of the shore line and hills about 'Akabah, which were not correctly laid down on the Admiralty plan. I measured the base line