Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/123

 and to the south of it the half white and half black mountains of al-Maḳla and ar-Râḥa; while in front of the latter, nearer the valley, are the lower hills known as al-Ḥemâra and al-Kbejda, the colors of which range from grayish-green to orange-yellow. In the river bed numerous half buried sejâl trunks were visible.

At 4.30 we reached a grove of dûm palms and made our way across some ancient walls that stretched crosswise and lengthwise through the valley. These were the remains of gardens. Here the river bed is more than fifty meters broad and five meters deep and is completely covered with a growth of ṭarfa. From the south the fans of date palms beckoned to us, and at 4.55 we were near the palm gardens where here and there we could see huts built of palm leaves. Toward the east the gardens are shut off by a white marl slope about thirty meters high.

On all sides there are springs of various sizes, the water of which flows together and forms a stream, beside which we halted at 5.20. Some men and women of the Bedaʻîn were watering goats and camels and filling their skin bags. The men scarcely replied to our greeting. But they inspected us