Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/139

 the granite mountains which form the above-mentioned chain on the watershed between the Red Sea and the lowland near the Ḥeǧâz railway. Naming them from the northwest, these mountains are al-Ḫejmri, al-ʻEnejme, Dafdaf, Ṣafwân, ar-Râwa, as-Sîḳ, aš-Šâṭi, and Ḳîr. From al-Muʻaffara they approach the sea like an arch, so that between them and the mountains of az-Zihed and al-Ṛâjme there lies a deep basin, from which the rain water flows to the oasis of ʻAjnûna. From the southern slope of the mountain of al-Muʻaffara runs the šeʻîb of the same name; from Ṣafwân comes the šeʻîb of ʻAẓbe; from ar-Râwa and al-Ḫarîṣ, the šeʻîb of Râwa, near which rises the spring of al-Bsajjeṭ; and from the plateau of Radma, the šeʻibân of Umm Nîrân and Entêš.

At 5.42 we advanced through the broad šeʻîb of al-Ǧimm, which is covered with a growth of palm thickets and could be transformed into an extensive plantation of date palms. It forms the border of the region known as al-Hrajbe. At 6.16 we crossed the šeʻîb of aṣ-Ṣwêr, which contains a growth of dûm bushes. From 6.45 to seven o’clock we halted in this šeʻîb, for among the dûm palms we discovered a number of ratam bushes which our camels devoured greedily (Fig. 55). To the west there rises the elevated ridge of Dabbet aṣ-Ṣwêr.

Proceeding on our journey, we rode through the hillock range of Berḳ al-Mḫaṣṣab with its deep and narrow šeʻibân