Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/157

 the hollow becomes tapering and is called Wudej. It is reached from the south by the šeʻîb of Ẓeḥijje, which runs through the rocky hills of Umm Hašîm. After 9.15 the guide gave the name of al-Ṛarr to the valley through which we were proceeding. On both left and right we saw numerous springs and groups of date and dûm palms (Fig. 57). From 9.55 to 11.40 we rested in a marshy hollow filled with a growth of reeds, where our camels found pasturage. In places the rocky soil was so scorching hot that it was impossible to walk barefooted. Our rifle barrels were as hot as if they had been left in a fire. Towards noon a slight wind arose from the east and we were able to breathe more freely (temperature: 38.2° C). At twelve o’clock we had on our left the copious spring of al-Ḫrâše, which irrigates several gardens and forms a stream more than three hundred meters long. In the gardens there were crops of onions, melons, and tobacco.

At 12.25 we saw the šeʻîb of Umm as-Sarâbîṭ on the left and crossed the old Pilgrim Road of ar-Raṣîfijje leading southward to the hills of Ḳôs al-Ḥnâne, where spirits abide. Date palms were still growing in parts of the valley, so that the oasis of Šarma could be extended a full twenty-five kilometers to the east.

At one o’clock the šeʻîb of Ummu Rǧûm was on our left and Abu Taḳar on our right. At 1.40 on the northern edge of the valley we perceived the well Bîr al-Ṛarr, near which some Arabs were watering some sheep and about ten camels. The Ḥwêṭât at-Tihama breed few camels, because the beasts do not thrive on the coast and in the moist oases. Instead of camels they keep cows on the coast and sheep and goats in the mountains. Eastward from the well Bîr al-Ṛarr the valley through which we were riding is called Umm Ḳarâdi. It is covered with fine gravel, in which the rimṯ and sejâl grow only sparsely, and it is joined from the north by the šeʻîb of ʻAnṣûrijje, near the beginning of which is situated a pile of old, ruined buildings, called al-Merw. The slopes of the valley are steep and barren of vegetation. From the rugged uplands project isolated peaks and obelisks.

To the east, without any gradation, there rise precipitously from the uplands the huge granite mountains belonging to the chain that separates the coast from the eastern highland. In front of them towers Mount ad-Dubba, the curious shapes of which attracted our attention (Fig. 58). The northern