Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/172

 of camels to the regions of aṭ-Ṭafîle, al-Kerak, or Mâdaba, east of the Dead Sea, in order to sell the camels there and with the proceeds to purchase grain and particularly barley. Such an expedition for grain is known by the Beni ʻAṭijje as ḫaṭar. The guide complained of the Government for levying tolls on every load of grain.

Above the well some raḫam birds (Egyptian vultures) were wheeling, and the men shot at them. They would have liked to bring down at least one, in order to have the flesh for their comrade who had been bitten by a serpent. They suppose that there is no better remedy for the bite of a serpent than the flesh of these birds. The person bitten is allowed to eat only their flesh and must rub their fat into his wound.

The well of al-Bêr is hidden among countless isolated peaks, cones, obelisks, mutilated pyramids, and other formations produced by the joint action of rain, wind, and sand. To the west rises the mutilated pyramid of al-Ǧimmed and to the southwest the peak of Ummu Rkejbe; south of Ummu Rkejbe is the hollow obelisk of Šaʻarat al-ʻEfâš and farther on in the same direction the knoll of al-Melḥem with the pyramid of al-Ǧemez to the east of it. Beyond are the rocks of Ḫejrâb, Bḫejrân, al-ʻÂṣi, Ašhab, and aš-Šaʻara, and the mutilated cone of Belâl to the north of the last-named. East of al-Bêr projects the prism of Ab-al-Ḳûr, northwest of which is the obelisk of ʻÂḳer; and to the north of al-Bêr rise the severed cone of al-Maḫarûḳa, the group of peaks known as az-Zebedijje, and Umm ʻArejḳîb, behind which are seen the flattened knolls of the table-shaped rocks of Abu Ṭbejḳ and al-Mhejmi.

At 7.20 we caught the first glimpse of the volcanic region Ḥarrat ar-Rḥa’ to the southeast. A black rampart, as if heaped up by giants, rises to the east and fades from view far on the southern horizon. This rampart forms the southern frontier of the uplands of Ḥesma.

We rode along the broad, rocky elevations, upon which are situated isolated remains of strata that have been carried away. These rocks, the last memorials of bygone mountains, display curious shapes, according to the manner in which the different strata have resisted erosion. Almost directly in front of us rose the crag of al-ʻUwêḳer, composed of three circular rocks of decreasing size set one upon the other. The heat increased, the air did not stir, and the sun was surrounded