Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/197

 by two shepherds, who told us that smallpox had broken out in the encampment of the Ḥwêṭât at the head of the šeʻîb of Tmarr and that therefore all the Beni ʻAṭijje encamped in the šeʻîb of al-Ḫambara were fleeing to the north. This was bad news, because we wanted to proceed along the northern foot of the Tmarr mountain range to the southeast. The new guide failed to turn up; either Daʻsân had returned or Daʻsân’s uncle had frightened him. Our guide Sbejḥ also wanted to leave us. Previously he had feared the Ḥwêṭât and the Beli; now he feared still more that he might catch the smallpox. His camel had remained in Daʻsân’s camp, and the new guide was to have brought it to him. He asked me for his wages, because he said that he did not intend to lose his life. It took me a long time before I could persuade him to remain with us until we found another guide.

Having left al-Ḳwejmi, we proceeded through the plain of az-Zâwije farther to the south. At twelve o’clock we had on our right the pink-tinted elevation of aṭ-Ṭḫi and at 12.20 on our left the yellowish hill of al-Asejher with, near by in the shallow šeʻîb of al-Ḳwêra, the hollow Ṛadîr abu ʻAẓejne and farther east Ṛadîr Abejṯer. On the east the plain is enclosed by the steep slopes of sandstone hills about sixty meters high, upon which lies a horizontal stratum of lava. The šeʻîb of al-Ḫambara proceeds from a deep, broad gap, the sides of which are as upright as if they had been artificially made with a T square. To the south we saw the blackened and rugged elevation of aṣ-Ṣwejwîn. We rode through the numerous shallow, dry watercourses of as-Saʻejdât, which run in a northeasterly direction. Footpaths lead through them to the gap of al-Ḫrejta.

At 1.55 P. M. we approached the rugged crags in which lies the rain well Mšâš al-Ǧdejjed. With our loaded rifles in our hands we scrutinized the crags to the right and left, for we feared that there might be robbers about. At 2.35 we went down to a well where we remained until 4.55. This well is situated in the bed of the rocky ravine nearly one hundred meters deep. The well itself, which was about three meters deep and half dried-up, contained only a little water. Ḫalîl climbed up to the southern slope to keep watch while Šerîf went down to the well and collected water with a dish into a canvas bucket. Muṭalleḳ drew out the filled bucket and poured out water for the camels, which had to drink two at