Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/237

 The railway line and the Pilgrim Route lead through the šeʻîb of al-Muṣâb from the crag Šoḳb al-ʻAǧûz and the station of al-Muṭallaʻ along the western slope of Ḫašm Marṯûm, where the station of Bwêžre is situated in the basin of al-Ǧûba. Below it on the west the šeʻîb is joined by the double šeʻîb of aṣ-Ṣadr and as-Srajjed and a little farther on by the šeʻîb of al-Ḥawẓa, which begins under the name of al-Mizže near the volcano of Ẓobʻân and is joined on the right by the šeʻibân of ʻAlija and al-Mnaḳḳa.

At eight o’clock we crossed the large road, Darb al-Bakra—this being the name of the southern part of the road, Darb al-Mšejṭijje, which connects Syria with al-Medîna. The Bedouins prefer to take this route rather than the Pilgrim Road. It leads from the fountain of al-Mrâṭijje to the waters of ad-Dimež, Ǧerṯûma, al-Ṛẓej, al-Ḫarîm, Ṛadîr al-Ḥṣân, al-ʻEšže, and farther to the southeast. After a while, on the dark red gravel, we observed pink blood stains, a mournful sign that the soles of our camels were already lacerated and bleeding. The camel bearing the water bags was bleeding from both hind feet and my camel from its left forefoot. If the animal lost a drop of blood at every step, how long would it hold out on this journey? We could not reach al-Ḥeǧr in less than three days, but neither in al-Ḥeǧr nor in the surrounding district were any Bedouins encamped, from whom we could have bought fresh animals, and it was not possible to undertake a new journey with our exhausted and wounded camels. We had not intended to work at Medâjen Ṣâleḥ (al-Ḥeǧr), our wish being to proceed westward; and at Medâjen Ṣâleḥ there were Turkish gendarmes, whom I should have preferred to avoid. They had certainly been informed of the way in which we had been treated by the mudîr at Tebûk and possibly the mudîr had received replies to his telegraphic enquiries, replies which were not favorable to us. Our guide told me that he could not go with us along the railway except as far as the station of Dâr al-Ḥamra’, which belonged half to the Fuḳara’ and half to the Beli; al-Ḥeǧr belonged only to the Fuḳara’, and the Fuḳara’ were the enemies of his clan. I doubted whether we should find a reliable guide at Dâr al-Ḥamra’, because both the Fuḳara’ and the Âjde had departed from there for fear of the attacks of Eben Rašîd.

At nine o’clock our camels knelt down; when we forcibly urged them to get up and led them to good pasturage, they knelt down again. The heat was unbearable and the air full