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 no longer protecting me; and it was not possible for me to get from Turkish territory to the great tribes of the Weld Slejmân or the Šammar. Accordingly, there was nothing left for us but to make our way to Tebûk.

At 6.55 our camels found a pasture of no great size in the valley of Ummu Rmam, and we remained there until nine o’clock. The valley is covered with a deep layer of sand, in which ṭalḥ, rimṯ, and ʻarfeǧ grow.

Proceeding through Wâdi Ummu Rman to the northwest, we passed by the two dark hills of al-Ḳaṭawên, between which and the ridge of Ammu-ẓ-Ẓrûb the valley of Ummu Rmam terminates. At 10.02 we again entered a broad valley, known as ar-Rwêḥa, and from eleven to 11.40 the camels grazed here. At 11.50 we reached the end of this valley; it becomes a ravine, its bed being wedged between the steep slopes of Ammu Ẓrûb and Umm Ḥawâjeẓ. We there observed some railway sleepers which had been carried away by the water.

The railway line is very superficially constructed: the banks are almost vertical, so that the stones which are heaped up gradually fall out from under the sleepers and holes are formed everywhere in the embankments. The culverts built in the embankments for letting the rain water flow off from one side to the other are very narrow and low, in consequence of which the sand clogs them up and they continually have