Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/245

 mediately fire at anybody who comes near them. Apprehensive lest they might begin shooting at us, I therefore halted and sent Ḫalîl on in front. He kept on calling in the Kurdish language for a soldier whom he knew, and, when the latter appeared and he had told him who we were, we were able to ride on. At 8.40 we encamped by the side of the station. The officials and soldiers asked us how we were and invited us to take part in their amusement. They were exhilarated with tea and ʻaraḳ brandy and were dancing and singing. Ḫalîl and Šerîf joined them, but the rest of us lay down beside our camels, for we were tired and needed rest.

On Tuesday, July 5, 1910, we were in our saddles again at 4.02 A. M. At 4.20 we mounted a rise of no great height and ten minutes later were enjoying a beautiful view: in front of us wound the šeʻîb of al-Ḫawwâr bordered to the north by dark heights; to the northeast appeared the low cones of Brêḳ al-Mḥâmli; to the north the cones of al-Mšêrîf stood out, while in the east hovered the bluish slopes of al-Ṛazwân and al-Edêreʻ. From 5.15 to 6.06 our camels grazed on fresh arṭa in the šeʻîb of al-Mdejsîs. At 6.38 we crossed the šeʻibân of al-Ḫawwâr and Ammu Rtejmât; at 7.16 Maḳṣadet al-Ḳaṣja’; at 7.32 Maḳṣadet ad-Dunja’, where we were overtaken by a member of the Ḫuẓara clan of the Beni ʻAṭijje, who had been appointed gendarme at al-Aḫẓar. He rode with us to his post and described the whole of the surrounding district.

At 8.34 we reached the reservoir of the station of al-Aḫẓar. The station is built on the right-hand side of the valley of the same name and is a rectangular stone stronghold without towers. On the north and east are six deep reservoirs, the water for which used to be obtained from a well about ten meters deep and more than two meters broad, hollowed out in the courtyard of the stronghold. The water is now conducted into a large cistern excavated in the rocky southern slope, whence it is conveyed to the railway water tower constructed by the side of the embankment.