Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/247

 slope we perceived a Turkish soldier, who was aiming at us and shouting at the top of his voice. Soon after that we saw about twenty soldiers who had been detailed to repair the embankment and were resting in the culverts. Disturbed by the shout and the sound of firing, they had seized their arms, posted themselves behind the embankment, and were aiming at us. We halted and sent Šerîf to them. As they saw that he was on foot and without firearms, they allowed him to approach them and he told them who we were and where we were going. We were then able to ride on. At twelve o’clock we had the railway station of al-Aḫẓar on our left hand. On a knoll situated on the eastern slope to the left of the šeʻîb of an-Nâḳa we perceived a dummy soldier made of a pole and some tattered clothing. This scarecrow was hidden behind a large pile of stones and was looking toward the south.

At the station of al-Aḫẓar the broad basin terminates, for the valley swings off nearly due north and between the rocks of Brêḳ al-Mḥâmli becomes so narrow that during the time of rain it is impossible to pass through it. The Pilgrim Road therefore leads through the gap an-Nḳejb on to the western upland and then along it farther to the north, while the railway winds through the šeʻîb. Both the engineers and the workmen had considerable labor before they succeeded in constructing a railway in these places. The crags consist of small stones, hard and soft, which are cross-bedded in arrow yers. The gap of an-Nḳejb is in places scarcely three meters broad and is enclosed on the right and left by high rocky walls; in it the Bedouins are fond of lying in wait for the caravans, which they rush upon and rob. The Bedouins have also several times damaged the railway embankment and the track. The railway stations here are therefore placed much closer together and are provided with strong garrisons.

At one o’clock to the east we saw the station of al-Muṣṭabṛa, in a district more forlorn and barren than any other I have seen in the Orient. Around the station are nothing but bare rugged rocks, gray or brown parched slopes, and above them a narrow, gray strip of sky. At 1.30 we crossed the šeʻîb of al-Worob, which joins with the ravine of al-Muṣṭabṛa and terminates in the šeʻîb of al-ḪHabbîni. At 2.25 we had a delightful view on the left to the southwest, immediately before