Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/27



At 7.31 P. M. we again took up our march. The soldiers guarding the station of Abu Ṭarfa’ heard our voices and shot at us twice, thinking that we wished to attack them. The Bedouins creep round the railway stations under cover of night, fling themselves upon the soldiers, rob them of their arms and ammunition, and vanish before the victims can recover from their surprise. The garrison at Abu Ṭarfa’ had already been attacked and robbed in this manner on two occasions and was on the alert.

At 8.22 we reached the railway track, which projected about thirty centimeters above the plain. It was not easy to persuade our camels to cross the rails. They became frightened at the unexpected sight and fled to right and left, so that we were finally compelled to dismount and force them across one by one. We continued in the same direction at a rapid pace through Šaṭnet umm Ṛaẓa and Abu Dims. Camels proceed at night more rapidly and steadily than by day, espe-