Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/31

 ley. At 8.28 we caught sight of a large troop of riders mounted on camels, proceeding from the north in a westerly direction. We at once forced our camels to their knees and watched the riders. But they were not visible from the ground, and it was impossible to keep our binoculars steady when we were in the saddle as the focus changed at the least movement of the camels. We therefore urged our mounts on, doing our utmost to reach the šeʻîb of Abu ʻAmûd as quickly as possible. There we should have a better chance of concealing ourselves from the strange riders who we feared might be a troop of the Šarârât on the lookout for herds belonging to the Ḥwêṭât.

We remained in Abu ʻAmûd until nine o’clock. The šeʻîb begins under the name of al-Mšâš in the territory of al-Kḏûr near the pilgrims’ station Ḳalʻa Faṣôʻa, and it joins with the šeʻîb of al-Makmi near the rain wells of al-Marmak, and lower down with aš-Šîdijje on the left and al-Maṭḫ on the right. It forms the border of the al-Kbejda hills and ends at the wells Ḳulbân al-Ǧafar. An old road runs along the right side of the lower part of this šeʻîb, past the rain wells of al-Marmak to the wells Ḳulbân al-Ǧafar and continues northward between the šeʻîb of ʻAjrijje and that of Abu Ṭlejḥa.

At 9.20 A. M. we sighted a grove of ṭalḥ trees on the north, with the rain wells of al-Marmak close by. These wells are about two meters deep and hold water for two to three years following a heavy rain. North of al-Marmak rise the tabular hillocks, al-Kbejda, which, enveloped by vapors, resembled a big isolated tent.

We were now passing through the plain of aš-Šubejče, which is covered with coarse, brown gravel, in which a good rain helps the plant semḥ to thrive. Semḥ, which grows thickly and has a short but very disjointed root topped with an umbel as wide as a human palm, never exceeds four centimeters in height. The small sprigs and leaves are yellowish green, soft, gelatinous; the blossoms, tiny and white. The Šarârât, Beni Ṣaḫr, and the inhabitants of the oasis of al-Ǧowf gather the ripe semḥ into bags, and when these are filled they beat them