Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/32

 with sticks and stones to separate the seed pods. Then, shaking the bags till the pods fall to the bottom, they remove the husks, throw the seeds into some rain pool, and wait patiently for the moisture to open the pods, thereby causing the seed to drop out. Throwing away the now worthless pods, they pick out the seeds, which they dry and preserve for food. The seeds are eaten either roasted or boiled; they are also ground into flour for bread.

At 10.49 we crossed the head of the šeʻîb of al-Maṭḫ, where ṭalḥ trees grow plentifully. The terebinth and sidr, on the other hand, will not thrive southeast of Ma‘ân. At 12.35 P. M. we rode across the watercourse, Ammu Mîl, which rises in the southwest from the long hillside al-Čabd that stretches south-eastward. This hillside forms the watershed between the plains of al-Ǧafar on the north and of as-Sabḫa or Sabḫa Soraṛ on the south. From 1.10 to 2.35 we rested in the šeʻîb of al-Ǧehdânijje, where our camels found good pasture in some of the low spots. These spots are called rowẓe by the Ḥwêṭât, while they give the name of ḥamâd to bare gray surfaces (temperature: 30° C).

At 3.28 we perceived on our left a dolmen about two meters high, known as Abu ʻAǧârem, rising above a large artificial reservoir (Fig. 2). Before long we saw a number of tents to the east, two of which were supported by two main poles, whereas the remainder rested on one pole only. The small triangular tents are called ḫarâbîš, while the tent with two or more main poles is known as bejt.

The negro Mḥammad at once informed me that the tents must belong either to members of the Šarârât or the Beni ʻAṭijje, as the Ḥwêṭât have no ḫarâbîš tents. For several years the Beni ʻAṭijje have lived at peace with the Ḥwêṭât, and their head chief Ḥarb eben ʻAṭijje was a faithful friend of ʻAwde abu Tâjeh. Mḥammad added that he believed that we saw before us the camp of a Beni ʻAṭijje clan. Nor was he wrong. On asking for news of Chief ʻAwde, we were informed that he was camping somewhere near