Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/81

 Early in the morning we sent a scout to procure us a good guide from the camp of the ʻAlâwîn situated near the defile Ḫarm al-Merṣed. Tûmân and Rifʻat, accompanied by a soldier, set out for the peak of al-Mlêḥ, rising to the northwest, south of which there is a spring of the same name; whereas another spring called Abu Turrah flows to the northwest of al-Mlêḥ. Meanwhile I changed the photographic plates, sketched the surrounding district, recorded the names of the various hills and valleys, and gave out necessary medicines to the soldiers. Toward noon the scout returned with a guide. The chief of the ʻAlâwîn, Sâlem eben Ḥammâd eben Ǧâd, wished to accompany us and wanted to take with him his negro and another man, but I would not consent to this latter plan, fearing that these famished and unnecessary companions would be likely to deprive us of our small stock of supplies. At first Sâlem remonstrated. However, when Ismaʻîn told him that if he went by himself he would obtain the remuneration which would otherwise be divided among three, he ordered his two companions to go back to camp. In the afternoon Mḥammad with two scouts led our camels to the spring of al-Ašhab, not returning until three o’clock. Rifʻat and Tûmân had been back for some time, and we had everything ready for our departure. Having loaded the baggage on the camels, we started off at 3.08 for a lengthy march southward along the trade route.

The level plain of al-Ḥmejẓa, over which we passed, is shut in on the west by the granite wall of the Abu Sjejle mountain, while on the east it gives place to numerous isolated, sandy hills of various shapes, among them Salaḳa, Abu Ḥalḳûm, ar-Ruḥbi, al-Mḫarûḳ, ar-Ratama, ʻAṭra’, ʻEmûd, al-Ḥṣâni, and al-Aḥejmer. At 4.02 we crossed the šeʻîb of Abu Sjejle, which starts at the well of the same name on