Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/84

 ward to the water of al-Muḥalleba. At 5.50 Sâlem pointed out on a granite slope to the left the spring of Šamʻûl and to the right on another slope the well of Ḥawâra, the water of which is said to be particularly fresh. Here the ṛaẓa shrubs ceased; but in place of them the plain was covered with šîḥ, ǧerad, ʻaǧram, ḏanabnâb, baʻejṯrân, naṣi, ḳejṣûm, ḥarmal (known also as ḥarǧal), nateš, wrâḳa, niḳd, silla, and also, as an isolated growth, kalḫ. At 6.30 we saw to the left the broad gap of Mojet Râmân and to the right the deep šeʻîb of Abu Neda’. The Mojet Râmân gap leads along the southern foot of Mount Râmân to the plain of al-Krejnîfe, separating Râmân from Mount Ramm with its countless sharp-pointed pyramids. At 7.10 we passed out of the defile and viewed to the southeast the high pyramids shining with a ruddy glow and the isolated, broken cones called as-Sarâbîṭ.

The mighty Ramm, or Iram, revealed itself in all its beauty. The broad plain Ḫawr Ramm, which separates its southeastern part, known as al-Barra, from the northwestern al-Mazmar and Umm ʻAšrîn, makes it seem as if the mountain range of Iram had been split in two. The southeastern half is higher than the northwestern and has an almost level ridge, from which rise innumerable small, sharp-pointed pyramids, so that from a distance it resembles a huge, mysterious fortress. In the northern part are the springs of al-Ḳwejse, aṣ-Ṣbâḫ, al-Mṛejra, Abu Rmejle, and al-ʻÂǧelîn.

At eight o’clock we reached the watershed and halted below the hill Ḳlejb al-Merṣed, from which I drew a map of the surrounding district (temperature: 25° C).

While here, the camels grazed on the ǧerad and the high swâs, similar to the kalḫ. At 10.45 A. M. we made our way still farther southward.