ḪŠÊM BIRḲ TO TEBÛK
On Wednesday, July 6, 1910, we started off at 3.17 A. M. and from 4.16 to 5.22 halted in the river bed of al-Ṛẓej, where the camels grazed on naṣi. To the northwest in the rays of the rising sun the slopes of the mesa of ʻAšêra glistened before us, red below and white above and capped with lava. Far to the north the horizon was enclosed by the tablelands of Šarôra’, while to the east appeared the heights of al-Ṛazwân and al-Lemleme only slightly higher than the elevations to the west. From 7.00 to 7.30 we again rested, because our camels could not proceed. Five animals were bleeding from the feet, the worst of them being the camel carrying our water. At 7.53 we crossed the broad valley of al-Eṯel which was covered with a dense growth of ṭarfa. The railway crosses the valley near a station of the same name by means of a bridge that has frequently been broken down and rebuilt. If a considerable quantity of rain were to fall in the vicinity of the mountains of Šejbân and ad-Daḫâḫîr, the water would certainly carry away the whole of this bridge and with it also a great part of the railway line, which was very rapidly constructed in the plain. Beyond the bridge we observed the tracks of about fifty camel riders who had passed that way the previous night. They had ridden from the north and branched off to the south-southeast and were certainly a troop of raiders. We were not very much concerned about them, however. All my companions were complaining of fatigue and fever, but the camels hurried forward as if they knew that rest was awaiting them in Tebûk, near at hand. They were so emaciated that, as Ḫalîl declared, all their bones could be counted.
From 9.55 to 10.53 we rested in the stony šeʻîb of al-Ḳrên. None of the camels would graze, but all knelt down and refused to get up again. We all shouted “al-ḥamdu lillâh!” when at twelve o’clock we caught sight of the oasis of Tebûk. If we had been obliged to travel for another two days, we should certainly have lost three of the animals. The road led us through a parched plain covered with coarse gravel and in places with sand drifts. At 1.18 P. M. we crossed the šeʻîb of abu Nšejfe, which proceeds from the rocks of ʻAšêra. At its head is situated the ancient burial place of Rǧûm Šowhar, to the southwest of which stands the ruined fortress Ḳṣejr at-
