Page 691 - Neglected Arabia (1916-1920)

i NEGLECTED ARABIA 7 :

i
From Ojeir to Hassa—a Reminiscence and a Postscript i.
Rev. Samuel M. Zwemer, D.D., LL.D.
Recent letters from Dr. Paul W. Harrison tell of his wonderful visit
to the inland provinces of Nejd across the eastern threshold of Arabia,
and a second visit to Hassa, which is the garden province, when com­
pared with the great desert i-
stretching north and west. His i
letter brought back memories of 1!
my two journeys to the capitol i:
Hofhoof, and reminded me of
i
some photographs unpublished i
taken by my friend Mr. Burck-
hardt, who also explored this !l
country and met his death short­ !l
a
ly afterward in south Arabia. !!
Although bearing the same name,
he was no relative of the more
famous Burckhardt who visited i!
! Mecca. :!
; The usual route from Bahrein ■ i
i
to the interior of Hassa is to if ■
cross by boat to Ojeir on the i i
mainland, and thence to travel by
a
caravan to Hofhoof. In October, :.
•I
1893, I took this route, returning
from the capital to Katif and
thence back to Menamah. Em­ ■ I i
barking at sunset we landed at
Ojeir before dawn the next day
and I found mv way to a Turkish I
custom-house officer to whom I i
had a friendly letter from a Bah­ :
the last flag of TURKEY—PHOTOGRAPHED
i.
AT KATIF rein merchant. Ojeir, although 'i
seH.i . it has neither a bazaar nor any a
tom^ at*on' has a mud-fort, a dwarf flagstaff and an imposing cus- i
,Q , °U'S^4 ^ie !iarb°r although not deep, is protected against north and
titv S an<^.*s therefore a good landing place for the immense quan- •i
ava ° Tf6 an<^ P*ece’£0CKls shipped from Bahrein into the interior. A car- i
:i
alth11 ° h k tW0 t0 ^ree hundred camels leaves Ojeir every week. For !
Bas°Uh T ^a^e^ Shammer country is probably supplied overland from
*
co^ra Bagdad, the. whole of Southern Nejd receives piece-goods, i
T?e' n?e» su8^r and Birmingham wares bv way of Bahrein and Ojeir.
and b U ^a*n *n and about the custom-house was piled with bales
cam l°XeTS anc* tIle air fihed with the noise of loading seven hundred
berQ S‘ * struck a bargain with Salih, a Nejdi, to travel in his party and
re noon-prayers we were off. The country for many hours was bare
t