Page 233 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

NEGLECTED ARABIA

Missionary News and Letters
Published Quarterly
FOR'PRIVATE CIRCULATION AMONG THE FRIENDS OF
THE ARABIAN MISSION
i •

Entering New Territory
Dr. Louis P. Dame •
Note.—In the last issue Dr. Dame described his record trip from liuhreiu to
Kiudli to treat Sulluu Abd el A<u ilm Sand. The nrcncitl article describe* the i
iclurn journey by a new route in the course of whicli scverul cities were visited
fur the lira! time in the history of the Mission.— Kn.

W E LEET Riadli oji Christmas day and arrived in Shugra on
December 30th. Part of our journey was in the Wady
Hanifa. The ruins of Deraiya, the former capital of the
Sauds on this Wady, are an impressive sight. The royal
castles were built on cliffs on the west side of the Wady. The banks of
die Wady have been built up by heavy stones to keep water from .
overrunning the. beautiful gardens on both sides. After heavy rains
this wady “runs," and the last great downpour, forty years ago, caused i
the wady to overrun its walls and carry everything before it. Whole
date gardens were washed away by the strength of the torrents.
Farther up the Wady we saw the ruins of several large cities, among
them Jabeela and the formerly very large town of Anaina. Judging by
the ruins of this town there must have been a population of at least
25,000 there. Now there is nothing but ruins, ruins, and nowhere in
these parts did we see any signs of new towns or new fields. There
are a great many old, partly cavcd-in wells, but only two or three with »
water. There are stories of locusts having caused these ruins; also
juries of wars between the Saud and Ma’amer families, but no doubt ' !
the lack of water was and is an important factor in this for'’if there
were plenty of water to be had, surely some cultivation would be
>urlcd during these days of peace.
Sliugra is the capital of Woslmi. It has a population of about six
lo eight thousand at most. We were given a peculiar reception. Upon
arriving we were directed to the “Beit el Mai," the home of the local
treasurer for Bin Saud and his tax collector. The mcjlis was full of
town nulahles, but the address was made by the treasurer. He informed ■
u» that the likes of us would never have been permitted in that district
i few years ago: we would long since have been killed; but now, thanks
lu the rule of Bin Saud, the Moslems were all of one class and all
Bflited; there was no fighting among themselves, and by the kindness
yf the Sultan we were permitted to come to this land to treat the
“Muslimine.” . i
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