Page 132 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

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68 NORTHERN ROUTES

miles.
total, stages.
covered with vegetation, and following track
known as El-Khali, which can be pretty distinctly
traced to Jubbah, but is in places swept away by
moving sand ; going is very difficult owing to
nature of ground, which undulates in continual
scarped hills and hollows [fuluq or qu'ur), and is
heavy on account of deep and loose sand.
I
50 m. ;Aleim en-Nefud, two pyramidal rocks, about
270 yds. apart, jutting out of sand, the higher
(on 1.) some 300 ft. high ; conspicuous land­
mark ; alt. 3,220 ft. above sea-level. .
Dir. S. by E., continuing to wind among fuluq, but
here, according to Huber, somewhat easier to
traverse ; a high sand-mound, Semeihah, is passed
and afterwards a deep depression with white lime­
stone floor known as El-Beidha ; in the latter |
well-borings but no water ; general level of the ;
Nefud gradually rises to its highest elevation of
3,300 ft. Approaching Jubbah harder ground
appears, and the Nefud is temporarily left.
190 160 Jubbah, village now deserted (see I, p. 390), situated in il
extensive open plain or pan of elliptical form
(10 m. by 12 m.), of hard stony soil, and backed
by low hills, Umm es-Selman, about 500 ft. above
plain, and Jebel lAutah. [Wallin apparently did
the journey from Jauf to Jubbah in 864 hrs.
actual marching (18f hrs. to Shaqiq, 234 hrs. to i ;
‘Aleim, and 44^ hrs. to Jubbah), but his rate was
slow as his ‘ animals were very weak and meagre5; I
he gives 4£ days as the time usually taken for the j j
route. Palgrave took at least 85 hrs., and Huber
on his first journey (travelling about 24 miles an
i
hour) 76 hrs. Huber and Euting, who travelled
more quickly, took 4 days and 1 hr. for the route, !
their actual marching (according to Huber's j
figures) working out at 59^ hrs. Euting’s com- !
putation of 54 hrs. actual marching, like Guar-
mani's 494 hrs. and Wetzstein's 52 hrs. (on native
information), appear to underestimate the times
required. The Blunts (on horses) took six days
for the journey.]