Page 146 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

. JUTE 3 : NEJEF—HA’IL 75

miles.
total, stages.
l£m. Jal d-Waqsah ; route descends about SO ft.
down two sharp scarps. About 6 miles to
SE. from foot of Jal a very large well, Bir
Waqsah, about 60 ft. deep, sweet water ; and
about 8 miles SE. again of Bir Waqsah, a
line of 3 wells—Jil, Shebrom, and ‘A‘at] first,
bad water, others good.
Road now traverses plain of Mahamiyah,
flint strewn, but with grass in patches ; and
in about £ hr. crosses band of little hills of
‘Athmdn running E. to W. ; then continues
again along the flat.
22 b m. Qasr‘Aihmin (‘Athmin, plur. of ‘Atkman =
‘Othman) ruined castle and a reservoir about
46 ft. square, full of water ; visible at some
distance owing to the mounds of soil thrown
up in excavating the well, which stand out
against general flatness of ground.
Route here bordered, to near Bir el-Aqabah,
by walls of rough build, in good state of
preservation, 2 yds. in height in places, but
probably originally higher; thickness varying
from 1 yd. to 1J yds.
3 m. Bir el-‘Aqabah, one of the most important
stations along route ; considerable ruins of
houses ; 2 reservoirs ; one (120 yds. by
95 yds.) partly ruined and sanded up, but
containing some water ; a second, smaller,
with no water; also 4 remarkable wells,
described by Huber as 1 the most beautiful
he had ever seen ’—one 4£ yds. square, walled
from mouth to depth of about 25 ft. and
the remaining portion cut in solid rock ; the
others smaller. All wells made with great care,
180-190 ft. in depth, but containing no water.
7 m. Jal eZ-Bata reached ; an abrupt scarp leading
down by a torrent bed to the broad depres­
sion of El-Batn (or sometimes known as the
Wadyan), which extends NW. and SE. across
route for about 100 miles. Road makes
steep descent of 120-150 ft. into the Batn ;