Page 194 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

RC IE 11: ‘OQAIR—RIYADH 99

miles,
il. stages.
Dir. due W. through Hasa oasis.
1 m. Bab el-Jafar, walled village immediately S. of
route ; 350 houses.
2 m. Maneizlah, village of 250 houses. By well-
marked track over a stony plain.
2 m. Fudhul, village of 250 houses, on S.
14 m. Beni Na‘am, village of 200 houses, on N.
l| m. Beni Nahu, hamlet of 20 houses, on N.
Thence 1 m. to end of stage.
19 9 HOFtJF, town ; see I, p. 305.
[The above route is more suitable for slow
caravans, as water can be obtained at
comparatively short intervals. But it is
possible to save 5 miles by making direct
for Jishshah to the N. of Bareiman and
Shatar. Raunkiaer seems to have reduced
the total distance to under 40 miles by
following an almost straight line between
‘Oqair and Hofuf. Passing Suwwad,
described as an extensive area of wild
dates, Abu Ha’il, a well in a valley, and
a hollow called Fasihan, he entered, at
about 8 m., a rough dune tract known as
Rasal lAli, succeeded by a saline plain in
which w’ater is obtainable at a depth of
a few feet. Rather more than 20 m. from
‘Oqair, he passed into a district called
Hisa, with hollows containing wild dates,
not long afterwards reaching Jiffir, a
country town 5 m-. E. of Hofuf. In 1904
Burchardt, on a riding-ass, accompanied
an armed caravan which halted for one
night on the way. He describes the
journey as 4 hrs. through a sandy tract,
9 hrs. over regular sand desert, and a few
hours through Hasa oasis. Pelly and
Leachman both seem to have travelled
more or less directly, the latter describing
his own route as 40 miles of hopeless
sand-dunes. Dromedary riders and horse­
men can accomplish the distance from
G 2