Page 330 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

( .OUTE 27 : MEDINA—MECCA 1G7

miles.
total, stages.
There is a small suq, where fair supplies of bread,
rice, butter, and cheap grain may be procured.
Good water is obtained by digging a few feet
below the surface in the bed of the wadi ; and
a line spring rises from the base of the lulls to
the S. There are considerable flocks of sheep
and goats, and plantations of dates and bananas. .•
:
Here the road from Yambo* to Medina (see
Route No. 33, p. 188) comes in r.
Dir. SSW., down a valley guarded by blockhouses.
1 m. Track passes a fountain in ruins, and, near it,
a half-choked well. At this point a wadi
joins from NW.
2 m. Kharmah, a village in a branch wadi of
Wadi Safrah.
68 5 Safrah, a village with scattered hamlets built partly on
a mountain slope and partly in the bottom of
a narrow part of Wadi Safrah ; it is an important
market - centre for all the surrounding tribes.
A copious stream of tepid water runs down the
valley, and there are several other springs and
wells. Fruits, cereals, vegetables and stock are
raised ; date-groves extend for about 4 m. along
the valley. Much honey of the best quality is
produced in the neighbourhood, and it forms an
important article of trade in the market of
Safrah.
[The above description of the rbute between Safrah
and Medina should be compared with that given
from Burckhardt in Route No. 33, II, pp. 190 ff.
It will be noted that though the total distance
(6S m.) is the same, the details of distances
between certain of the stages are not altogether
in accord, which is doubtless due in part to the
fact that the lines followed did not coincide
throughout. With regard to his journey from
Medina to Yambo1 (Route No. 33 reversed),
Burckhardt himself says : ‘ The distances of this
journey do not exactly agree with those given
in coming to Medina ; but I prefer stating them
as I found them noted down in my journal.’]

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