Page 346 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

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ROUTE 29: MEDINA—MECCA 175

miles.
total, stages.
319 32 Wadi Leim-un village, to r. of road ; springs of good
water and gardens; see below, p. 179 (m. 225 of
Route B).
Dir. continues SW. by S., leaving Wadi Leimun,
which at this point makes a sharp bend westward.
6 m. Well, to 1. of track.
15 m. A stone wall, to r.
345 26 MECCA, town ; see I, pp. 123 fif.

B. Burton’s Route
MEDINA, town; see I, p. 116 f. Leave by the Bab
el-Misr.
Dir. N. at first, then NE.

24 m. (about). The Ghadir depression is reached
with Jebel Ohod at some distance to 1. Bir
Rashid (a well) and a whitewashed dome
lie to r. of road.
The road then crosses afiinruira, leading N.
out of the Medina basin, and follows a rough
stony path dotted with thorny acacias.
5 m. A bed of lava is reached.
7 m. The route turns E., and enters a boglidz,
or pass. It then follows the course of
a wadi, shut in by steep hills ; the wadi
becomes narrow and winding. After rain
it is a torrent ; at other times water is ob­
tainable near the sui-face by digging. The
wadi contains a sparse growt h of camel-grass
and acacia trees.
5 m. The route meets a wall of rock, turns abruptly
S., and ascends.
22 Ja (,Jau) esTi-Sherifah ; a rendezvous of caravans, in
a hollow.
Dir. S. slightly by W., through a pass.
7 m. Leave the pass and cross a hollow, or khabt,
of gravel and clay (5 m. by 12 m.), which
collects water after rain.
11m. The hollow narrows between low hills, and i
after 4 m. widens to a breadth of 2 m.
4 m. Ascend stony ground for 2 m., to a rocky
plain.