Page 376 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

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190 WESTERN ROUTES

miles,
total, stages
B. Burckhardt’s Route
YAMBO4 EL-BAHR, port; see I, p. 114f.
Dir. SE. by S., crossing an inlet of the harbour,
which extends for a considerable distance inland
and is only passable at low tide. The route then
enters the broad maritime plain.
3 m. Yambo1 is lost to view and the route traverses
a salt-encrusted plain, with a few trees in spots
here and there ; bad going.
13 m. All vegetation disappears, -with the exception
of a few saline shrubs ; bad going, still over
the salt-crust.
6 m. The plain now becomes sandy, with scattered
pebbles ; very heavy going.
31 31 Adheibah, a camping-ground in a sandy and pebbly plain ;
stunted acacia trees.
Dir. E., slightly by S. ; the track continues for several
miles across the plain, which is covered in places
with shrubs.
17£ m. The route ascends a ridge of hills, where the
sand is deep and the going heavy.
4 m. Qdz ‘Ali, the highest point of the ridge, is
reached.
Dir. SE., descending the ridge.
51 20 Beder (or Beder Hunein), a small town of stone and mud
houses, surrounded by a ruined mud wall ; it lies
in a plain bounded on the N. and E. by steep I
mountains, on the S. by rocky hills, and on the
W. by hills of moving sand. It is a usual station
for Hajj caravans, and possesses a well-furnished
market. A copious rivulet runs through the
town, from which the somewhat tepid water is
conducted by a stone channel to extensive date-
groves, gardens, and fields on the SW. side of the
settlement. The spacious, well-built mosque of

Ghendmah is situated on the S. side of the town.
Dir. NE. by E. The route soon enters the chain of
mountains, which branches westward from the
main coastal chain at Bir esh-Sheikh (see above,
p. 168). It follows a broad, sandy, winding
course, fatiguing to traverse.