Page 40 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

CHAPTER II

COMMUNICATIONS

There are no made roads, cut, embanked, metalled and bridged,
in Arabia, except in the Aden district and on the line Hodeidah—
San‘a. The great majority of the tracks of communication follow
natural contours, picking the easiest way round or over rocks,
sand-billows, ravines, &c. Their course is determined by the
situation of water, where this is accessible, Certain lines of cora-
munication have been made feasible by provision of wells or cisterns.
The latter were constructed in early times along all main pilgrim-
tracks, but they have largely been allowed to go to ruin ; and it
must always be borne in mind that wells and springs, in such
a country as Arabia, are often found dry, choked, or fouled by the
carelessness of the Bedouins in watering animals.
Where lines of communication cross open steppe country, which,
from the occurrence of hilly patches (such as the Harrahs) within it
or on its edges, has ground-water at accessible depths, Bedouins
will range widely and dig wells for camping centres all over the
district. The communication tracks will then be multiple, not
necessarily keeping to one direct line ; and two different parties
proceeding from one end of the route to the other may follow quite
J different tracks, or cross and recross each other’s line, in progress
from camp to camp of Bedouins at the pleasure or convenience
of their guides or raflqs. The route-schemes adopted are therefore
subject to much variation in actual experience in such regions (e. g.
on the Ateibah Steppes between Mecca and Qasim), and must be
taken only as general guides of direction along possible tracks.
The different main Routes are set out schematically in the
following chapter. We shall deal with them here only generally
and in groups, as they converge on certain centres, retaining the
same order and describing their general character and the nature
of their supplies.

A. NORTHERN ROUTES (Nos. 1-7)
These are all more or less desert-tracks, that is, they must cross
!,lt sumu *t.Rge or stages enough steppe or sheer desert to render it