Page 422 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

E. SOUTH-WESTERN ROUTES

ROUTE 40

IBHA—DARB
(Darb Beni Shi'bah)

Authority : Native information.
General Direction: SSW.
Distance : Crow-fly, 3S miles ; road, 4G miles.
Character and Supplies: see pp. 53 ff.
miles.
total, stages.
IBHA (EBHA), town ; see I, p. 142.
Dir. SSW. over a fertile plateau, belonging to the
Beni Mugheid, for about 2 miles till the abrupt
descent down 'Aqabcit el-Hamra begins. The char­
acter of this country changes and is a tangle of
well-wooded mountains until the maritime plain
is reached. The road winds down the mountains.
6 m. Ma‘atan, where there is a running stream.
The road joins Wadi DhiVci and continues
down it.
2 m. B'usa, a clearing in the .woods and a resort
of nomad Arabs.
6 m. Wadi Hilali, the boundary between the Beni
Mugheid and Rabl‘at ei-Yemen is crossed.
Mikkad BabVah is passed, GJiaina, and
'Iticid ('Itiuad) 2 miles farther on—all places
where the nomads gather.
-2.V 22 .\ Jebel Karman. Wadi Dhil;a, which always contains
running water, is joined here by Wadi Kheisha1,
and the track joins the road from Badlah.
2 m. Janbein, a narrow gorge between two moun­
tains. after which the country becomes more
level and the forests cease.