Page 46 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

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NORTHERN ROUTES (Nos. 1-7) 25 ,

Supplies. Water was formerly reported as sufficient at Jauf and
.Siuiqiq and again onward from Jubbah, but in the long stage across
the Nefud, between Shaqiq and Jubbah, it has always been unob­
tainable. Dried ‘ ghadha ’ and ‘ yerta ’ bush (the latter a kind of
thickly-matted wild-vine) make excellent fuel and are abundant
all the way across the Nefud. Fodder for camels and sheep is also
very abundant and varied and includes a kind of grass known as
‘ nassi ’ and in particular a plant called ‘ ‘adar on which it is said
that sheep can feed for a month without water. At Jauf and
Ha’il a certain amount of live-stock, poultry, and fruit would be
available.
Since it is now reported that the settlement in the Jubbah
oasis, which alone rendered this line of approach practicable
for caravans, has decayed and is abandoned (possibly owing to
encroachment of sand), the route has probably passed almost out
of use.

On the other hand Route No. 2 (from Jauf to Hayyaniyah and so
to Ha’il or Boreidah) is now constantly taken, and it appears, from
Shakespear’s account of his journey in 1914 from Hayyaniyah to Jauf,
to be surprisingly free from deep or broad sand-belts. Between Jauf
and Hayyaniyah it is necessary to carry water for three days, but to
a well-equipped party the track threatens no danger. It keeps too
far eastward for the Huteim to trouble it seriously, while it is too
far westward for the Dhafir raiders. Since, however, Jauf has
passed out of the hands of theEmirof Ha’il into those of theRuweilah
chief, his hereditary foe, transit is less frequent and security less
assured between Jauf and Ha’il than was the case before 1910.
At Hayyaniyah, Nolde saw great numbers of Ruweilah; Shake-
spear found the fort at the wells occupied by a small post of the
Emir of Ha’il’s men. It should be noted that the section
from Hayyaniyah to Ha’il is described under Route No. 4,
with the closing stages of which (from Hayyaniyah onwards) it
corresponds. Route No. 2 is continued from Hayyaniyah direct to
Boreidah.

The route skirts the E. side of the Nefud, crossing projecting
tongues of it, as between Qasr el-Adhfa and Hayyaniyah, and series
of sand-ridges, as at 20 miles beyond Bir Zerud." Except at the two
last-named places, halts are optional, as there are no villages nor
settlements between the neighbourhood of Jauf and that of Boreidah.,
! . r about 100 miles between Jauf and Qasr el-Adhfa, the way lies
•l?1 ov along an extensive wadi continuous with the Khubb Labbah ■
Jt seems possible that this valley may be connected with the <n-eat

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