Page 486 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

246 SOUTH-WESTERN ROUTES
•J miles.
( total, stages.
mam supply from Bir Zuleil in middle of vill
Ji
age. Good going now, but ascending • 3 m
< * on, old shrine 1,000 yds. left. Road be°a’rs E :
0. 7 m. on, it reaches broad level plateau, <mod
surface ; 3 m. on, it drops into ravine, 250 ft
deep with similar rise on other side.’ ~ (War
'c~
v. Office Handbook says ‘ It would probably
V •
U be necessary to take horses out, and hand
3 • guns down this.’) Near Shabah road ap­
i proaches within 1 m. of Wadi Siharn (,Sahdm),

along which is an alternative route to San‘sL
for camels, to avoid difficult gradients of
Menakhah. 3 m. on, another ravine is crossed
i-
'• with drop of 100 ft.
*■
59 27 ‘ Ubal, village of stone-built houses, on hill commanding
last ravine ; alt. 1,640 ft.; plenty of good water
^ * ; Dir. NE., traversing densely wooded Hajjan ravine,
■i where road is liable to ‘ washouts ’ during
i thunderstorms; at 2 m. it emerges upon well-

; cultivated tract of open country, dotted with
park-like timber ; 7 m. on, it ascends low stony
plateau, fair going.
69 10 Hajeilah, town on spur overlooking Hajjan ravine ; pop.
1,500; alt. 2,300 ft. (Bury, 2,000 ft.) ; water
i
abundant, but said to be constipating ; climate
reputed to be unhealthy.
Dir. N., across Hajeilah Plateau ; at 1 m. Hajjan
ravine again entered ; ascending boulder-strewn
Si track, quite impossible for wheeled traffic ; 5 m.
i*
on, ravine suddenly narrows and track passes
i
through short natural tunnel formed by huge
!•
II fallen boulder—known as 1 the gate of the moun­
i
: tains ’; 3 m. on, track leaves Hajjan ravine am
ascends mountain by well-paved zigzags.
11 m. I Vasil (Wassail, village of slon|biult Iw ^
! perched on edge of precipice : 1.000 ft-•
Hajeilah ; caravanserai and huts for
vellers ; good water.
Highlands are now
The coffee-growing
and villages onwards
entered ; all the towns less c it
are built of stone and arc moie
fortr^-liko character.