Page 80 - A Hand Book of Arabia Vol 2_Neat

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COMMUNICATIONS
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be divided into two
Gulf. For practical purposes, the route may
main sections, the first between Akaba and Ma an, the station an ■
the Hejaz Railway, the second between the latter place and Jauf

In the first section camping-places are optional. A short first
stage is often made at Abul-Heirah, not far from the well Ain.
Ma'in. A second stage may be made near the mouth of Wadi
el-Mudheifein ; in 1905 Turkish troops (see below) appear to have
halted at Quweirah, where there is now a military post. Musil
camped with Arabs to W. of the road, about 5 miles N. of this
place. In the third stage, the route crosses the escarpment of
Jebel Shera, close beyond which is the well 'Ain Fuweilah, where
the third night may be passed. Three cross-tracks leaving the
Wadi ‘Arabah in the direction of Ma'an probably intersect this part
of the route. The most southerly, starting up the Wadi Dharbah,
should come in not far from Quweirah. The two others ascend the
Wadi Umweilah and the Wadi Gharandel respectively, the latter
apparently passing through Delaghah and ‘Ain el-Beidha. The
second is reported fit for laden camels.
In the first section of the route there are no serious natural
obstacles, though the heat in the rock-bound valley of Yitm may
be almost unbearable in the middle of the day. The ascent from
the mouth of Wadi Yitm to the summit of Naqb Shatar is not
difficult ; the way up the pass follows the windings of an old
Roman road, which, if improved, would be possible for wheeled
traffic ; in 1905, some 15,000 Turkish troops were taken this wray
from Ma'an to Akaba, a force presumably including artillery.

Up to the foot of the pass the slopes are never very steep. On the
• far side of Shera, the ground falls gradually to Ma'an. Throughout
the whole section, the surface is generally hard, and the going
fairly good ; Musil covered the distance on horseback in about
23 hours. In the valley of Yitm, the track follows the line of the
main Roman road from Akaba to the E. of the Dead Sea, few traces
of which now remain. It would probably be easy to vary the route
between Hemeimah and the Wadi Mureighah by keeping on in a
N. direction along the Roman road as far as. Ta'san (about 11 miles),
where there is a well, or even to Sadaqah (17 miles), and crossing Jebel
Shera from these points. Since the beginning of the war, the Otto­
man Government is said to have begun a survey for a line connecting
Ma'an with Akaba;
Ma an with Akaba; it is to leave the Hejaz Railway at Qal'at el° j
Mudawwarah. about 70 miles S nf Mn*nn
Mudawwarah, about 70 miles S. of Ma'an. The Arabs met’with in’the
first section of the route are ‘Amran (‘Imran) and ‘Alawin, sub-tribes
of the Huweitat, whom both Doughty and Musil found friendly •