Page 38 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

114 HE.JAZ

side of the bay of the same name ; population about 2,000. A hun­

dred yards E. of the town is a fort on a. flat-topped hill. The bazaar
is poorly stocked, but some forage is procurable. Water is scarce
and brackish ; the main supply is obtained from a well some 30 ft.
deep, about 1,000 yards to the E. of the fort. The coast in the neigh­
bourhood consists of coral cliffs from 50 to 70 ft. high, and between
these and the hills, which rise steeply 3 or 4 miles inland, is a low
plain, marshy near,the sea and covered with a saline encrustation.
The harbour is easy of access and no dangers bar its approach ; it j
is rectangular in shape, 3 cables long, and has an entrance 250 yards )
wide between reefs. The fort makes a good mark for a ship entering |
the harbour, as does also a tower, 50 ft. high, on the S. side of the
bay. The best anchorage is in 6 fathoms about a cable SE. by S.
of the southern end of the village, though there is not room for
more than one vessel of moderate size, About 6 miles E. of Wejh
is a fort, nearly surrounded by hills, with a small Turkish garrison ;
it serves as a grain-depot for the use of caravans going to Mecca.
5. Umlejh (Ummlaj), a village of some 80 houses with fort and
small garrison on a deep bay opening to NNW. opposite Hasani
Island. It has a considerable but thin date-grove in the wadi about
1 mile N. Umlejh has grown from a mere hamlet in the last few years,
owing to the facilities of its bay for coasting craft, the existence of a
fairly easy track to Istabal ‘Antar station on the Hejaz Railway (120
miles) or to Medina direct (140 miles), and the comparative fertility
of the Tihamah hereabouts and in the lower course of Wadi ‘Ain,
north of Jebel Radhwah. It lies near, but S. of, the frontier between
Billi and Juheinah territories. Although faced by a dangerous
reef, the harbour is the most favourable for steam craft on the N.
half of the Red Sea coast, and should develop in the near future.
6. Yambo‘ el-Bahr is a garrisoned town, built on the edge of
the barren plain between the mountains and the sea, and-walled
on the landward side. It stands on the N. shore of a bay, pro­

tected by a small sandy island on a reef which forms the southern
limit of the anchorage. It has no made harbour, but is used as the
port of Medina (130 miles). The entrance to the inlet is 1J cables
wide between the reefs. The water is deep outside, but in the
entrance the depths decrease rapidly from 15 to 8 and 6 fathoms ;
off the town the anchorage is in from 4 to 6 fathoms, and the width
available is 1J cables. The houses of the town are roughly built
oi limestone and coralline, and the crumbling of the latter gives
them a dilapidated appearance. It is a mean and very dirty place,
but there are some good shops where most necessaries are obtain­
able. The permanent population is about 3,000 ; but caravans,

>