Page 54 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

1

HEJAZ
122

North of the latter town it is largely harrah. Beyond Jebel Qora,
however, its conditions improve, and Ta if is one of the most
luxuriant oases in Arabia. South of this again there is thin but
more or less continuous fertility in valleys—the beginning of the
better conditions which distinguish the inland wadis of Asir.
As far south as the Jiddah-Mecca road this district is nowadays
all Harb country, this tribe having pushed the Ateibah eastward
out of Wadi Fatimah and long ago got rid of the Dhafir (Dhuflr)
and the small Ashraf clans which used to range north and north,
west of Mecca. South of the Harb frontier, however, there is no i
big tribe, but the country is parcelled out among the many small
units enumerated on p. 100.

In the Tihamah there is a group of villages in the northern part
on and near the line of the Darb es-Sultani. The most considerable
settlement is
12. Rabugh, a group of hamlets and extensive date-groves some
miles inland at the head of Sherm Rabugh ; there are numerous
wells of indifferent water. Sherm Rabugh is an inlet, about 2 miles
long, affording excellent anchorage in from 8 to 12 fathoms ; it is
perfectly sheltered from all winds and easy of ingress and egress
to sailing-vessels during north-westerly winds. In the entrance
are depths of fro.m 18 to 20 fathoms, and immediately outside no
bottom at 30 fathoms. Rabugh is the head-quarters of the Zobeid
Harb.

• Quliyah, Qadhlmah, Khalls, and lAsfdn are all of much the same
character with permanent populations of 500 or over. (See
Route No. 34.)
13. Jiddah is a walled town on a well-sheltered natural har­
bour, almost exactly half-way down the Red Sea coast. The
entrance, through three lines of reefs, is, however, difficult. It
possesses quays along the sea-front and is the port of Mecca
(55 miles by road, and slightly under 50 crow-fly) and TaJif, and
the main avenue of pilgrim access to Hejaz from the sea. The
houses here, as at Yambo‘, are largely built of coralline. There are j
forts at the seaward angles of the ’walls, and three main gates and
three posterns (sea-face) ; elsewhere the wall is strengthened by
smaller towers at intervals. The population is about 30,000 (not all i
inside the walls), and includes a sprinkling of negroes and Somalis,
as well as some Indians, Greeks, and Jews; about 300 British-
Indian subjects are registered, but exact numbers of all families :
are not recorded. Non-Moslems are not allowed to go outside the
walls. The normal Turkish garrison was a battalion with two
field-guns.