Page 94 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

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142 ASIR

to make handsome presents to all the chief Sheikhs. Unless there
it is difficult to collect the Arabs in any
is a good prospect of loot, .
numbers, and in any case their natural independence and their
dislike of restraint render them unsuitable for a long campaign.
This and their disinclination to face modern artillery were among
the chief causes which led to their failure before Loheia in 1915.
Idrisi is poorly supplied with artillery and its ammunition,
and with trained men to serve the guns. Theoretically he can put
a very large army into the field, but in practice he probably cannot
muster more than 25,000 men. He is hampered by the fact that the
tribes refuse to go far from their own boundaries, and therefore
has to depend on the material available in the particular district
in which he is operating.

Towns

The following are the principal towns of Asir :

1. Bishah (Qal'ah Bishah), a town, or more probably an aggregate
of many villages, farmsteads, and groups of huts, in the wadi of the
same name, about 240 miles ESE. of Mecca. It is an important
halting-place on the route between Wadi Dawasir, the Haramein,
and the Red Sea coast. There is a ruined fortress, and the town
marks the end of the oasis. Bishah is well watered by a stream
going in a north-easterly direction, which, with a number of other
inland streams, according to Jomard and Chedufau (but, probably,
it is not so) collect at last in the Wadi Dawasir. The town is i
surrounded by cultivation, in part carried on by the nomads. It
was occupied for a fortnight by the Egyptian force in 1834.
2. Turabah, about 90 miles SE. of Ta’if, and on the main thorough­

fare from Nejd into Yemen. It is a walled town as large as Ta’if,
surrounded by palm-groves and well-watered gardens. Near it are
low hills where cereals are grown.
3. Ibha (Ebha), said to be a stone-built town situated 'on
a hill in the middle Asir, in the upper reaches of Wadi Bishah,
and about 139 miles crow-fly SSW. of QaTah Bishah, It was
garrisoned by the Turks, when they held Asir, and was then
!
the residence of a Mutesarrif. The town was formerly known as
Manadhir, and this name survives as that of the quarter or ward
where the citadel is situated. It is an important centre of con-
vergent roads in Asir (see Routes Nos. 40-47).

4. Muha’il, an inland town on the ‘Aqabah just west of the main
escarpment of the plateau region of Asir, and some 72 miles distant
irom the coast at Qunfudah. It is an important centre of several