Page 96 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

TOWNS 143

,it roads: from Ibha (Routes Nos. 45and 46), from Qunfudah
vorgen
•nil No. 49 and 50), from Hali Point (Route No. 51), and from
(Koiites
Kirk (Route No. 52). Little or no information is available about
ihc size or character of the town.
5. Khamls Musheit, an important town in the most productive
ilist riot of S. Asir. It stands in the hills, considerably S. of the upper
reaches of Wadi Bishah, and about 125 miles ESE. of the port of
Qunfudah, with which it is connected by a track. There is good
water and a bazaar, and the town is a market for the distribution
nf dates.
6. Abu ‘Arish, a town on the route between Jiddah and Loheia
about 70 miles crow-fly north of the latter. It is the principal
settlement of the province of the same name; the town con-
tains many stone houses, and there are many wells and much
cultivation. Niebuhr describes it as ‘ a walled town and residence
uf a Sherif and adds that ‘ in the neighbourhood are a number of
small hills, where salt is obtained for export ’.
7. Sabia (Sabiyah), about 20 miles inland (4 hours’ easy ride)
SE. of Jeizan, in the Abu ‘Arish district. It is Idrlsi’s capital,
with a two-storeyed ‘ palace ’, a fine mosque, and about 10,000
inhabitants, of whom probably only some are permanent. Most
<»f the houses are brushwood and mat huts, but the houses of some
of the principal men, as well as the Seyyid’s palace, are well built of
stone. There are many wells and a good deal of cultivation, with
fertile country inland. Niebuhr says: ‘ Sabbia is a large village,
noted in Yemen for its donkeys.’
3. Qunfudah, lat. 90° N., a small walled town, consisting chiefly
of huts, on a bay of the Red Sea, about 200 miles S. of Jiddah. The
population is not more than 2,000. There is a mosque, with a
minaret prominent to seaward, on the southern side of the town
IT fk 6 wa^s- The small bazaar is only sufficient for the needs
” Re place ; but plentiful supplies of cattle, sheep, and vegetables i
be obtained from the interior at a few days’ notice. The town
1)0ircPuted.t° have the best water on the coast, the main supply
°. a^ed from Hafeir, about 2\ miles distant; much grain is
<'nn 'k ln Strict round, and in July and August good grapes
72 . f Procured. Qunfudah is the port of Ibha, and lies about
P0V e.s from Muha’il (see Routes Nos. 49 and 50) ; another road
t|ie m. from Raghdan. The southern side of the anchorage, in
is a i0?.’?s Pr°tected by a reef about a mile in length, on which there
lies betw USlly island» holding a ruined guard-tower. A small shoal
the i)est e.en the reef and the northern point of Qunfudah Bay, and
channel leading to the anchorage (with a width of entrance