Page 240 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

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numbering moro than 500, but this total is increased in the hot
weathor by about 700 households, mostly of tho Muteir tribe,
encamping on tho plain of Mareilabah on tho N., whero there are
numerous wells. The place is dry, and has a healthy climato.
Tho Sheikh of Koweit has a fortified residence on the SE. side,
outside the limits of cultivation, with walls somo 200 ft. in length
and 15 ft. high, and a tower 20 ft. high at each corner. Tho entrance,
on the NW. side, is commanded from within by an old muzzle­
loading gun ; the enclosure contains stabling for about 100 horses,
and the Sheikh’s brood mares are kept there. Jahrah is com­
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•• manded at artillery ranges from the Zor hills on the N. The
water at the foot of the bay is too shallow to allow warships to
stand in close.
The people are occupied in tilling the irrigated lands owned by
the Sheikh, and by merchants of Koweit and relatives of theNeqib

of Basra. The chief crops are wheat, barley, lucerne, dates }
melons, pumpkins, beans, and other vegetables. Though some
wheat is grown by rainfall, most of the above crops are produced
in walled enclosures irrigated by channels ; the water is raised
from wells by water-lifts (arjlyah) worked by donkeys ; there are
more than a dozen date-groves. Agricultural implements are few
and simple, consisting of a rudimentary plough (ifdan), an iron
spade (fahhm), used to make and repair water-channels or to open
and close them, and a wooden rake or hoe (masdh) for levelling the
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ground.
Jahrah is governed by an Emir on behalf of the Sultan of Koweit.
It is regarded as a valuable possession, not only on account of its
produce, but because its popularity with the Bedouins enables the
Sheikh to maintain and extend his influence among the tribes.
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f

B. HASA
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Area
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This region runs along the W. coast of the Persian Gulf from
the S. frontier of the Sultanate of Koweit to that of El-Qatar
and the desert of Jcifurah, a distance of about 300 miles ; on the
W. it is bounded by Summan. It has an average breadth of
about 50 miles and has been divided into a number of natural
tracts, the boundaries of which are often indeterminate and without
administrative significance (see below).
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