Page 254 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

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304 HAS A

Districts

These are for the most part not administrative but natural tracts,
the exact boundaries of which are difficult to determine ; with the
exception of the two oases of Hasa and Qatif, few of them have
any centres of population even approaching town rank, As the

two oases are of predominant importance, it may be well to consider
them first.

1. Hasa Oasis

A district in parts of great fertility, bounced on the E. and N. by
V:i
Biyadh, on the W. by Ghuwar, and on the S. by Kharmah; its
natural boundaries are on the NW. Jebel Qarat or-Rukban, on the
SW. Jebel Bu Ghanlmah. and on the S. a line drawn between the
last-named mountain and Jebel Arba‘. The oasis, which extends for
about 30 miles N. and S. and 21 miles E. and W., is separated from
the Gulf at ‘Ocjair by more than 30 miles of desert country. Only
a part of it is cultivated and inhabited ; the remainder is for the
most part barren. The mass of the fertile territory extends for
about 12 miles to the E. of Hofuf and Mubarraz; but there are
detached blocks of cultivation farther to the N., and round ‘Ayun.
The most remarkable physical feature of the Hasa Oasis is the
abundance of water in the cultivated area, provided by a multitude
of springs, all warm and some hot. So numerous are these springs,
that in parts the whole country is saturated, and roads run on ;
embankments ; marshes and stagnant ponds are not infrequent,
and some sheets of water attain the dimensions of lakes. Such are i
Birkat el-Asfar, 12 miles ENE. of Hofuf, and BirkatUmm el-Mahza,
7 miles E. of ‘Ayun. The plentiful supply of water admits of an
elaborate irrigation-system which enables rice to be grown. The
chief product is the date, but there are fields of wheat and barley ;
fruit includes limes, citrons, peaches, apricots, figs, pomegranates,
and grapes, though little reaches a high quality. Natural grass is
plentiful in spring. Most of the live stock already mentioned is
found in the two oases.
The chief villages not mentioned along the routes (see Routes
Nos. 11, 12, and 13) are: 'Ayun, 20 miles N. of Hofuf, with 500
houses and a moat which can be filled ; Daleiqiyah, 5 miles W. of
Jishshah, small, but walled and bastioned, with springs and date-
trees ; Hazam, near Mubarraz, a large Bedouin encampment in hot
weather ; Bab el-Jafar, a few miles SW. of Jishshah, a large walled
village of 350 houses, formerly head-quarters of a Turkish nahiyah ;
Qasr esh-Sharqi (also called Qasr Ghaseibah), 4 miles E. of Hofuf, a

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