Page 166 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

JX.] GULF OF AKABAH. 147

than any fear the Bedowins entertain of these
men. Corn to supply the Hajj caravan, in its
progress from Cairo to Mecca, is lodged here;
and at the period of its visit, Bedowins as­
semble from all quarters to dispose of their
sheep and butter to the pilgrims. They are
a wild untractable race, much addicted to
pilfering; and have occasionally given the
Egyptian pachas much trouble. The prin­
cipal date-grove is about a mile in length ;
another, almost as long, lies in the direction
of Wadi-el-Arabd; and there are several, still
more extensive, to the southward. Water is

everywhere plentiful and good; fruits and
vegetables abound ; and all indicates that the
soil retains a portion of that fertility which
called forth the eulogiums of the earlier Ara­
bian authors.
During our stay here we had but few op­
portunities of investigating the surrounding
country, for we were unprovided with a fir­
man, and Captain Moresby was apprehensive
the natives might, as at Magnah, seize and
demand a heavy ransom for us. Our not
having done so is however of little import­
ance, since this portion of the globe has been
l 2