Page 492 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

APPENDIX. 459

Ras-er-rekb (head of the camel-drivers). A place
called Jifarat (the kids or the mounds) is in its neigh­
bourhood.
Sat-h-el-’akabah (the plain, or the summit of the
ascent), i.e. the ’Akabah (ascent) of Ai’lah, where there
was anciently a large town, now in ruins. In a low
place near it there is a well lined with stone, the water
of which is sweet, in a palm-grove. The Arabs settled
there are of the tribe of Howeitat.
The next station completes the first quarter of this
route. Its water is sweet and plentiful. It all passes
along the sea-shore. On the left * side is Mount Tor,
stretching out for a space of several miles in extent.
In the latter part of it there are two descents and nar­
row gorges (bogh&z), in which there are pits with wells
of sweet water. Thence there is an ascent to the
Dhahr him&r (ass’s back), a rocky acclivity. Thence to
Jurfein (the two gullies). Thence to
Sherfehi Beni ’Atfych (the turret or watch-tower of
the children of ’Ati'yeh), where there is much wood.
Thence to
Matlat (the salt slough), between two mountains.
Here is the permanent abode of the Beni Lam.
Thence to
Magharehi Sho’ai’b (the cave of Sho’aib, father-in-
law of Moses). There is sweet water in its pits, a
palm-grove, and many ethl (tamarisk) and mokl (or
dumf) trees like those that grow near the river Nile.

* That is, going from Mecca to Cairo.
f Cucifera thebaVca, or bifurcate palm; the Palma ThebaVca of the
ancients.