Milk Was Not To Be Found, For No One Likes To Be Called A
Milk-Seller.
A tolerably well-built mosque stands by the rivulet, near
some gigantic sycamore trees.
I found in it two negro hadjys from
Darfour; they had, the night before, been stripped on the road of a few
piastres, earned at Mekka: one of them having attempted to defend
himself, had been severely beaten; and they now intended to go back to
Djidda, and endeavour to retrieve their loss by a few months' labour.
One of the Bedouins who had stripped them, was smoking his pipe in the
village; but they had not the means of proving the robbery against him,
nor of obtaining justice. Kholeys is the chief seat of the Arab tribe of
Zebeyd, a branch of Beni Harb, and the residence of their Sheikh. The
greater part of them are Bedouins; and many even of those who cultivate
the ground, pass some part of the
[p.299] year under tents in the Desert, for the purpose of pasturing
their cattle upon the wild herbage. A few families of Beni Amer, (or
Aamer, [The Beni Aamer must not be confounded with Amer, another tribe of
Harb.]) another branch of Harb, are mixed with this tribe at Kholeys.
Before the Turkish conquest, the usual currency at this market was
dhourra; at present, piastres and paras are taken. Kholeys often sends
small caravans to Djidda, which is two long days' journeys, or three
caravan journeys distant. I was told that the neighbouring mountains
were well peopled with Bedouins. About three hours distant, in a N.E.
direction, is a fertile valley called Wady Khowar, known for its
numerous plantations of bananas, by which the fruit-markets of Mekka and
Djidda are supplied.
January 18th. Having filled our water-skins, we set out at three
o'clock, P.M. Our road lay N. 20 E. over the plain. In two hours we came
to a high hill, called Thenyet Kholeys, the steep side of which was
deeply covered with sand, through which our camels ascended with
difficulty. Some ancient ruins of a large building stand on its top, and
the road on both sides of the hill is lined with walls, to prevent too
great an accumulation of the sand. It was covered with carcases of
camels, the relics of the late Hadj caravans. On descending the other
side, a plain extended before us to the north and east, as far as the
eye could reach. To the E.N.E. high mountains were visible, distant
between twenty and thirty miles. Descending into the plain, we took the
direction N. 10 W. At three hours and a half the plain, which thus far
had been firm gravel, changed into deep sand, with tarfa (or tamarisk)
trees, which delight particularly in sand, and in the driest season,
when all vegetation around them is withered, never lose their verdure.
It is one of the most common productions of the Arabian Desert, from the
Euphrates to Mekka, and is also frequent in the Nubian deserts: its
young leaves form an excellent food for camels. At four hours and a
quarter, we found the road covered with a saline crust, indicating the
neighbourhood of the sea; from hence, our course was in various
directions.
According to the usual practice in the Hedjaz, the camels walk in
[p.300] a single row - those behind tied to the tails of those that
precede them. The Arab, riding foremost, was to lead the troop; but he
frequently fell asleep, as well as his companions behind; and his camel
then took its own course, and often led the whole caravan astray. After
a twelve hours' march, we alighted at the Hadj station called Kolleya,
and also Kobeyba. Every spot in the plains of Arabia is known by a
particular name; and it requires the eye and experience of a Bedouin to
distinguish one small district from another: for this purpose, the
different species of shrubs and pasturage produced in them by the rains,
are of great assistance; and whenever they wish to mention a certain
spot to their companions, which happens to have no name, they always
designate it by the herbs that grow there; as, for instance, Abou Shyh,
Abou Agal, &c.
About two hours distant from the spot where we rested, to the north-
east, is water, with a small date-grove. I heard that the sea was from
six to eight hours distant. The mountains continued to be seen between
twenty and thirty miles on the east; their summits sharp, and presenting
steep and insulated peaks. They are inhabited by the tribe of Ateybe,
which in the seventeenth century, according to Asamy, also inhabited
Wady Fatme. In the morning some Bedouin women appeared, with a few
starved herds of sheep and goats, which were searching for the scanty
herbage. No rain had fallen in the plain, and every shrub was withered;
yet these Bedouins did not dare to seek for better pasturage in the
neighbouring mountains, which did not belong to the territory of their
tribe; for, whenever there is a drought, the limits of each territory
are rigorously watched by the shepherds. I went out with several of the
Malays to meet the women, and to ask them for some milk; the Malays had
taken money with them to buy it; and I had filled my pockets with
biscuit, for the same purpose. They refused to take the money, saying
they were not accustomed to sell milk; but when I made them a present of
the biscuits, they filled my wooden bowl in return. During the passage
of the Hadj, these poor Bedouins fly in all directions, knowing the
predatory habits of the soldiers who escort the caravan.
January 19th. We left Kolleya at half-past one o'clock P.M., and
[p.301] proceeded over the plain. In three hours, we came to low hills
of moving sand; at four hours, to a stony plain, with masses of rock
lying across the road:
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