This important position is frequently visited by the
Bedouin tribes.
6 hours. Abou Khesheyb. The road from Hanakye to this place is on a
sandy plain. Abou Khesheyb lies between two mountains, and affords good
well-water.
12 hours. El Heymedj, a station having sweet and saltish water.
8 hours. El Mawat. The road from Heymedj to this place is sandy, with
low mountains, no trees; the herb called adjref grows here. The pasture-
ground of the Beni Harb tribe extends as far as Heymedj: then begin the
pastures of the Meteyr Arabs. El Mawat has the best water on the whole
route: it is a sandy spot in an inlet of the mountains.
16 hours. El Badje. The road from Mawat to this place is without water,
on a sandy plain, having mountains on both sides: the chain on the left
is called Taaye. Badje is an extensive tract, with trees and herbage,
and wells both of sweet and brackish water.
3 hours. Neffoud, or, as it is called from the soil, Gherek-ed-Dessem, a
plain of deep
[p.459] sand, four hours long, after which the road becomes less sandy
and difficult, being covered with small stones.
14 hours. Djerdawye, a plain with wells of good water; from thence in
7 hours, to Dat, the first town of Kasym. - In all, one hundred hours.
From Dat to Rass, one of the chief towns of Kasym, is four or five
hours. From Rass to a place called Khabara, five hours; and from Khabara
to Shebeybe, four hours. According to the night journies of the
Bedouins, one hundred hours are equal to ten or eleven marches by day.
The journey here detailed was performed by Tousoun Pasha's army at
night. Three days from Medina to Hanakye, and eight days from thence to
Dat. A person belonging to the court of Tousoun Pasha measured the
distance by his watch. The caravans, loaded with corn, are generally ten
or eleven days on the road between Medina and Rass.
Kasym, which is the most fertile district in the province of Nedjed,
begins at Dat. The name of Nedjed, signifying high or elevated ground,
is given to this country in opposition to Tehama or "low lands," applied
to the sea-coast. It seems to be an oblong tract, extending between
three and four days' journies from west to east, and two journies in
breadth south to north. Within this space are above twenty-six small
towns or villages, well peopled, in a cultivated territory, irrigated by
water from numerous wells. The chief town is Bereyda, where resides the
Sheikh of Kasym, an old man named El Hedjeylan, once an enemy to the
Wahabys, now a convert to their doctrine. The neighbourhood of Rass
produces the most corn; and that part of Kasym about Dat and Rass lies
nearest to Medina.
