They All Stand In Deep Sand, Which Is Collected From The Middle
Parts Of The Valley, And Heaped Up Round Their Root, And Must Be Renewed
Annually, As The Torrents Usually Wash It Away.
Every small grove is
enclosed by a mud or stone wall; the cultivators inhabit several
hamlets, or insulated houses, scattered among the trees.
The houses are
low, and generally have only two rooms, and there is a small court-yard
for the cattle. Several springs of running water, and many wells, are
found in the gardens; the principal rivulet has its source in a grove
close to the market; a small Mesdjed or mosque is built beside it, and
it is overshadowed by a few large wild chesnut-trees. I saw no others of
that species in the Hedjaz. Here, too, the water of the spring was
tepid, but in a less degree than at Rabegh and Kholeys.
The inhabitants of this valley, the name of which is celebrated in the
Hedjaz for the abundance of its dates, are of the Beni Salem tribe, the
most numerous branch of Harb, and, like most other tribes of the Hedjaz,
partly Bedouins and partly settled inhabitants; the latter remaining in
their houses and gardens the whole year round, though they dress and
live in the same manner as their brethren under tents. The Wahaby chief
had been aware of the importance of this station; and having succeeded,
after a long resistance, in overpowering the Beni Harb, who held the key
of the Northern Hedjaz, [In this enterprise he was assisted by Medheyan,
formerly a chief of Harb, who had been deprived of his post by Djezy, a
fortunate rival.
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