About Two Hours
S. Of Lye, In The Mountain, Stands The Celebrated Castle Of Byssel,
Built By The Late Chief Of All The Hedjaz Arabs, Othman El Medhayfe, Who
Was Taken Prisoner Near It In Autumn 1812.
Here Mohammed Aly Pasha, in
January 1815, fought his decisive battle with the united Wababy forces.
From Lye the
Road leads over mountains for about two hours, and then
descends into the great Eastern plain, where, at a distance of seven or
eight hours from Lye, and twelve from Tayf, lies the small town of
Kolakh: here were the head-quarters of the Turkish army for several
months in 1814. It is an open place, without trees or enclosures, with
many water-pits. It lies from Tayf in the direction of E.S.E. About Lye
and Kolakh, live the Arabs of the Ossama tribe, who form part of the
great Ateybe tribe. Between Kolakh and Taraba, off the straight road,
lies Abyla, once the residence of the great chief Medhayfe. By Kolakh
passes the most frequented road from Nedjed to Zohran, and from thence
to the sea-ports of Yemen. Continuing over the plain from Kolakh in a
more southern direction for about eighteen hours, we come to the town of
Taraba, as the people of Tayf and Mekka call it, or Toroba according
[p.451] to the Bedouin pronunciation. A soldier who possessed a watch
told me that he had counted three hours on the march between Tayf and
Taraba. This is a considerable town, as large as Tayf, and remarkable
for its plantations, that furnish all the surrounding country with
dates; and famous for its resistance against the Turkish forces of
Mohammed Aly, until January 1815, when its inhabitants were compelled to
submit.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 631 of 669
Words from 171873 to 172165
of 182297
