It Has Stone Buildings, And Is The Market
Where The Husbandmen Of Zohran And The Neighbouring Districts Sell The
Produce Of Their Labour To The Merchants Of Mokhowa, Who Send It To
Mekka And Djidda.
The country about Mokhowa is very fertile, and
inhabited by the three tribes of Beni Selym, Beni Seydan, and Beni Aly:
the two latter had submitted to the Wahabys, and were commanded by Tamy,
the Sheikh of Asyr.
There are likewise at Mokhowa many of the Beni
Ghamed tribe. In time of peace the intercourse between this town and
Mekka is very considerable; perhaps one third of the supplies of Mekka
in grain of different kinds come from this place. Between these towns
the road lies chiefly through valleys, and crosses but few hills: on it
are some villages, of which the huts are inhabited by Bedouins as well
as agriculturists. I must here repeat that Mokhowa is not to be
confounded with Mokha.
The two first days' journeys lie in the territory of the Djebadele
tribe, whose boundary on the S. is Wady Lemlem, a fertile valley with
springs. Beyond that live the Beni Fahem, an ancient tribe, now much
reduced in numbers: they are celebrated throughout the Hedjaz for having
retained the purity of their language in a higher degree than other
tribes; and those who hear one of their boys speak, will be convinced
that they deserve thin praise.
The country west of the great mountainous chain down to the sea is
called Tehama; an appellation not given, at least in this part of
Arabia, to any particular province, but assigned generally to the
comparatively low grounds towards the coast; and the Bedouins extend
this appellation northwards as far as Yembo.
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