It has walls and towers,
and was successfully defended against the Pasha of Baghdad in 1797. It
is one of the principal strongholds of the Wahabys; and their chief
derives from this fertile district the greater part of his income. The
sea-port for El Hassa is Akyr, a small town on the Persian Gulf, much
frequented by the Arabs of Maskat and the pirates of the Kowasem (qy.
Jowasem) tribe, who inhabit the port of Ras el Kheyme. The woollen
cloaks, of abbas, made at El Hassa are in great demand all over Arabia
and Mesopotamia: they cost from ten to fifty dollars each.
The territory of Hassa contains about twenty villages: the principal
Bedouins that inhabit it are the Beni Khaled (a tribe extended over many
parts of Arabia), the Bisher Arabs, a tribe of the Benezes, and the El
Zab tribe. Here also, as well as in Nedjed, are some of the Beni
Hosseyn, a tribe belonging to the Persian sect of Moslims.
Between El Hassa and. Basra, water abounds. The road from Derayeh to
Baghdad leads through the provinces of Kasym and Djebel Shammar, taking
a western direction, because in a direct line no water is found in the
Desert. Having reached Kowar, a small town on the frontiers of Kasym,
towards Djebel Shammar (eight days from Derayeh), the traveller proceeds
one day's journey to Kahfe, a village within the territory of Djebel
Shammar.
