At The End Of Ten Hours And A Half We Arrived In
The Vicinity Of Nakhel (I.E. Date-Tree), A Fortified Station Of The
Egyptian Hadj, Situated About Half An Hour To The N. Of The Pilgrim’S
Road.
Our direction was still W. by N. Nakhel stands in a plain, which
extends to an immense distance southward,
But which terminates to the N.
at about one hour’s distance from Nakhel, in a low chain of mountains.
The fortress is a large square building, with stone walls, without any
habitations round it. There is a well of brackish water, and a large
Birket, which is filled from the well, in the time of the Hadj. The
Pasha of Egypt keeps a garrison in Nakhel of about fifty soldiers, and
uses it as a magazine for the provisions of his army in his expedition
against the Wahabi. The appellation Nakhel was probably given to this
castle at a time when the adjacent country was covered with palm trees,
none of which are now to be seen here. At Akaba, on the contrary, are
large forests of them, belonging for the greater part to the Arabs
Heywat. The ground about Nakhel is chalky or sandy, and is covered with
loose pebbles.
We passed along the road as quickly as we could, for my companions were
afraid lest their camels should be stopped by the Aga of Nakhel, to
transport provisions to Akaba. The Arabs Heywat and Sowadye, who encamp
in this district, style themselves masters of Akaba and Nakhel, and
exact yearly from the Pasha certain sums for permitting him to occupy
them; for though they are totally unable to oppose his troops, yet the
tribute is paid, in order to take from them all pretext for plundering
small caravans.
NAKHEL
[p.451] About six hours to the S.W. of Nakhel is a chain of mountains
called Szadder (Arabic), extending in a S. E. direction.
Near Nakhel my Arab companions fell in with an acquaintance, who was
burning charcoal for the Cairo market. He informed us that a large party
of Arabs Sowaleha, with whom my Howeytats were at war, was encamped in
this vicinity; it was, in consequence, determined to travel by night,
until we should be out of their reach, and we stopped at sunset, about
one hour west of Nakhel, after a day’s march of eleven hours and a half,
merely for the purpose of allowing the camels to eat. Being ourselves
afraid to light a fire, lest it should be descried by the Sowaleha, we
were obliged to take a supper of dry flour mixed with a little salt.
During the whole of the journey the camels had no other provender than
the withered shrubs of the desert, my dromedary excepted, to which I
gave a few handfuls of barley every evening. Loaded camels are scarcely
able to perform such a journey without a daily allowance of beans and
barley.
August 31st—We set out before midnight, and continued at a quick rate
the whole night.
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