In England We
Want The Feature, And Therefore There Is No Single Word To Express It.
Our "River" Is An
Imperfect way of conveying the idea.
[FN#16] Generalisation is not the forte of the Arabic language.
"Al-Kulzum" (the
Red Sea), for instance, will be unintelligible to the
native of Jeddah; call it the Sea of Jeddah, and you at once explain
yourself; so the Badawin will have names for each separate part, but no
single one to express the whole. This might be explained by their
ignorance of anything but details. The same thing is observable,
however, in the writings of the Arabian geographers when they come to
treat of the objects near home.
[FN#17] About the classic "Harrah," I shall have more to say at a
future time. The word "Ria" in literary and in vulgar Arabic is almost
synonymous with Akabah, a steep descent, a path between hills or a
mountain road.
[FN#18] Valleys may be divided into three kinds. 1. Longitudinal, i.e.
parallel to the axis of their ridges; 2. Transversal or perpendicular
to the same; and, 3. Diagonal, which form an acute or an obtuse angle
with the main chain of mountains.
[FN#19] This act, by the bye, I afterwards learned to be a greater act
of imprudence than the sleeping alone. Nothing renders the Arab thief
so active as the chance of stealing a good weapon.
[FN#20] Probably, because water is usually found in such places. In the
wild parts of the country, wells are generally protected by some
fortified building, for men consider themselves safe from an enemy
until their supply of water is cut off.
[FN#22] Near Al-Hamra, at the base of the Southern hills, within fire
of the forts, there is a fine spring of sweet water.
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