Close To It Was A Garden Which, During The Reign Of Moqtadir,
Belonged To The Hashimite Prince Abd Allah, And Was In A Most
Flourishing Condition.
It produced an abundance of henna, plantains,
and vegetables of every description, and yielded a revenue of five
thousand Dinar-mithqals (about £2,860) annually.
A canal from Wady (the
river) Nakhla feeds a fountain which jets forth in the midst of the
garden, and lower down a tank. In the garden stood a fort (which in a
dilapidated condition is extant to this day, and spoken of by
Burckhardt). It was built of huge stones, guarded for the defence of
the property by the Banu Sa’d, and tenanted by the servants and followers
of the proprietor. Below al-Zayma is Sabuha, a post-station where a
relay of horses was kept for the transport of Government Despatches. To
give an idea of the distances, I may mention that the post-stages were
twelve Arabic miles asunder, which on this road are rather larger than
an English geographical mile. The first station from Meccah was
Moshash, the second Sabuha, and the third was at the foot of the hill
Yasum. The author of the commentary from which I derive this
information leaves Wady Nakhla soon after Sabuha, and
[p.408] turns his steps towards the holy city. He mentions “the steep
rocky Pass” up which Burton toiled with difficulty, and calls it Orayk.
Though he enters into many details, he takes no notice of the hill-girt
plain called Sola.
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