. The heart of Arabia, a record of travel and exploration . voids AbuJifan and strikes water at the wells of Wasia, near thejunction of the Turabi plain and the Sahaba channel, pass-ing thence to the southward of the Shadida ridge. Animal life was more in evidence here than it had beenhitherto ; gazelles were seen and chased without success,and one Huhara or lesser bustard flopped across our path,its sluggish flight belying its speed ; as in India this bird ismost easily secured by circumvention, if hawks be not tohand, and he who would hunt it more directly is doomed todisappointment ; here t
. The heart of Arabia, a record of travel and exploration . voids AbuJifan and strikes water at the wells of Wasia, near thejunction of the Turabi plain and the Sahaba channel, pass-ing thence to the southward of the Shadida ridge. Animal life was more in evidence here than it had beenhitherto ; gazelles were seen and chased without success,and one Huhara or lesser bustard flopped across our path,its sluggish flight belying its speed ; as in India this bird ismost easily secured by circumvention, if hawks be not tohand, and he who would hunt it more directly is doomed todisappointment ; here the black pebble strands are pittedwith holes of the tough-skinned Dhahh, a lizard eaten withrehsh by the Badu, but endowed with incredible speed ;here also the Jarhua rat has its abode, and can be dug outof its hole if no time be lost in starting operations when heis seen to disappear ; this, too, is considered a or vultures we saw from time to time soaring highabove the cliffs of Arma. Here, too, were shepherds of Dawasir and Subai grazing. < J THE EASTERN DESERT 59 their flocks, and one large caravan bound for the Hasapassed us during the day. The SJiuwwan or shepherd ele-ments of the great tribes stand lower in the social scale thanthe Badu, rearers of camels, raiders and naught else. On we padded the livelong day over the never-endingplain ; at length the low mound of Jabal Aqla appearedahead and we pressed on, but the camels had drunk theirfill and we had water enough, so we camped for the nightsome miles short of the wells, being now at the easternedge of the long slope of Jubail. Continuing our march next morning, when the ther-mometer registered 48-2° at and a keen northerlybreeze blew freshly over the bare steppe, we reached theAqla wells in rather more than half an hour. They lay,some nine or ten, of which only three appeared to be inuse, in a shallow sandy depression amid low bare hummocksand ridges ; round the edges of the saucer the gro
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1922
