. The heart of Arabia, a record of travel and exploration . cult to say exactly where the easternedge of the Tuwaiq steppe begins ; from the Batin down-wards the Wadi Hanifa itself is undoubtedly the boundary,though even here the steppe projects in part beyond its leftbank ; north of the Batin the western boundary of theRiyadh oasis, prolonged through the Mugharrizat and AbuMakhruq hills to Banban, thence along the western edge ofthe sand strip called Arq Banban, and on up the valleywhich separates the steppe and valleys of northern Tuwaiqor Sudair from the Arma steppe, is, I think, the mostsu
. The heart of Arabia, a record of travel and exploration . cult to say exactly where the easternedge of the Tuwaiq steppe begins ; from the Batin down-wards the Wadi Hanifa itself is undoubtedly the boundary,though even here the steppe projects in part beyond its leftbank ; north of the Batin the western boundary of theRiyadh oasis, prolonged through the Mugharrizat and AbuMakhruq hills to Banban, thence along the western edge ofthe sand strip called Arq Banban, and on up the valleywhich separates the steppe and valleys of northern Tuwaiqor Sudair from the Arma steppe, is, I think, the mostsuitable line for the eastern limits of the Tuwaiq follows from this that from the moment of leaving Riyadhour march had lain over the outer flank of the range ; fromDaraiyya onwards we had been ploughing through the verycore of the steppe, gradually rising, and now, beyondAmmariyya, we found ourselves in the midst of the mainplateau, though still not on its highest level. Before us openedout a wide valley sweeping round in a semicircle southward. Tut. Sa(jta Iass i\ [ahai. Tcwaid. THE PILGRIM ROAD 117 and westward between serrated ridges rising to a height of400 or 500 feet ; from the ridge on our right hand, behindwhich lay a yet higher ridge, marking the inner edge of thehigher tableland, low projecting ridges ran down at intervalsinto the valley. The track switchbacked over these, nego-tiating here and there a steep rough descent, to avoid thelonger detour of the storm channel. Traversing a broad affluent of the Wadi from the right,called Shaib Muzaira, we reached in one and a half hoursfrom Ammariyya a confluence of freshets which form thenucleus of the Wadi itself. From the north-west ShaibDhubaia ran down from the high plateau, and from thesouth-west came Shaib Saqta, up which we struck. Intothe Shaib came affluents from either side, Abu Taiy, AbuSus, Haddawi and others ; ever narrowing between its highbuttress cliffs it wound upwards into the heart of Tuwaiq,a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1922
