i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 521 



upper spring in Wady Leimoon, under Jebel Mudheeq, 

 lay off our route, so I speak of it only from report. I 

 understand that some of the lower springs are also slightly 

 warm, particularly that of Sola, which is but an hour 

 and a quarter below Zeima. But I was not told of this 

 till we had passed, and though I had tasted the water 

 I did so from a pitcher in which it had stood for some time. 

 I was also told that the fountain of Queen Zobeide, from 

 which Mecca is supplied with water, is a warm spring. It 

 belongs to another series of springs under Mount Kara, but 

 the natives make Mount Barada the ultimate source of all. 

 I shall describe the fountain of Zeima more fully when I 

 come to speak of that village, when I shall also speak of its 

 failure and reappearance some years ago. Meantime, I 

 may mention a curious well near Mecca, of which I was 

 told by Ismail. The water has no mineral taste, but is 

 valued as a cure for flatulency and indigestion, to which 

 it is said to give instant relief. Its water is sold in Mecca 

 at double the price of that from Zobeide s aqueduct, but 

 is chiefly drunk by women, being thought to have a 

 weakening effect on the other sex. We were but a little 

 way from Hadda when the sun rose over a sea of wild 

 peaks far away to the right, the mountain land of the 

 Qoreish, above Mecca. The Mountain of Light, famous 

 as the place where Mohammed first attained the con 

 viction that he was the recipient of special revelation, 

 was faintly seen through the morning mists. On the 

 other side of the valley, above the palm groves of Rikkane, 

 ran the long bulwark of Jebel Dhaf. To the north were 

 the rocky faces of Mukasser and the Sidr, noted haunts 

 of robbers. All these mountains are of igneous formation, 

 and trap or basalt seem to be their chief components. 



After three hours journey we halted under a sand 

 bank for breakfast. When their waterskins were full, 

 my men generally made the morning halt in a desert 

 spot, and even when water was at hand preferred a 

 draught from the skin, well cooled by evaporation, to 



