534 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [isso- 



to me as an exceptional thing, dependent on the habits 

 of a tribe in which the men care chiefly for war and pillage. 

 To leave the flocks to the women and children is, on the 

 other hand, the general custom, and appears to be a very 

 ancient one, for it goes back to the times of Rachel, 

 Zipporah, and David. I remember that this usage is 

 noted for the Qoreish in the history of the Prophet, who 

 tended the sheep, as a boy, in their mountains, and I 

 was, therefore, interested to find the Qoreish specially 

 named as a tribe in which a man would think it beneath 

 him to be charged with the flocks. The men of the 

 Qoreish are wood-cutters Qarrashin ; and their name 

 was explained to me, with great plausibility, as coming 

 from this occupation. 



As we descended into the main valley our view was 

 bounded by the long level ridge of Mount Harra, which 

 I ought to have mentioned when we first saw it, behind 

 the Sidr at Wady Fatima, bounding the northern 

 horizon, save where the twin cones of Jebel el Kohl 

 rose above it. Harra is defined by the lexicographers 

 as a region composed of black rocks, looking as if they 

 had been burned ; and the Hejaz is said to be enclosed 

 between five districts of this character. The Harra 

 which rises above Wady Marr answers to the description. 

 The millstones of Jeddah are brought from it, and consist 

 of a kind of black basalt, which the natives call granite 

 (sawwdri), full of little cavities like a cinder, and of a 

 volcanic aspect. 



After spending three hours in the mountains, we 

 struck the main valley near the fountain Er-Riyan, and 

 half an hour later halted to let the camels drink at the 

 pool of Embarek. The whole plain is fertilised by these 

 copious springs, and the view over rich wheat fields, 

 gardens, and date groves, towards the great blue mountain 

 of Mudheeq at the head of the valley, was most striking. 

 The spot is the fairest and most fertile which I have seen 

 in Arabia, and the scene embraces every element of 



