548 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [1880- 



the torrent bed of Wady Nebi at, and emerges on the 

 lofty plateau named Hazm el Jemeia. The Hazm, 

 which we traversed for an hour and a half in a south 

 easterly direction, is reckoned the highest part of the Nejd 

 (Surrat el Nejd). It has the same general aspect as the 

 Beheita, but is less broken with rocky knobs and bosses. 

 In passing over it our horizon was bounded to the right 

 by a continuous line of hills. To the left the country 

 was open, with only isolated points or hogbacks of 

 higher ground. We crossed three torrent beds descending 

 from the east, and clothed with fine acacia trees. Of the 

 eastern hills the most striking was a large sugar cone 

 which I believe is called El Qurr. It lay due east from 

 the village of Qedeira, just beyond which we again left 

 the Hazm. In consequence of the long drought, the 

 Hazm, as we saw it, was very bare and desolate. It is, 

 nevertheless, a great pasture-ground, on which five or 

 six thousand sheep are kept. The proprietor is the 

 Shereef, and his shepherds have the right to kill sheep 

 or camels which trespass upon the ground. The shepherds 

 are Bedouins living in tents, or, as they are called, houses 

 of hair. 



At Qedeira a little patch of irrigated land marks the 

 beginning of a more fertile country. We descend into 

 the broad bed of a wady above the considerable village 

 of Umm el Khamt, and rest for a few moments under the 

 shade of a row of tamarisks. Besides this village the 

 Bedouins of the district are accustomed to gather their 

 flocks for Ramadan and celebrate the feast. 



From Umm el Khamt to Taif we rode for an hour and 

 a half up the great Wady Elqem, so pronounced for 

 Luqem, which descends from Mount Barad and the 

 southern hills. In this wady there is plenty of water 

 to be reached by sinking wells, and from the Hazm on 

 to Taif the desert is studded with patches of irrigated 

 land, corn fields, orchard ground, and vineyards. These 

 patches are sunk below the natural level of the ground, 



