298 HISTORY OF THE WAHABEES. 



to fire upon them in their houses ; and in two hours 

 the work of indiscriminate carnage was completed. 



Nothing now remained to consummate the triumph 

 of Ibrahim but the capture of Deraiah. With a 

 force nearly 6000 strong he directed his march to- 

 wards that capital, which he reached on the 6th of 

 April. The place was immediately invested, redoubts 

 were constructed, intrenchments thrown up, and 

 every preparation made for a resolute siege. This 

 city, famous as the metropolis of Nejed and the seat 

 of the power and government of the Wahabees, lies 

 about 400 miles eastward of Medina, in a fertile val- 

 ley called Wady Hanifa, rich in fruits and grain, and 

 watered by a stream (El Baten) which, though dry 

 in summer, in the rainy season runs a course of con- 

 siderable extent. Its position is naturally strong, 

 the mountains enclosing it on either hand ; and the 

 only entrances to the valley being through two in- 

 lets, of which that on the west side is so narrow as 

 to admit but of one camel at a time, and might 

 easily be defended against any number of assailants. 

 Though formerly a place of some note, its true 

 situation and importance were now for the first 

 time known to Europeans. The town was com 

 posed of five small villages or quarters, each sur- 

 rounded by a wall fortified with bastions. The 

 suburbs were unprotected, and covered with gardens 

 and fruit-trees. The houses were chiefly of stone 

 or brick, and the bazars consisted of shops made 

 of reeds, which could easily be transported from one 

 place to another. There were twenty-eight mosques 

 in it and thirty colleges, but no baths, khans, or 

 public inns. The inhabtants, proverbial for their 

 hospitality, were estimated at 13,000. 



Five months were consumed in the siege of this 

 important capital; both parties maintaining the con- 

 test with undaunted resolution, and with alternate 

 advantages. Abdallah did his utmost by word and 

 action to animate his troops ; money and presents 



