338 HISTORY OF THE WAHABEES. 



taken possession of, and demolished by the enemy. 

 Shakara was a handsome commercial town, and 

 reckoned the strongest fortress in the country. The 

 obstinacy which the Turks had experienced at Do- 

 rama led to a cruel retaliation. All the inhabitants 

 were put to the sword ; the soldiers had orders to fire 

 upon them in their houses ; and in two hours the 

 work of indiscriminate carnage was completed. 



Nothing now remained to consummate the tri- 

 umph of Ibrahim but the capture of Deraiah. With 

 a force nearly 6000 strong he directed his march 

 towards that capital, which he reached on the 6th 

 of April. The place was immediately invested, re- 

 doubts 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 Waha- 

 bees, lies about 400 miles eastward of Medina in a 

 fertile valley 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 considerable extent. Its position is natu- 

 rally strong, the mountains enclosing it on either 

 hand ; and the only entrances to the valley being 

 through two inlets, 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 composed of five small villages or quarters, each 

 surrounded by a wall fortified with bastions. The 

 suburbs were unprotected, and covered with gardens 

 and fruit-trees. The houses were chiefly of stone 



