﻿110 
  J. 
  A. 
  PHILLIPS 
  ON 
  THE 
  RED 
  SANDS 
  

  

  10. 
  The 
  Bed 
  Sands 
  of 
  the 
  Arabian 
  Desert. 
  By 
  J. 
  Arthur 
  

   Phillips, 
  Esq., 
  F.E.S., 
  F.G.S. 
  (Read 
  December 
  21, 
  1881.) 
  

  

  The 
  Nefud, 
  or 
  great 
  red 
  desert 
  of 
  Northern 
  Arabia, 
  commencing 
  

   about 
  four 
  hundred 
  miles 
  east 
  of 
  Sinai, 
  extends 
  from 
  the 
  walls 
  

   of 
  Lina 
  in 
  the 
  east 
  to 
  Teyma 
  in 
  the 
  west, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  edge 
  

   of 
  the 
  Jof 
  basin 
  in 
  the 
  north 
  to 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  Jebel 
  Aja 
  in 
  the 
  south. 
  

   Its 
  extreme 
  breadth 
  is 
  150 
  miles, 
  and 
  its 
  greatest 
  length 
  400 
  miles 
  : 
  

   but 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  this 
  area 
  is 
  not 
  composed 
  of 
  continuous 
  sands. 
  

   The 
  most 
  eastern 
  portion 
  of 
  this 
  desert 
  (and 
  probably 
  its 
  most 
  

   western 
  extremity 
  also) 
  consists 
  of 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  long 
  parallel 
  sand-drifts 
  

   from 
  half 
  a 
  mile 
  to 
  five 
  miles 
  in 
  width, 
  separated 
  by 
  intervening 
  

   strips 
  of 
  solid 
  plain. 
  

  

  Palgrave 
  describes 
  the 
  Nefud 
  as 
  " 
  an 
  immense 
  ocean 
  of 
  loose 
  red- 
  

   dish 
  sand 
  unlimited 
  to 
  the 
  eye, 
  and 
  heaped 
  up 
  in 
  enormous 
  ridges 
  

   running 
  parallel 
  to 
  each 
  other 
  from 
  north 
  to 
  south, 
  undulation 
  after 
  

   undulation, 
  each 
  swell 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  hundred 
  feet 
  in 
  average 
  height, 
  

   with 
  slant 
  sides 
  and 
  rounded 
  crests 
  furrowed 
  in 
  every 
  direction 
  by 
  

   the 
  capricious 
  gales 
  of 
  the 
  desert. 
  In 
  the 
  depths 
  between, 
  the 
  

   traveller 
  finds 
  himself, 
  as 
  it 
  were, 
  imprisoned 
  in 
  a 
  suffocating 
  sand- 
  

   pit, 
  hemmed 
  in 
  by 
  burning 
  walls 
  on 
  every 
  side, 
  while, 
  at 
  other 
  times, 
  

   while 
  labouring 
  up 
  the 
  slope, 
  he 
  overlooks 
  what 
  seems 
  a 
  vast 
  sea 
  of 
  

   fire 
  swelling 
  under 
  a 
  heavy 
  monsoon 
  wind 
  and 
  ruffled 
  by 
  a 
  cross- 
  

   blast 
  into 
  red-hot 
  waters"*. 
  

  

  Lady 
  Anne 
  Blunt, 
  in 
  her 
  'Pilgrimage 
  to 
  Nejd,' 
  remarks 
  with 
  

   regard 
  to 
  this 
  desert, 
  "the 
  thing 
  that 
  strikes 
  one 
  first 
  about 
  the 
  

   Nefud 
  is 
  its 
  colour. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  white, 
  like 
  the 
  sand 
  dunes 
  we 
  passed 
  

   yesterday, 
  nor 
  yellow, 
  as 
  the 
  sand 
  is 
  in 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Egyptian 
  desert, 
  

   but 
  a 
  really 
  light 
  red, 
  almost 
  crimson 
  in 
  the 
  morning 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  wet 
  

   with 
  the 
  dew"t. 
  

  

  She 
  subsequently 
  describes 
  the 
  great 
  horseshoe 
  hollows 
  (" 
  fuljes 
  ") 
  

   scattered 
  all 
  over 
  its 
  surface, 
  which, 
  although 
  varying 
  from 
  an 
  acre 
  

   to 
  a 
  couple 
  of 
  hundred 
  acres 
  in 
  extent, 
  are 
  precisely 
  alike 
  in 
  shape 
  

   and 
  general 
  direction. 
  

  

  They 
  exactly 
  resemble 
  the 
  track 
  of 
  an 
  unshod 
  horse, 
  the 
  toe 
  being 
  

   sharply 
  cut 
  and 
  nearly 
  perpendicular, 
  while 
  the 
  rim 
  of 
  the 
  hoof 
  

   gradually 
  tapers 
  to 
  nothing 
  at 
  the 
  heel, 
  the 
  frog 
  being 
  roughly 
  re- 
  

   presented 
  by 
  broken 
  ground 
  made 
  up 
  of 
  converging 
  dried 
  up 
  water- 
  

   courses. 
  The 
  diameter 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  of 
  these 
  depressions 
  

   is 
  fully 
  a 
  quarter 
  of 
  a 
  mile, 
  and 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  the 
  deepest, 
  measured 
  

   by 
  Mr. 
  Wilfred 
  S. 
  Blunt, 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  280 
  feet, 
  thus 
  bringing 
  their 
  

   level 
  down 
  almost 
  exactly 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  gravelly 
  plain, 
  which 
  is 
  

   doubtless 
  continued 
  beneath 
  the 
  sand. 
  

  

  The 
  thickness 
  of 
  the 
  sand 
  is 
  described 
  as 
  being 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  every- 
  

  

  * 
  Palgrave 
  (W. 
  Gifford), 
  ' 
  Narrative 
  of 
  a 
  Year's 
  Journey 
  through 
  Central 
  and 
  

   Eastern 
  Arabia,' 
  p. 
  62. 
  

  

  t 
  ' 
  A 
  Pilgrimage 
  to 
  Nejd, 
  the 
  Cradle 
  of 
  the 
  Arab 
  Race,' 
  vol. 
  i. 
  p. 
  156 
  ; 
  by 
  

   Lady 
  Anne 
  Blunt. 
  London: 
  1881, 
  

  

  