JABAL QAIYARAH. 23 



and was evidently on the point of entering the oil horizon, as oil has 

 recently commenced to appear at the casing head. This was evi- 

 dently intended to be a deep test-well, judging from the size of the 

 tools and the amount of casing lying around it, the largest of the 

 latter being 12 inches in diameter. The derrick and machinery are 

 still in place ; some of the latter had been damaged before the Turks 

 retreated. The other three wells all flow, although, in the case of 

 two, this is a mere drip. The best well has a considerable pressure 

 and would fill an ordinary kerosene tin in five or six seconds with a 

 black oil containing a certain amount of tar but some petrol as well. 

 Large quantities of hydrogen sulphide are at the same time evolved, 

 rendering the oil-jet almost unapproachable. The three last men- 

 tioned wells have tripods over them. They all probably tap the 

 same horizon, but no information is at present available as to their 

 depth, except that derived from a Turkish engineer who, I under- 

 stand, worked formerly on the field, and who affirms that none cf 

 the wells are more than 170 feet deep. This I learnt from Lieut. 

 Club, who also kindly showed me what was to be seen at the Station. 

 The wells are all in the same locality, and about 300 yards apart. 

 There is a small refinery of five stills, for which crude oil was used as 

 fuel, and two condensers, all in working order though of a crude 

 construction. Some of the refined oil was found in drums ; it is 

 water-white and smells of naphtha. 



Structure, age of the rocks, accessibility to the drill, geographical 

 position, the existence, copiousness and nature of the seepages, 

 and preliminary boring, are all factors so much in favour of the view, 

 as to amount to a certainty, that an oilfield of importance exists 

 here. How far it is likely to extend along the range is not so easy 

 to forecast, but from the result of the boring as far down the pitch of 

 the fold as the existing oil wells are, there is a good prospect of its 

 extending most of the way to the Qishlah rise ; there is an odour of 

 hydrogen sulphide perceptible on the south-western flank, four 

 miles east of Qishlah, before the anticline begins to rise again, 

 which may or may not have any significance. 



As the crest rose so conspicuously in the Qishlah area, I felt 

 convinced that some natural petroleum indications must exist in 

 that neighbourhood, and on making enquiries from some Arabs 

 there, was pleased to be shown the occurrences of bituminous earth 



