For This Purpose, The
Different Species Of Shrubs And Pasturage Produced In Them By The Rains,
Are Of Great Assistance;
And whenever they wish to mention a certain
spot to their companions, which happens to have no name, they always
Designate it by the herbs that grow there; as, for instance, Abou Shyh,
Abou Agal, &c.
About two hours distant from the spot where we rested, to the north-
east, is water, with a small date-grove. I heard that the sea was from
six to eight hours distant. The mountains continued to be seen between
twenty and thirty miles on the east; their summits sharp, and presenting
steep and insulated peaks. They are inhabited by the tribe of Ateybe,
which in the seventeenth century, according to Asamy, also inhabited
Wady Fatme. In the morning some Bedouin women appeared, with a few
starved herds of sheep and goats, which were searching for the scanty
herbage. No rain had fallen in the plain, and every shrub was withered;
yet these Bedouins did not dare to seek for better pasturage in the
neighbouring mountains, which did not belong to the territory of their
tribe; for, whenever there is a drought, the limits of each territory
are rigorously watched by the shepherds. I went out with several of the
Malays to meet the women, and to ask them for some milk; the Malays had
taken money with them to buy it; and I had filled my pockets with
biscuit, for the same purpose.
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