From Thence To
Akaba El Sham, Or The Syrian Akaba, (Likewise A Hadj Station), The
Country Is Called Essafha.
It is this Akaba that may be properly
described as the boundary of Arabia towards Syria.
Here a steep mountain
extends for several days' journey westward towards the Red Sea, and
eastward towards the interior of the Desert. On the north of that
mountain we enter the higher or upper plain, which continues to
Damascus. Between the Syrian Akaba and the Egyptian Akaba is another
pass through the same mountain, called Bab el Nedjed, or the "Gate of
Nedjed," because here the Bedouins of southern Syria (or, as they are
called by the Arabian Bedouins, Ahl el Shemal, "People of the North,")
pass on their way to Nedjed. In those passes the Wahabys, when they make
excursions against the Bedouins, leave strong guards, to secure their
own retreat.
The Hadj route from Medina direct to Syria is not much frequented even
in time of
[p.458] peace. Sometimes a few Bedouin merchants take camel-loads of
coffee-beans by this road to Damascus; but it is infested by strolling
parties of the Beni Omran and Howeytat tribes, who live in the western
mountain, and frequently descend to rob travellers in the plain. The
most frequented route to the north of Medina is towards the country of
Kasym, which, as I have already mentioned, supplies Medina in time of
peace with all sorts of provisions. The route to Kasym lies between the
Hadj route on one side, and the straight road to Derayeh (the Wahaby
capital) on the other.
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