'Southern Nejd: Journey to Kharj, Aflaj, Sulaiyyil, and Wadi Dawasir in 1918.' [‎30r] (64/100)

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Mishrif, more commonly called Al Khammasin, lies on a
very slightly higher level than Dam on the same slope and retains
its old wall more or less intact, though battered in parts. It has
two proper gates, one at the north-west corner giving admission
to the Suq and the other on the east side, connected by a narrow
rambling street lined by low mud houses of the usual type,
but of a reddish-brown colour: this colour is found alternating
with the ordinary mud colour pretty well everywhere in the
wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. , but Mishrif is the best example of its almost exclusive
use. A large section of the north-eastern corner of the town
within the walls is in ruins, but the rest seems to have survived
the vicissitudes of its old struggles with Dam remarkably
well. The population belongs exclusively to the Khammasin
subsection of the Wuddain and may number some 2,000
souls.
Between the rival towns stands the Barzan (about 2,500
feet above sea-level and perhaps twenty feet above the level
of the wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. bed), one and the most recent of four forts which
have at one time or another been erected by the Saud dynasty
to keep the turbulent population of the wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. in order. Of
these the qasr called Al Tauq standing about 200 yards from the
north-east corner of Dam on a slightly lower level than the town
was built by Feisal and to judge by the thickness of its mud
walls and the deep moat around it it must at one time have been
of immense strength. Now, however, it is in ruins, from what
cause I do not know. The other two ruined forts lie to the
south and south-east of Dam but are of no inteiest. Baizan
was only completed last year, a fine square high-walled structure
perhaps eighty yards each way with high towers at each corner
commanding a splendid view into the interior of both Dam and
Mishrif and, within, a large open space about which are disposed
the Amir's apartments, a small mosque, kitchens, stables, etc.,
and a large coffee parlour or reception room. The Amir, Abdulla
ibn Muammar, a cousin of the Amir of the Qasim, is a staunch
and consistent Wahhabi, but not a sufficiently strong man for
such a difficult charge : his bigotry moreover is the worst possible
example to a populace already endowed with an amply sufficient
allowance of that virtue; a man of pleasing cultured appealance,
he made no secret of his aversion to being my host, nevertheless,
as a host he left nothing to be desired and, in general, he
left on me an extremely favourable impression-—considerably