'Southern Nejd: Journey to Kharj, Aflaj, Sulaiyyil, and Wadi Dawasir in 1918.' [‎23r] (50/100)

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Biyadh through a gap called Bazumain. On the Hamam Shaib
converge Shaib Ghudaiyir from the north and a number of
petty shaibs draining the outer slope of Tuwaiq from the south.
Continuing our march down the trough but keeping close
to the edge of Tuwaiq we crossed those petty streams one after
another until at a distance of ten miles from Hamam we reached
a low divide marked by a cairn called Rijm al Mansifa, the
half-way mark between Hamam and Snlaiyyil. From this point
a number of petty shaibs from Tuwaiq run down south-east
into a bushy depression called Mahtifar sandwiched between the
Biyadh on the east and a low broad ridge called Naajaniya
which is an offshoot of and is separated from Tawaiq by a narrow
valley and as it were closes in the trough on the south.
We camped for the night in one of these Shaibs about
four miles beyond the half-way mark and on the following morning
a short march brought us to the southern extremity of Tuwaiq
between which and the Naajaniya ridge we followed up Shaib
Sadiya to a low projection of the Naajaniya ridge from the
summit of which we looked down on Sulaiyyil and Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Dawasir.
The scene that so suddenly met our gaze was worthy of
the occasion. At our feet about a mile away the little hamlets of
Sulaiyyil nestled in the bosom of a green oasis. Beyond lay
the broad valley of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Dawasir cleaving through the mighty
barrier of Tuwaiq by a narrow gap in the steep western escarp
ment, from which the southern plateau extends eastward along
a well marked ridge of rapidly diminishing elevation behind the
wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. , while the northern section falls back in a north-easterly
direction rapidly breaking up into a low tumbled slope pierced
by a deep northerly indentation, down which runs the valley
of Shaib Majma, and thence rising again to the low ridge over
looking the Hamam trough. The Majma valley running south
fills the space between the wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. and northern Tuwaiq and on the
east is bounded by the Naajaniya ridge as far as its point of
confluence with the wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. , whence the southern slope of Naajaniya
and the ridge of southern Tuwaiq enclose a narrow channel
for the passage of the wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. to its grave in the great sands beyond.
Far away to the west close to the gap of Tuwaiq lay the dim
green patches of the oases of Khuthaiqan and Kabkabiya while
Tamra lay south of the former hidden by a projection of the
southern ridge.