File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎94r] (196/834)

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are situated like Shatar on the edge of the saline depression, is
sweet, while that of Shatar is practically undrinkable.
The Barr el-Hasa, as these sand hills are called, is
frequented indiscriminately by all the eastern tribes, but so far as
one could gather our line of march was through the west of the
Beni Hajar, to the south of whom are the Manasir and Murra in
that order, the latter extending down to Qatar and Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Jibrin,
while the Beni Khalid and Ajman occupy the northern marshes,
the latter extending parallel to and north of Kuweit.
Jisha is a dingy little village, a rough square in shape
surrounded by a turreted wall each side of which is about 200
yards in length. The houses are of rough limestone found in
abundance in the quarries which surround the village, and the
population, which is largely agricultural, numbers perhaps some
3,000 to 4,000 souls.
On the following day we struck through the oasis in a
W.S.W. direction, a short march of just over ten miles bringing
us to Hofuf, the capital of Hasa and at the same time the
gateway of the oasis on the west side. The Hasa oasis thus
extends to a depth of some seven or eight miles from east to
west, but I had no means of forming an idea of its length from
south to north. It comprises two distinct belts of palms, each
several miles deep, separated from each other by a bare level
plateau and running north and south, the western belt standing
at an elevation of about 100 feet above the level of the eastern.
The magnificent gardens of the latter oasis which contains the
villages of Jafar and Fudhul on our course, Amran, Sabat,
Markaz el-Qara and Munaizila to the north, and the village of
el-Taraf to the south, are watered by a complicated irrigation
system dependent on the two main streams of Birabir and
Wajjaj. The western belt which contains a good deal of rice
cultivation but whose date groves are distinctly inferior to those
of Jafar and Fudhul, is watered by a considerable number of
streams, of which the most important are the Khudud, the
Haqal, the Ain el-Harra, which is a hot spring issuing from the
ground near Mubarraz (north of Hofuf), and the Umm el-
Khuraisan. The water of the last named enjoys the reputation
of providing an unfailing test for the black dye used in the
colouring of abas, only the best dye being able to stand the test
of immersion in this stream, whose dark colour speaks eloquently
of many disappointments. All these streams originate m springs
issuing from the ground within the limits of the oasis itself.
Of Hofuf, where we remained two days inspecting the town
and its environs and enjoying the society and hospitality of
Abdullah ibn Jiluwi, the Emir of Hasa, it is unnecessary to
speak at length. Our time passed pleasantly enough, but our
European clothes proved such an obstacle to free movement that
we decided to discard them henceforth in favour of Arab apparel,
and on the afternoon of November 21 we moved out to^ the
suburb of Ruqaija. Camping here under the walls of the Khizam