[Un-numbered file] 'Diary of Colonel Hamilton's Visit to Nejd 1918' [‎22v] (44/206)

14
There has been some hot air in camp ; ‘Ali al Dhuwaihi has been growling
against ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Bin Hassun and the latter and the Mullah are not on good
terms. Thami al Bair shouted out the call to prayers and led the crowd but ‘Ali al
Dhuwaihi, who was praying with them, went off hurriedly at the end, saying, in
the hearing of all, “ I don’t want any more of this The fact is that Thami is
the biggest rip in these parts and he bungled the call to prayers badly. Mirshid
went up to him and gave him a lesson ; very funny. And Thami said ‘All right,
it did not matter. All the crowd hate and ridicule the Akhwan. I must get a
clear account of their tenets.
Last night an interesting conyersation with Thami al Bair and Mirshid ;
2 Shammaris who were retainers of ‘Abdul ‘Aziz, Shaikh of the Shammar, when
they marched victoriously through the towns of Woshm and Sudair. I asked
them if Bin S£ud could take Hail with guns—Thami said “ Ho you want the
truth ?—yes; well, every mother’s son of us Shammar would come back and help
to defend Hail—and ‘Abdul ‘Aziz, with all his talk and his thousands of tribesmen,
would never get near the place Mirshid said with a laugh “ Last year Bin
Sand had 7,000 men and there were only 1,000 Shammar with Ibn
Eashid, but Bin Saud did not dare to attack Hail and withdrew”.
Left Tharmidah in the afternoon at 1-25 and marched along parallel to
Nufudh among many fortified farms, some of which look rather dilapidated.
Cultivation by rain and wells sunk within the forts. Occupied from
December onwards, till harvest is gathered.
Camp near Nufudh at sunset, 5-25 p. m. There has been a lot of hot air
about in camp lately. We are all a bit travel-weary and irritable. ‘Ali al
Dhuwaihi is angry with ‘Abdul ‘Aziz because he won’t give him a riding camel
and with me because I only gave him 5 dollars at Buraidah. Mullah ‘Abdullah is
very wroth with ‘Abdul ‘Aziz, who is far from being popular all round.
It was a delightful night and not too cold,
11th Novernbcr .—Started at 5-25, about ^ hour before daybreak, and rode
hard to Bairah, which I reached in under 3
Distance -187 hours 35. minutes, 51o miles. , mi i /•» i
hours. The baggage took exactly 6 hours
to cover the distance, which I estimated was about 18 miles, not less. This is the
best that the baggage have done yet, their usual all-round pace being about 2 |
miles. When pressed, however, 4 or 4| is not hard for them to do for 2 or 3
hours. Had coffee with the Amir of Barrah and coffee with the ex-Amir, who
was disgraced and dismissed for taking the part of Ibn Eashid in the struggle
with Bin Saud. All the village came in after coffee. Afterwards ate pancakes
and butter ; then, after coffee at the ex-Amir’s house, went to camp and had
lunch consisting of a cold bustard shot by Amar yesterday with his *303 rifle.
A jolly good shot, hitting the bird in the head. The last time I saw the like
was last winter on the way to Jaharah when Ahmad al Jabir shot a dove
through the neck at 50 yards with a Mauser.
Fahad al Dhafiri and Katlan Mutair came to have sore eyes washed. The
other Fahad, whose eyes were really bad, got quite well after 2 operations. An
inquisitive group of villagers came to ask me if I knew anything about the
Sahul. I told them all there was in the “ Handbook of Arabia,” which was
more than they themselves had any knowledge of. They were greatly im
pressed. Was asked to-day whether it was true that the Daula (the Government,
meaning the Ottoman Government) had been beaten out of the field by us—
told them we had got hold of Basrah and Baghdad up to Hit. “ Good-good ”,
the old man said. The Amir, calling round to my tent to ask me to coffee,
suddenly said “ I wished to greet you before but was afraid the Muhammadans
might object and, raising my chofiyah, he kissed me on both cheeks—I was
utterly taken by surprise and could only say “ God preserve you ”.
There are some very remarkable landmarks to be seen from Barrah
village. There are cliffs of Jabal Tuwaiq. The bearings from outside the
Amir’s house were
Attahinah
.
•
•
300°
( HJ). ).
Khashm al Hassan
.
.
.
•
5°
( )„
Khashm al Tarab
.
.
•
O
o
r-4
( (♦“A. ).
Al-Rahhab . .
.
.
.
•
85°
( ).
Al.-Qaradan
•
•
•
170°
().
Ip w ' 1 iwpwnwir
. 1 .. i ..t . i,.. . i I .. . .1 . . . : . . . •- _ _ . _ i