'ARBITRATION CONCERNING BURAIMI AND THE COMMON FRONTIER BETWEEN ABU DHABI AND SA'ŪDI ARABIA' [With maps] [‎130v] (265/541)

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to an old ruined fort called Ghurraf amongst thick Babul jungle, and around which
there are several wells of good water, we watered, and tilled the s ms, and after
noon prayers again went on over hard sand hills; On the n ght e babul
iungle some of the trees of considerable size and many decaying.
scarcely been any rain in this part of the country for the last three years. Ghurraf
formerly belonged to the Suamis of Byreemee but they were driven out of it fifty
years ago by the Beni Khcibs or Chubs and at present tne bem Khuttubs bedowm
tribe live about it; in the cold season there is good forage for camels m the neigh
bourhood. At 4 o’clock the ascent became much greater and the very heavy
and we were entering a second range of high hills and at sunset we halted under a
high peak called libel Yiffs in the country of the Beni Khabs there are concealed
wells here but we had not with us any person who knew where they were. The
road to day was very tortuous; the direction south by east and south south east.
24th January we started this morning about an hour after sunrise, the road very
heavy over high mountains of sand in many places so steep that the camels could
not ascend or descend which obliged us to wind round the base of the hills, the heat
was very great, we had no water for the camels and they were frequently much
distressed and blown in ascending the hills. At about 3 P.M. we entered a third
range of hills, and in about an hour we commenced discending into a beautiful
valley covered with wheat fields just coming into ear / the property of the Beni
Khabs/ the name of this valley is Hurmulliah. There are in it two large towers called
Kahal and Jiburee in which there were a considerable number of armed men for the
protection of the cultivation. We here watered the camels and having filled our
skins we proceeded south to within about three hours of Byreemee, when we halted
for the night; next morning the 25 January at two hours after sunrise we started and
reached Byreemee before noon. The town is of considerable size the greater part
in a state of delapidation and the wall around the whole of the town a perfect ruin.
The fort of A1 Byreemee is on the south side of the town in an open plain as shown
in the sketch. It is nearly a square surrounded by a dry ditch about 24 feet wide.
On the inner side of the ditch there is a wall about 8 feet high, 3 feet thick at the
bottom and not thicker than a foot or fifteen inches on the top: it is constructed
/as is the whole fort/ of sun dried brick, and intended to protect match lock men
defending the ditch—between this wall and the fort there is an open space of about
30 feet with mangers for feeding camels or horses. The fort wall is about 14 feet
high, 5 thick, with round towers at the angles ill constructed, they do not flank the
curtains. They are the only places where it appears ever to have been the intention
to place guns. The length of the inside of the fort from N to S is 61 paces, and
breadth from E to W 60 paces. I twice paced it the people objected to my
measuring any part of it. The wall at present is not in any parts thicker than 5 or
six feet at the base, and on the top from 18 inches to 2 feet—the towers rise above
the wall from 8 to 12 feet—there is on the north side of the fort, and in the inside, a
well independent of the Kenauts or aqueducts which also run through the fort into
the town of Byreemee.—The whole fort with the exception of the ditch is in a sad
state of repair, and if left alone in a few years will be a ruin—there are a few
wretched guns of small calibre about 8 pounders without carriages—and when
intended to be fired the people place a stone or block of wood so as to raise the
muzzle a few inches from the ground. There is no shot for any of the guns the
schaikh has some round stones and lumps of wrought iron which were collected
last year when Said bin Mutluk came to Shorgah.
Byreemee in its present state could not of course stand for an hour against
an enemy provided with guns—but if repaired and armed with a few guns would
be a place of considerable importance in the estimation of the natives of this part
of Arabia. The ditch is looked upon by the people of the place as impassable if
defended with their own spears and match locks if no guns were brought against
it, and if they behaved in a spirited way it could make a capital defence against
an Arab force without guns.—However Byreemee is talked of all over the country
as impregnable. To the North west of A1 Breemee stands what is called the little
fort the property of Ahmed bin Suroor/Suamsi/; it is about 300 yards from the
other, it is nearly a square, length 53, breadth 50 paces, inside walled round with
towers, at the angles the wall is 15 or 16 feet high, loop holed the thickness at the
base about 5 feet and at top 18 inches, there are several broken guns in it without
carriages. I thought it strange that the people had no idea of when or by whom
^ i j UnS ^ ere brought to the place. The schaikhs told me that no person had
asked such a question before and that they had never heard by whom they were
brought within this fort there are two openings into the acqueducts but no well