'ARBITRATION CONCERNING BURAIMI AND THE COMMON FRONTIER BETWEEN ABU DHABI AND SA'ŪDI ARABIA' [With maps] [‎133r] (270/541)

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we pass after an hour an affluent on right bank called Wady el Soofan up which
is a village of the same name and then the Wady Jezze here forming a low
aVqW Knmashi to loin it n A luo P
cross the Akabat Kumashi to join it again. A few miles further S.S.W. brings
we
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to Buruy ’el Shikeyree just beyond which lies the village of Kan memorable for a
conflict between the Wahabees and the Hadrami troops of Seyyid Said bin Sultan
some 60 years ago in which the latter were signally defeated with great loss and
which paved the way for the onward progress of these fanatics to Shinas where
they again destroyed His Highness forces. A cemetery of the slain in the bed
of the Wady near Kan attests the severity of the contest there.—The tower of
Shikeyree is on a peak some 200 feet high on the right bank and is joined to another
tower below by a stone wall.—It was built for the especial purpose of barrin®
the progress of the Wahabees. After another hour and a half we pass Wady
Wasit up which lies a town of that name. Sheikh Rashid was very anxious I
should visit this place as the Sheikh Sulim an bin Said El Shamise’ was a great
friend of his and a man of some importance—it lay however too much out of the
road and time was of consequence. The next place we reached was El Koweyrej a
village of the same clan as Wasit, the showami a subdivision of the Naim, and
having the protection of a fortlet and two towers.—The cultivation here was
extensive and very refreshing to the eye is contrast to the drear and arid rocks
around.—The fields were neatly arranged in terraces on the right bank, advantage
being taken ingeniously of every available spot of ground capable of production.—
They were well kept and evidently received much attention, irrigation being
carried on by means of channels leading from the copious stream above.
Contiguous to this is Hail, another large village the two forming the most
considerable settlement I met with between Bereymi and Sohar.—Hail has several
towers and on the opposite bank is El Rale’ a pinnacle rock about 200 feet high
on which is perched a tower surrounded by a low wall now crumbling away.—The
work is ascribed to the Persians and the position is well chosen for the purpose
for which it is said to have been constructed, namely to serve as an outpost to
protect the maritime plain from the inroads of the Bedouins.—This outpost not
improbably marks the limit of the grasp of the Persians in the age immediately
preceding the introduction of Islam when they are related to have held the sea
coast of Oman, the Arabs maintaining themselves in the highlands and interior.—
Two petty clans of the Naim the Rasheedat and Hadeedat occupy Hail and are at
enmity with their neighbours the Showamis of Koweyrej and Wasat.—As may
readily be imagined quarrels among such very close neighbours are very bitter and
they are said to ripen every four or five years into a free fight which is not terminated
without bloodshed.—In such cases the people of Hail have the advantage of being
able to cut off the water supply of those below by damming up the stream which
is a very effective punishment and is generally instrumental in bringing hostilities
to a speedy termination. At Hail the Wady Jezze is joined by its confluent Wady
el’Abeyleh up which the road now leads.—The course of Wady Jezze above the
junction is short and lies W.S.W. towards Kabil and Seneyneh.—A few miles up it
is a steep pass marking as my Sheikh informed me the boundary of El Dhahireh.—
We rested a little while at Hail and then continued our route soon reaching more
open and level ground with woody ravines and scattered herbage.—The highest
point of this pass is called El Nej’d where the aneroids showed an elevation of
1,860 feet the peaks of the range on each side rising above us 1,000 feet or more.
On descending the other side we reached after an hour the Wady Ain which runs
like all other water courses on the southern side of the range in a south Westerly
direction until its waters are absorbed by the thirsty desert.—We now continue
W.N.W. over an unbroken plain sparsely studded with acacias direct on to
Bereymi.—On our right lies El Mahdhah the habitation of the Beni Kaab tribe
while to the S.W. the lofty isolated range of Jebel Hafeet looming some 20 miles
away alone breaks the level expanse before us and we stand on the border of that
inhospitable sea of sand and waste that stretches without break or interruption tor
nearly 800 miles across the peninsula and forms the greatest Sand Desert of Asia,
The Bedouins of our party having remained behind at a watering place we na
passed we found we had been jogging on for some miles without them and A the
Sheikh professed some apprehension lest we should encounter any of the Awamir
Bedouins who he said were constantly prowling about.—It is customary in Oman
when moving from one part to another to take a man or two as knateer or
protector from each of the more important tribes through whose country one
has to pass this applies not only to strangers but also to any Arab passing throug
the territory of another tribe with whom his own are not in Suff or league w en
it is of course unnecessary Sheikh Rashid had not been able to procure an Amin a
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