"ملف 61/6 مجلد 4 (D 34) ابن سعود وحركة الإخوان" [و‎‎٩‎٨] (٥٦٥/١٩٥)

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Bin Sa ad Bin Masaud of the Bani Za^'d "who lias joined the Akhwan only last
year and is a very staunch (fanatical) Akh, so much so that he did n9t come
out to receive or even to see Ahmad Thanaiyan, who camped outside in the
Rtnall grove of trees about 200 yards from the south gate. Alter waiting for an
hour or so Ahmad Thanaiyan, obviously feeling very much insulted and chagrined
went himself with two others, visited the Amir and returned to camp within
half an hour. As a result of this visit we got the Amir 's ' dhiyafah 5 ' (feast)
in the form of two goats, and some rice, coffee and sugar. But Ahmad Thar.ai-
yan changed all his plans: no camels were available for purchase or hire : no
attendance which had been promised me ; no one to take letters to Riyadh, and
worst of all we were not to stay 24 hours for rest which we sorely needed, but
must start after a few hours as Mecca was 11 days' journery at least. This
last I could not swallow. I was, in addition to the inconvenience due to lack
oi" efficient attendants, very sorry to sue my friend and assistant, Earlian, take
so much trouble with our three untrained, inefficient followers, and only
Dahaim to assist them. Farhan was unsparing in his efforts, and did not only
coad the men to work, but himself performed a good deal of it like the piuting
up and pulling down of tents, loading and unloading of the camels with the
precious water-skins and adjustingshidads" etc., all rough work involving
manual labour, which he was not supposed to do; but he did it ungrudgingly
for my sake.
113, Sha'arah is the centre of trade between the Hejaz and Nejd ; has a
bazaar in the centre where cloth, rice, sugar, coffee and spices are sold. Many
a I adu caravan comes from all sides to buy their needs here. I now see about
50 Buyut Sha'ar lying half a mile south of the town, and a laige number of
camels around the two wells Water is very good indeed. Thanks, however,
to the Akhwan spirit, manifested in the Amir's refusal to meet no less a man
than the cousin and representative of Bin Sa'ud, w e are not allow ed to enter the
town and see it. There was a quite a long line of fresh-looking graves rear
the camp, and I was told that Slia'arah had lost many of its inhabitants in the
last influenza epidemic, which raged all over Nejoi including Eiyadh, Bin
Sa'ud himself having lost two sons among other relations. It was hard to leave
this cool and nice little spot so soon, but ^e started at 4-30 p. m . though I was
feeling extremely tired and every inch of the body was paining like a sore,
after five days' and nights' marching—ordinarily Sha'arah is reached on 8th or
9th day after leaving Riyadh
114). Passed under another little cluster of "Ithl " ( ?) trees w r ith date-
palms to the south-west of the town Two Baduof the Ar-Rogah tribe have at
last joined us from the Badu camp here for Hajj. Ahmad Thanaiyan says
these will be better guides than our old ones—Sagnr and Aayidh.
115. The route lies south south -west, instead of due west, so far. Camped
in a stony little valley at 12 -30 a. m and Lad hardly laid dow n in bed when a
very strong hurricane blew from the north. Dust and small stones were blown
into everything, and the only remedy was covering with a blanket and lying down
behindshidads " or camels was employed, TVrrible sounds w r ere produced
by the force of wind, passing through the hills around, and even the camels got
frightened and started an uproar in the pitch dark night. In about half an
hour every thing was quiet; again and sleep reigned.
116 Friday, 13lh Angust=27th Bhil Qa'adah. Started at 4 a. m.
route lies over sandy ground with black roeks all around. At 9 a. %i.
came out on a big sandy Wadi or plain with plenty of Asb^b grass and many
''Sumr" (kiKar) trees surrounded by black hills. At 11-30 a. m . halted in a
level sandy plain called MasluJch or Uashib. Here there are four walls (a fifth
half ruined or gutted) around which are several parties of Ar-Rogah (Ataibah)
Badu men and women w ith some hundreds of camels and half a dozen large flocks
of sheep and goats. The principal camp is stated to be behind the nearest hill
to the south. Their Shaikhs are Bin Tba'ali and Faihan. The Ar-Rogah were,
till lately, counted among the Hejaz tribes but have been freshly gained over
by Akhwanism. They are stalwart and comparatively fairer than the other
Bedouins we have met so far. ( Their women are equally hardy, and many are
drawing water mixed up with men'while others are running about managing
their camels and sheep for " warud " taking to water in proper order. They
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