"الطرق في بلاد فارس" [‎١‎٤‎٦] (٨٥٢/١٧٩)

146
R ottte N o . 38— condd.
feet high and 25 yank apart. The route then crosses a br< ad
p lain between hiUs to Jabal-an-Nur at mile 35. It then runs
along a stone tridi bed past gardens, houses, and coffee shops.
At mile 40 Mecca, a town of 50,000 to 60,000 permanent
inhabitants and a large floating population, situated in a nar-
gterile vallev in the heart of a ma a* of rough, barren hills.
Good water is tolerably plentiful from a large falaj, but the
water from the wells is generally salt- Ihe housesjare of dark-
grev stone, many three storeys high, and the streets are broad,
but unpaved. Xhere is a hospital for poor people. The
bdzfirs are large and well-stocked, out all supplies are import
ed. The town is unwalled. but the neighbouring hills, if pro
perly defended, would form barriers of considerable strength
against an enemy.
ROUTE No. 39.
F rom 'ANAIZAH to MECCA.
477 miles. 1% stages. •
Authorities. —C. M. Doughty. 1878.
Persian Gulf Gazetteer. 1908.
Epiton-'e.
General Description. —This route is parallel to the Kuwait-
Mecca route through Buraidah and is distant from it onh a
few miles south-eastwards. It was traversed by Doughty in 1878
and by Huber in 1S84 ; an analysis of Doughty'? stages to the
point where they become identical with those of Route No. 40
is given below. Disputes with Bedouins as to the use of the
wells give less trouble on this route, but the watering places
are further apart and are not so good as on the Buraidah-
Mecca line. The journey is not to bo undertaken, in summer
at least, without considerable hardship from scarcity of
water. The large samn caravans which go from Anaizah to