'Turkish Arabia: Being an Account of an Official Tour in Babylonia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, 1886-87' [‎29r] (57/72)

39
The day Hit's tall minaret broke the horizo„-the country of the Albu Nimir Arabs
Hit and Rum^di. eing about the same time left for that of Shekh Muham-
wide loop was felt to have been thrown overaU th^se^otalitts^sfne? tJ 9 pretty
in the distance of the same minaret three months previonsly'on a north-eSyTnte
across the narrow portion of A1 Taztrah . easterly route
Hit to Rumadi («^ K ^V=a^s or ^7^ F -
Rum4di began like many another place now a JLt f r * summer da y s journey,
military post of it running up a few rude buildings, d^nifieT'Jtrthl I'me of
Si; o ^d:^t:rl: p ;r^=r- B r ditspresent ™^s
and ou/saddler ; but no
"isnothew is • 'ir ph ^ ^ ^
a avan route to Baghdad after crossing the Euphrates, strikes east by south through
lengthene a d. 0CCUPylnS y ^ the course was still to be slightly
Section XIII.—Southern Shamiya.
In leaving at Rumidi the line of the Euphrates, to dip deeper into Shimtya, almost
Rahcilta. as bound _ for Najd, there had first to be traversed the
U 1 • . • i narrow alluvial strip on the river's western bank which
rame g Sh? •" Babylonia, interposes itself between the Euphrates and Arabia. Then
came Shamiya again in all its vastness and vacuity. All places aoDeared alike Th,,
ground thinly strewed with white and yellow gravel seenj the very type of sLiHty
camelSoweil The! H I" ^ Seen n0t t0 ^ With0Ut Shrubs 0n which mares and
11 V , dmarks P assed were a low truncated range of igneous-looking rock
ca ed furugh and numerous ghudard or collections of rainwater. Bitterly cold in
ear y morning, the afternoon heat gave one a foretaste of Central Arabia. For once the
kaJVa lagged and got belated. Darkness followed sunset like a piece of conjuring. Much
® 10U m g an( [ fire-hghting were necessary before stragglers were collected and settled for
the night Section all day south by west. Next day, about noon, the desert town, or
ra er vil age, of Rdhaha was sighted. A good mare or camel would take one easily
rom Rumadi to Shathatha, or perhaps even further, in a day; but no kdfila could manage
R5VP 1^ lon S SUI ™ er da y s heat and thirst would stop the best mules. At a distance
Rahalia looks not unlike Bussorah, a long dark green belt or fringe of date palms. It is
a desert oasis like Tadmur, the water coming out of and re-entering the ground. Its
dates are in great repute. Bedouin come long ways to buy them, and strings of camels
carry them to remote markets. Near it were pitched several small Bedouin camps, hos
pitably yielding piles of dates and draughts of camels' milk. Owing to tortuous water
courses and other impediments the town is not very easily got at. It is in two blocks or
portions at some distance apart. Groves of date-palms completely shroud it. Its inhabit
ants cultivate little else except lucern, or jat, which grows luxuriantly under the shade
of the palms. Not a pound of chopped straw was forthcoming. Here for the first time
was encountered the prejudice or objection the genuine Arab feels to the sale of baked
bread. Emblem and basis of hospitality, this it is thought a shame to traffic in. The princi
pal inhabitant at the present time is an old man called Hajji Daud, Ashshiyir, or " David
the Poet. Forming the " kahwa" (guest-room) of his house is a large bare hall like a barn,
in which. Central Arabian fashion, the wayfarer spreads his carpet and hangs up his belt,
at will, without a question asked. The Turkish revenue officer was absent, with or without
a t Karbal^, or perhaps Baghdad, the Hajji acting as his honorary deputy. A solitary
dhdbitiah hovered round the spot to represent the Government. No record can be found,
nor was any trace obtainable on the spot, of previous visits to Rahalia by Europeans. The
juvenile part of the population at all events was as frightened as if it had seen an octopus.
And yet in the principal shop, by the side of Birmingham hardware, were exposed Man
chester handkerchiefs stamped with tableaux of a Highland regiment charging apparently
at lel-el-Kabir ! For one of those works of art combined with utility—intrinsic value pro
bably one halfpenny—the price asked was R5 ! In the smaller towns, it seems, on a small
scale, as in the larger on a large one, while one brother keeps a shop another takes
horses to Bombay and carries back part of their price in cheap European goods.
The following day's stage was but a four hours' one.