'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1236] (285/688)

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1236 MOM—MOR
The country round Mokha is an arid, sterile plain, with little fresh water, the town
having been supplied by an acqueduct from the village of Muza, at the foot of the hills,
about 24 miles to the eastward. Brackish water may be obtained from wells at Bailili
and Suwais, 5 miles to the east.
The Mokha roadsteads, with a depth of 3| fathoms, are over a mile westwards of the
town, with deeper water farther out, and as there are some shoal patches in the ap
proach, care is required in proceeding to the anchorage. On the site of the old south
fort stands a red iron framework tower, 167 feet high, at 171 feet above high water,
from which is exhibited a white flashing light, visible 19 miles.
To the northward of Mokha is Jabal Katairi, a long, wedge-shaped hill terminating in
a steep bluff at its northern extreme. South-east by south of the light-tower, near the
eastern border of the Tihamah district, is the sharp-peaked Jabal Dubab.
Up to the outbreak of the great war a garrison, supposed to be sufficient to serve three
batteries, was maintained at Mokha.
There is telegraphic communication with (a) Sana'a—via Ta'iz; (b) Hodaidah, via
Moshij, Hais, and Zabid; and (c) Perim, overland to Shaikh Sa'id and thence by cable.
{Murphy.)
MOMAD ( Jabal) (Island)—
MORRAH ( al)—
They appear to be the wildest, most dangerous, and least civilised of the nomad tribes
in this part of Arabia, and to exist, to an appreciable extent, by plunder. They are said
to be staunch friends to those whom they recognise as neighbours ; but otherwise they are
treacherous and untrustworthy, and they sometimes betray persons who take sanctuary
with them.
The dialect of Arabic spoken by the Al Morrah is peculiar, and to other Arabs they
appear to talk " in a stammering way,"
See Farasan (Islands and Bank); western side.
The singular is Morri. A considerable Arab tribe, altogether Bedouin, of eastern
Arabia ; they are notorious for their misdeeds ; but otherwise less is known of them than
of any other tribe of equal size and importance in the same region of Arabia.
Distribution. —The Al Morrah inhabit the country in the south of the Hasa Sanjaq
and that adjoining it but lying beyond its border on the same side; some are generally
to be found in Kharmah near the wells of Zarnuqah; they visit Barr-adh-Dhahran; and
their raiders sometimes infest Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Faruq. They are the only inhabitants of the
Jafurah desert; Jabrln is their property ; they sometimes visit Qatar in their peregrina
tions ; and they frequent the district of 'Aqal to a certain extent. A few Al Morrah are
among the Bedouins who resort annually to 'Anik in the Qatlf oasis and who are regarded
as having a permanent connection with the place.
Religion, character, mode of life and language. —The Al Morrah are Hanbali Sunnia
in name, but concern themselves little with religion.
The principal wealth of the Al Morrah is in camels ; but they have also some horses and
many sheep and goats. Their tents are small and black ; some of them have no tents.
Of the sections enumerated below only the Al 'Adhbah, Al Bahaiah, Al Fahaidah and
Al Shabib have either kerchiefs or 'Abas. The tribe as a whole avoid towns and villages.
Those of the Al Morrah who enter Jafurah do so in winter, and while there they have
often no drink other than the milk of their camels and are reduced to boiling their rice
in the same. It is said that the sections which frequent Jafurah wear a specially thick
footgear made of camel hair to protect their feet from the burning sand, that their
complexion is of a swarthiness unusual among Arabs, and that their camels are generally
dark-coloured.