'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1341] (396/688)

NAFtD
1341
wells are practically the same, while the total length of the journey is if anything
longer. The latter half of this route, between Haiyaniyeh and Ha'il, is a recognised
track across the eastjern end of the Nafud and connects Jebel Shammar with 'Iraq }
the sand crossing takes two days and the going is comparatively easy. The only other
track in the Nafud of which we have any record, is one which leads westwards from
Jubhah to Fejr and Tebuk. There would be a waterless stage of 100 miles.
Deserted in summer when the heat becomes intolerable, the Nafud is, in winter and
spring, an asylum for all the tribes upon its borders. The sand area, curiously enough,
supports a considerable vegetation. The dunes are more or less covered with large
bushes of ghada (a species.of tamarisk) and artah (yerta), with scrub such as hamar
and 'adar, and with tall succulent grasses, nvssi and sob at h. There are also many
peculiar parasites that grow on the roots of the ghada ; these are typical desert growth
—full of moisture and greatly sought after by the drinkless fauna. The Nafud grasses
afford excellent feed for camels, and are so nourishing in the spring months that these
become quite independent of water for many weeks at a time. Thus the Bedouin,
living on their camels' milk, are enabled to wander far into the depths of the water
less dunes.
The sands even lend themselves to artificial afforestation. Doughty mentions how he
found the 'great dune of Boreyda' newly planted with ethel (tamarisk) trees. The
natives set the young plants in the loose sand and water them for one year. By that
time they have struck out long roots and are able to thrive of themselves. 'Planted
with tamarisks' —he notes— 'the sands of Arabia might become a green wood.'
The first rains fall about mid-November, and very soon afterwards the sap begins to
run in the twigs of the thorny bushes, and grass and flowering weeds spring up in the
sand.
The nomads have a great liking for the Nafud, finding, as they do, an abundance
of fuel and pasturage. The warm hollows afford them, besides, a shelter which is much
appreciated after the exposure of the surrounding deserts. There is also comparative
immunitv from the attacks of raiders ; although the Bedouin also complain that the
Nafud is dangerous on account of the ease with which an enemy can be tracked in the
sand.
The Bishr confederacy, the Wulud 'Ali, Awajeh, Fuqara, Sherarat, etc., occupy
the western and south-western quarters ; the Shammar tribes the south and east;
the great Anazeh tribes ('Amarat and Ruweileh) come into the Nafud from the north.
The distribution is, however, only typical of normal conditions ; Shammar and Ruweileh
have been known to meet in conflict on the western confines. The only other nomads
likely to be met with in the Nafud are the Suleib.
Wild game is abundant in.the sand-area. Gazelles, ostriches, hares, and innumerable
small rodents are to be found, while the Nafud and its confines form the true home of the
Arabian oryx {oryx healrix), an antelope allied to the oryx of African fauna. There are
several poisonous snakes.
The axes of the dunes lie north and south and the great horseshoe hollows face the
south-east. The prevailing winds being from the west and north-west the dunes
have their steep faces towards the east and south-east. This statement applies to the
main sand-bed, but on its eastern margin the axes of the dunes gradually swing round
until on the Ha'il—Haiyaniyeh track they lie east and west. The prevailing wind
between Ha'il and Boreidh appears to be from the south.
The ' felj ' pits are by far the most remarkable features of the Nafud. They are
known in different localities by the names of felj, felq, gar of, and gar. Feli, or felq,
is usually applied to those on the Jauf-Hail-track. Gar at is used by the Shammar of
those in the north-east. Gar is a more general term both for those in the Nafud and those
in the Dahanah. There has been considerable discussion as to their origin, and as to
peculiar facts relating to them. The prevalent west winds are no doubt the principal
agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. to which the formation can be ascribed, but whether it is by the direct move
ment of sand from the west or by a process of scouring out by back eddies is still undecid
ed. They appear, in many cases, to go right down to the underlying floor of the sand-
bed, and some are certainly stationary, for they are habitually used by travellers as
camping-grounds and even contain wells. From this it would appear that the pits aio
formed by a different process to that which piles up the moving dunes. In shape they
H