'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1470] (543/688)

1470
QASlM
the villages of Shiqqah, Qara'ah, 'Ayun and Rodh lying in bays upon its south side •
a little to the west of Rodh it throws off a low spur which is crossed by the road from
Buraidah to Samirah in Jabal Shammar. A great plain, called Fuwailik, remarkable
even m Central Arabia for the unbroken level of its surface, begins on the south side of
Jabal Sarah near Rodh and extends westwards for some 25 miles ; its breadth however
is inferior to its length.
A number of the villages of QasTm are situated'in remarkable hollows or pits in which
water and loamy soil approach the surface : such are the depressions, several miles in
extent, which contain the villages of Quwarah, Qusaibah and 'Ayun, and the valley a
little to the west of Buraidah, free of sand though surrounded by desert, along which the
plantations of Khabb, Huwailan and Qisai'ah extend for 7 miles ; such too is the Sarif
hullow to the north-east of Buraidah, which is 5 miles long by a mile broad and like
the Knal.b valley has a northerly and southerly direction.
Certain of the larger deserts which separate the cultivated basins of the villages from
one another are known by special names. Among these may be mentioned Batain, a
, tract ] of whlc} i J^al Sarah possibly forms the scrap on the south-west; it consists to-
waids its southern end of standstone boulders and towards its northern of round pebbles ■
not a blade of green is to be seen in its whole extent of 25 miles from Wathal to Qusaibah!
Another is J armus a wilderness of disintegrated standstone bearing not a single shrub
which stretches along the border of Qasim between Qusaibah and Kahafah, with a length
from east to west of 20 miles and a breadth of 10. Tarmus is remarkable for a small
deep depression near its centre, called Thiqbat-az-Zarraq, which holds rain water for 3
or 4 months in the year and is adjoined on the south by a small hill named 'Anz. A some,
what similar hollow exists some 10 miles to the west of Quwarah ; it is known as Ban-
nyah, contains tamarisks and tall grass, and holds rain water throughout the year.
Vy,T^ , -u r0 l UCt \\ :Ul ll> ^ lock - The air of Qasim is often stagnant and sultrv.
m in to ^ weather 18 warm, with overcast ski s and on the some days light
rchus^ foT ta„ntag.' tre ' J8a ' JOUnd ' ^ ^ khurt " ^ the fomer
?nH n | < Lvf realS T eSI T eially , wheat ' barIey ' maize anfl millet—are the principal
are trrmvn n l abundant 5 the barle y harvest is in the end of April. Fruits also
and nniZa g g + r f peS ' P^g^ates, figs, citrons, melons and peaches ; radishes
is e rr e ; m0 ^ + e ve ? etables • ,u ^ne is raised in the date groves. Cultivation
UlST dependent on irrigation from wells which are worked by camels, and in
the less favoured localities it is desultory and fluctuating.
are favourabtefor the growth^ mUCh t0 the 0f the C0Untry aS the condition3
Bea^L^'vitVsh^rbrand br^hCjirXtm^ 6ra9S ^ ^ SPring ^ SUmmer
goat^ U8Ual d0mestlC animals are horses ' camels, donkeys, homed cattle, sheep and
Shammar bred and P asture< 3 here but in smaller numbers than in Jabal
exported a .' V OI "'] a e ? n era ^ e P art ^he wealth of the country and are
very rare. re rare and exported. Cows, oxen, and still more buffaloes, are
bably Banf 0f the P 0 P ulation hoth in town and country are pro-
wheLo o wTs Twil P ! 0pIe r y herha P S be asumed to belon g to that tribe
'itTbrh in numbt,r to the ^ Thamim are the
renowned tribe of fhp T* ^ tti - tj 11 ' an there are some representatives also of the once
Seta dafrn^ I th - d ? iS P08Sible h0WeV - that in some ca ^ the con-
flatness of ifcm ntrv tribeS is fanacifuL ^ consequence of the
almost all villages in Qasim are^rnJv] 1 " SeC !! nt - y of property when Bedouins are about,
often the caT stan^ in - ™ e } f TOV1<ied ^th ^tch towers ; these, when the village, as is
proachmg traveller. 10 0W ' are t ^ rst i n dications of its existence to the ap-
ent, in<^strious w^^ot ur^telligmt^race^burw ^b ."^habitants of Qasim area prud-
and nowhere does their rpnn^f^ t hut ^ ahhaoi-ism has soured their disposition,
contingent of labourers to the original Sue^T^ 1 ^ St t nd high ' Q asIni furnished a strong
o Suez Canal works, and the Qasman are almost the