‘A Pilgrimage to Nejd, the cradle of the Arab race. A visit to the court of the Arab Emir, and "Our Persian Campaign."' [‎189] (242/334)

cn. ix.] Weak government. 189
Ghota rising out of the NefM remind one of tlie
Aletsch Glacier, as seen from the Simplon Road.
So much for the outer face of Jobba. The interior
is less attractive. The houses are very poor, and
less smartly kept than those of Kaf and Ithery. I
can hardly call them dirty, for dirt in this region of
sand is almost an impossibility. It is one of the
luxuries of the NefM that no noxious insects are
found within its circuit. The NefM and, indeed,
Nejd, which lies beyond it, are free from those
creatures which make life a torment in other
districts of the East. Even the fleas on our grey
hounds died as soon as they entered the enchanted
circle of red sand. But Jobba would be dirty if it
could; and its inhabitants are the least well-man
nered of all the Arabs we saw in Nejd. The fact is,
the people are very poor and have no communication
with the outer world, except when the rare travellers
between Hail and Jof stop a night among them.
At the time of our passage through Jobba, the
Sheykh had lately died, and his office was being
held by a young man of two or three and twenty,
who had no authority with his fellow-youths, a
noisy, good-for-nothing set. Ibn Rashid has no
special lieutenant at Jobba, and the young Sheykh
Naif was unsupported by any representative of the
central government, even a policeman. The con
sequence was that though entertained hospitably
enough by Naif, we were considerably pestered by
his friends, and made to feel not a little uncomfort-