File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎93v] (195/834)

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By midday on November 18 our preparations were complete
and our caravan of some thirty camels and half that number of
asses (the famous white asses of Hasa which are largely used in
the carrying trade between the oasis and the sea) started off on
its journey inland.
The distance between Uqair and the eastern edge of the
Hasa oasis is roughly about forty-six miles, which we accom
plished in two days (actually about fourteen and a quarter hours),
the whole journey being over an utterly desolate, tumbled mass
of sand ridges. There is no scarcity of rough desert vegetation,
while occasional depressions between the ridges of sand bear quite
a considerable crop of dwarf date palms and other bushes which
betray the presence of water—indeed there would seem to be at
least three lines of route between Uqair and Hasa on all of which
water, good, bad and indifferent is found at frequent intervals.
We followed the central of these routes via Suwad, a broad
depression covered with dwarf palms at a distance of three
miles from the coast, Lassaf three and a half miles further on,
Abu Khayala another one and a half miles on, at all of
which places water is obtainable, across the Umm el-Dharr
depression to the ridge of Jasra, whence, looking upon the
eastern sea for the last time, we descended to the depression of
Buraiman, a cheerless oasis of dwarf palms, where excellent
water is to be had in numerous water-holes. Here we camped
for the night about fifteen miles from the coast, resuming our
journey early the following morning over a waterless tract of
sand, the first section of which is known as Nuqaiyat el-Aish and
the second el-Ala owing to its rather higher elevation, to the
brackish wells of Shatar, on the edge of a saline depression called
el-Sabkha, some two to three miles broad.
This we crossed in a south-westerly direction, our course
hitherto having been about W.S.W., to'its further edge, where
we re-entered the sands. A small patch of dwarf palms called
Alkhisa was reached a few miles further on, and our road now
passed oyer a switchback series of sand ridges called Nuqairat
oyer which the going was distinctly good until the last and
highest sand ridges of the Barr ebHasa were reached. From the
summit of these we looked down upon the long black line of the
Palms of Hasa and another three miles over flat plain brought
us to the gates of the little village of Jisha.
The northern route across the sandhills is perhaps more often
selected for the journey to Hasa than the one we had followed
trom which it diverges before Jasra is reached. Thence passing
nVu- 6 rig i h y 0r . 110 ^ h °£ the Jasra ridge it strikes water at
)ahdiya, el-Zuqain Abul Mans, Makku in the Sabkha depression
and Khuwaimj, and eventually rejoins our route near el-Khisa.
rtu tt d soutliern line Passes water at Naba, south
of the Umm el-Dharr depression, el-Ghina and Muraizib, south
ot yhatar in the same saline depression. It is worth remarking
that the water at Makku and Muraizib, which from all accounts