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File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎328r] (664/834)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (411 folios). It was created in 1917-1920. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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The rates charged for private messages in the Hejaz are :
Jeddah to Medina ... P.T. 4 per word.
Jeddah to Yenbo ... P.T. 2 per word.
Notes on Camel-journeys.
I have been several times lately asked for figures of camel-
journeys, both for speed and for endurance, and no doubt
therefore the following notes on the subject will be of interest.
In all cases she-camels only are concerned.
For speed, the best performance I know was the 89 hours’
ride of Sherif Barakat ibn Smeiyah, from Medina to Mecca, by
the Rabegh road a few years ago. It was a race, and camels
were changed at Rabegh, 154 miles from Medina. The total
distance works out at about 280 miles, and it was covered
practically without a stop, except for the few minutes at Rabegh.
The average speed was thus over seven miles per hour. A race
of this sort is a test of the man’s endurance, rather than that of
the camel. Another equally fine ride was that of Aissa, a Haib
tribesman, who came from Zilfi in Qasim to Yenbo in three
days, and returned to Zilfi in four more, making a total of seven
days for the round trip of 900 miles, an average of 130 miles a
day. Aissa used four camels.
' Rides on single camels are more interesting as records.
One of the Atram family of Fitenna Abu Tayi Howeitat, on a
home-bred pedigree camel, rode between sunset and sunset from
Nebk abu Gasr to Bair and defer, a distance of 143 miles. He
rested in defer one day and returned on the third day to Nebk
on the same camel. I owned this camel some years later, and
found by experience that it would keep up a comfortable and
steady trot of seven and a half miles per hour for hour after hour
without special urging : but 1 never had need to do a trotting
journey of greater length than from Rum to Akaba (39 miles)
on it. ^ It did this in a little under five hours, carrying a good
deal of kit besides myself. Mesnid, a Sherari, took a message
from defer to Akaba for me. He left defer at noon, and returned
with the reply two days later at noon, doing 220 miles, and his
errand also, in the 48'hours. He rode a Sherari four-year-old.
The fast time for a camel postman from Medina to Mecca
is three days. This is an average of about 9o miles a day.
With one servant I rode from Azrak through defer, Shedia,
and Rum to Akaba (290 miles) in three days and a half. This
is an average of about 84 miles a day. We rode Beni Sakhr
11) 6 Is
One of the Harith Sherifs of Modhig rode from Akaba to
Mecca in nine days. The total distance is about 690 miles,
which gives him an average of 77 miles a day. He rode a
Sherarfcamel, and the trip is one of the finest I have heard of.
Exceptional performances of this sort cannot be expected of
the ordinary camel in ordinary condition. When riding ghazzu

About this item

Content

The volume consists of individual copies of the Arab Bulletin produced by the Arab Bureau at the Savoy Hotel, Cairo numbers 66-114. These publications contain wartime, and post-war intelligence obtained by British sources. They deal with economic, military, and political matters in Turkey, the Middle East, Arabia, and elsewhere, which – in the opinion of British officials – affect the ‘Arab movement’; the bulletins cover a wide range of topics and key personalities.

The volume contains the following maps:

  • A map of Central Arabia showing St John Philby's route from Uqair to Jidda 17 November to 31 December 1917: folio 103.
  • Sketch map prepared from RNAS photographs and reconnaissance by HMS City of Oxford of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Mur February to March 1918 : folio 170.
  • Sketch map of Hejaz (1919): folio 317.
  • Tribal sketch map of the Hadhramaut ‘showing only tribes of fighting value’: folios 333v.

Towards the back of the volume is a small amount of correspondence respecting the distribution of Notes on the Middle East ; the Arab Bulletin was superseded by this publication. Copies of numbers 3-4 of this publication can also be found at the back of the volume.

Tables of content can be found at the front of each issue. A small amount of content is in French.

Extent and format
1 volume (411 folios)
Arrangement

The Arab Bulletins are arranged in numerical order from the front to the back of the file. The Notes on the Middle East follow on from the bulletins at the back of the file in reverse numerical order.

The subject 759 (Arab Bulletins) consists of two volumes. IOR/L/PS/10/657-658.

Physical characteristics

Condition: the edges of some of the folios towards the back of the volume have suffered damage to their edges due to general wear and tear. The affected folios are 389-390, 407-409, and 412.

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 413; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The front cover and the leading flyleaf have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 357-363 and ff 374-412 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎328r] (664/834), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/658, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048056857.0x000041> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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