Sat. Feb 21. [21 February 1914] We passed under the middle S. point of Habran, the bearing which I took last night as 118, at 6.45. The bearing of the SW end (the western ridge) was 201. At 7 I got J. Mataleh [Matali', Jabal] 131-147 (but I was taking in a thulla which lies to the NW of the ridge, about 5 miles N of it) and J. Rakham 98-105. I took our forward bearing a little to the left, 107?, but as a matter of fact we did not quite round the N end and the bearing here should be about 103?. At 7.37 it was 286 back to the middle S. point of 6.45, and 96? on - but this too is too much. The back bearings are the right ones today. At 7.56 I got some Dhullan called Marabib, 44?, standing just within the Nafud [Nafud, An], and further away Irus al Ma' where I gather there is a jellib. I got there again, at 8.57, together with Rakham and Matala - the latter still including the outlying dhulla. The SW point of Habran was 252, the bearing back 282, and the extreme SE point (ie the SE point of the E ridge) 328. Irus al Ma stands above Jubbeh [Jubbah] which lies NE of it. At 11.6 I got Marubib and Irus al Ma' again, Matalah 151-167, and the outlying thulla 174. The S.W. point of Habran was 283 and the S.E. 299. At 11.6 we came to the end of the exceedingly flat jellad and entered sand bands with alanda on them. They gradually grew bigger and more rolling as we approached Rakham. At 1.5 the first rocks of Rakham lay on our right hand. We climbed up sand banks and onto the ridge leaving the left hand point, on which my bearings were taken, a mile or so to the left. On top we found a charming place to camp but no water and we had brought only a girbeh. There was khabra about an hour away on the other side in the plain, but we determined to risk it and camp here. Al Hailam ibn Khlaif finally found some water in the rocks. Somewhere in the sand we passed the frontier[?] of the sandstone district. These rocks are granite, very coarse and lava-like. Beyond the wide plain to the S is the long ridge of J. 'Ajjah [Aja, Jabal]. There is plenty of 'arfej and Shittad for the camels. I climbed onto a high point above the camp. The recent rains had left deep channels in the sand between the rocks. The shrubs were green and the plants flowering. A sort of berberis with yellow berries and green leaves, a small asphodel which I have seen before, various yellow and purple flowers which I do not know. The thistles had sent up long stalks on which the thorny buds were already swelling. Not a great bounty but in this pitiless land it feasted the eyes. Also the rounded shapes of the granite hills look familiar after the devilish tables and pinnacles of the sandstone. I saw a very long snake which whipped away hastily into the rocks. Hot sun today. We saw gazelles and several ferijs of Shammar - camels pasturing. We blew an ostrich egg and had ostrich omelette for dinner. We gave Hailam a pair of red boots; he is resplendent in his rags. A delicious mountain feeling tonight. M al M [Muhammad al Ma'rawi] told the tale of Muham's succession after killing Bunder. He killed all the sons of Tellal and 2, killed the following day, were thrown into a well. 'Abd ul Aziz succeeded him and was succeeded by his son Mit'ab who was killed by Sultan ibn Hamud. He slew at the same time Muhammad, Mit'ab's brother, and Tallal ibn Na'if ibn Tellal. Mit'ab only reigned a few months and Sultan under a year when he was killed by his brother. \n\nThen Sa'ads uncle, Hamud, brother of his mother Mudi brought back Sa'ad from Medina [Al Madinah] where he had been sent for safety, and installed him. Sultan had been about to kill him but the child cried and begged him for his life and he was spared. Hamud, the uncle, died in 1907, when Carruthers was in Taimah [Tayma'], and his cousin, Zamil, took his place. Ibrahim, Zamil's brother, is now wakil at Hayyil [Hail]. M. al M. was in Hayyil when Bunder slew Mit'ab but there was no alarm in the town. All 'Abeyd's descendants are now killed, murdered or in battle, and none are left in Hayyil. There are still 2 living somewhere on the Gulf or at Ghiyath. [Family tree for 'Abdallah and Abayd; 4 generations.]