Tues Jan 20. [20 January 1914] Very windy in night and cloudy in
morning with a few drops of rain. We marched up the W. Dhurweh
[Dirwah, Wadi ed] (there is dhurwey in it by the way) till 6.50, then
came up its edge and left the Thlaithuwat to the E. The point I took for
the S. end of the Waqf al Suwan [Waqf es Suwwan, Jebel] is not really
the end, it goes both S and N. We saw al Hadi which is the S point of
Khabar al Baid; beyond and parallel lie the J. al Raha, this [sketch].
But it is called Hadi al Raha. The Thlaithuwat are sandstone; we
passed about a mile to the W. At 9.35 crossed the W. al Sai'r flowing
to the W. Ba'ir [Wadi Ba'ir] and at 10.20 the W. al Gurdayyeh which
must rise near the Hadi or under the Raha. It goes to the W. Ba'ir. At
10.55 we passed between 2 low tells, a rijm to the right, and saw the
Metahat Ba'ir. I took the forward bearing here 185 but it was too much.
It ought to have been about 166. We came down into the W. Ba'ir at
1. It is deep and big and full of tamarisk and other bushes. It ... under
the Thlaithuwat, curls round and goes to the Sirhan [Sirhan, Wadi]
where it cuts in [space left blank] to a village called [space]. At 1.10
and 1.45 we crossed a curling tributary of the W. Ba'ir. I doubt whether
my bearing of 158 at 12.30 is correct, but it is not far out. I think the qasr
may be a little nearer the Mataheh which I took 148?. The tributary
wadi goes past Ba'ir to the W. As we passed the Thlaithuwat we met
some Sukhur rahilin. They had come from the Sai'z and they reported
no rain and little fodder. They said they were very thirsty. About 11.45
we saw 2 camel riders following us. They proved to be Jad'an
Shaikh of the Hagaish and his man. They had seen us as we rode
past the Thlaithuwat and taking us for a ghazzu had come to inquire. I
invited him to stay the night but he turned back after showing us the
cave. It is hewn out of sandstone and this shape [plan]. The big room
about 10 metres long. In one room are small niches, too small for
loculi. Full of camels' bones brought in by the dabi'. The Sukhur
inquired what pasha I was and a woman called out what was I doing
be hal barriyeh? Mudafi they say for thirsty. Sayyah told me this
morning that a consul like me was very welcome but an ajnabi they
wd not allow to enter. I said they need not fear, the land had never
been inhabited. With that he stopped to pray, Kul wahid yehafidh 'ala
dinher, he explained. Ba'ir is much much ruined, min kithrat ayyunhu
says Mustafa. But the place is very old. The NE corner is entirely
blotted out by the Arab watering places round the well. A great marah
all round and a rather smelly cemetary [sic] with a big shaikh's tomb.
It is the tomb of Asad who is the Jidd of the Sukhur. Whenever they
camp here they sacrifice a camel. One of their sheikhs used never to
come down from Madeba [Madaba] way without carrying green
boughs with which to cover it, but the boughs have been carried off by
a ghazzu. Lots of 'ugul, empty cartridges, sticks and a small tin
looking glass. At night we talked of Asad and of the age of man. F.
[Fattuh] The limit of man's age is 104. M. [Muhammad] Ya Abu Elyas
there is no time limit. What says the Injil ya sitt. I. The Torat says that
a man lives to 70 and if he lives longer there is no pleasure in it. M.
Teki.... Sadiqti. Igasted[?] labid, and the asai of his verse is the very
camel stick we all carry.