Fri. Jan 30 [30 January 1914] We rode to M's tents and camped. Very pretty to see the valley with tents and camels in the clean sand. Lots of Sherarat with camels. They have no dira. They are foes[?] of the Howaitat, Sukhur and B. Atiyyeh country. In the summer they stay about the wells on the edge of the Nefud [Nafud, An], and Mujharrieh[?] and Fajr and "live like wild animals" said Muhammad. The Howaitat guard the Hajj line from Kerak [Karak] to Tebuq [Tabuk], the Sukhur north and the Harb S. Sami imprisoned Muham. for 4 months but he has nothing but admiration for him. He has 4 Howaitiyyat wives. One, Hileh, came and sat with me. She has had 4 children, all have died. Muham. has only 2 children. She did not want to marry. Ma istahait al rigil - but her father beat her. She showed me a white scar on her breast. Ahubb al bint she said. But all the girls must marry - the children die young of travel and t'ab and the women suffer terribly after childbirth from the constant moving and work. "We do not rest an hour" she said. She had the most pitiful face. Muham. has a young Beatrix Oryx in his tents. Fine picture of the men sitting round the coffee fire by the big dallals. Ya dunya! murmured one old man. The Sherarat came in too and were given coffee, but last of all, and an old aunt of Muhammad's. In the pictures such as there is none but he! Ya tabb! The Jidd of all the Howaitat is one of the Ashraf of Mecca [Makkah]. He was sent as a child into the mts of Aqaba ['Aqaba], married there and is the father of all. In the afternoon Muham. and I sat in F. [Fattuh]'s tent and drank tea. He talked of his work for the miri and all it entailed, and of his work with the tribe as judge and lawmaker - they come to him to settle disputes. He takes the miri from the Sherarat who camp with him. Some of these are very rich - 60 nagas, but they all live in the same miserable way, dying of hunger. They drink the camels' milk as long as there is any. They never sell their camels. The money for the miri they earn by working in the cultivated places - Jizia, Kerak. Muham. has battal ghazzus since he was imprisoned at Dam [Dimashq (Damascus, Esh Sham, Damas)]. Shuft al mant wa battalt. His little daughter, very handsome and black eyed came and was given sweetmeats by F. I sat in M's tent at night. Interesting talk about the worship of ancestors. The tomb of their Jidd is at Ma'an and they do the usual sacrificing. Hajjaj the man from Jof [Jawf, Al (Al Jauf)] accused them of honouring their ancestor and praying to him more than to God. Muham and the coffee maker Su'ud indignantly protested la hayyatak wa hayyat Allah, they knew there was none but God and M. his Prophet. They admitted that when the Sukhur came into the W. Ba'ir [Wadi Ba'ir] they could not free themselves from it save by sacrifice but it was not the dead man who prevented their departure, but God. Ya Hajjaj yusikum bil khair. Hajjaj sang Qasidubs[?] to the rebaba. M. al M. then told the tale of the accession of M. al Rashid and the murder of his relatives. Two were killed and thrown into a well. Ashab al nar said I. Ai billah said Shaikh M. After the Friday prayers it is the custom for all the people to come to the Amir's reception. They sit in 4 rows before him. And Hamud used always to sit on the other side of M. al R.'s cushion. Hajjaj who knows Hayyid said Ana nashud or Unshud billah. M. turned to me and said that for 4 years after his accession Muhammad used to go at night through the streets with 2 slaves and a ladder. A slave wd climb up to the window of the house, if it was lighted and listen to what was being said. "And if he heard M. al Dhailani or M al Ma'arawi or the Sitt speaking against him, next morning he wd either imprison him or cut his throat." Wonderful sight in M's tent with the fire and the ring of stones round it. At the outer side 2 big stones supporting an upright slab like a tombstone. The big dallals and the people sitting round. Little boys of 6 or 7 sitting solemnly like grown men. One had come to my tents the night before and ridden back with us on a mare. You see tiny mites riding on the rump of a camel, hobbling the mare like grown men. Beside me M's large figure with the white linnen [sic] keffiyyeh over his dark brows and the narghileh between his heavy lips. A slave brought his fur cloak with the long sleeves and threw it over his shoulders. Outside a mare tethered to the long rope. The nagas came in and they brought us great bowls of milk. The camel mothers and their calves lying in the sand beyond. As I walked back to my tent in the frosty night the little moon hung like a boat in the W. and Sirius showed his white flame gloriously. I saw an immense falling star as I sat in the tent. It fell across half heaven. There is some dew in the Tubaiq [Tubayq, At]. I see the frost on the sand of a morning and my tent flies are wet.