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.]