ABSTRACT
Two names, marking milestones on the journey from AI-Hasa to Ar-Riyadh, stood out most prominently in my mind and were like two beacons in my heart, when we marched out of Hufouf through the Najd gate. These were Rujmat'ush-Shwai'er (Cairn of the Little Poet) and Abu Jefan. The first marks the entrance to the Dahna, the great sand desert; the second is the first watering place after we leave the Humaidah wells, which are a few miles outside of Hufouf. At these wells we filled our four large waterskins, which were carried by two camels, and the qirbahs (small waterskin), one of which everyone carries with him. Drink deep from the good, clean fresh water of Humaidah,-the incomparable water of AI-Hasa, -for not until you get to Ar-Riyadh will your eyes behold aqua pura again, and not until you cross the Dahna to Abu Jefan,I a hundred and fifty miles away, will you see another well.
