ABSTRACT
Between Ras Kurkumai and Ras Abu Madd the coast, still low and sandy, is indented with wide bays, and fronted with reefs and low coral islands, among which there are several anchorages. There are no sherms in this section, and U mm Lejj is the only village on the coast. Al Hasani island, 12 miles out from the village, differs from the rest of the islands in being high and rugged. A sandy beach opposite a gap in the reef on its eastern side offers a landing-place for boats. The coastal track from Al Wejh, the broad, well-beaten pilgrim road, keeps inland until it has crossed the Wadi Hamdh at Abu Zereibat, then approaches the coast to pass through the oasis of Semna, where there are groves of date-palms and little gardens clustered round shallow, wood-lined wells in the vaIley bed, 5 miles inland. The coastal plain in this section is about 15 miles wide, narrowing southeastwards, a flat sandy expanse, covered in places with thorn trees, and here and there mud-flats or glistening expanses of salt-encrusted clay, and towards the south-east an old lava-bed (Harrat Jelib) halfburied in sand.
