The inhabitants of this valley, the name of which is celebrated in the Hedjaz for the abundance of its dates, are of the Beni Salem tribe, the most numerous branch of Harb, and, like most other tribes of the Hedjaz, partly Bedouins and partly settled inhabitants; the latter remaining in their houses and gardens the whole year round, though they dress and live in the same manner as their brethren under tents. The Wahaby chief had been aware of the importance of this station; and having succeeded, after a long resistance, in overpowering the Beni Harb, who held the key of the Northern Hedjaz, [In this enterprise he was assisted by Medheyan, formerly a chief of Harb, who had been deprived of his post by Djezy, a fortunate rival. Medheyan was afterwards treacherously seized by the Turks at Medina, and beheaded at Constantinople; and Djezy, a friend of Mohammed Aly, was killed by the Turkish governor of Medina, for having spoken too highly of his services.] thought it necessary to keep a watchful eye over this valley, and there built several strong block- houses or towers, in which the collectors of his revenues resided, and where they deposited the taxes collected from the valley. All these Bedouins were decidedly hostile to the Wahaby system: even now, though free from their yoke, they load them with as many reproaches, [p.308] as the Mekkans bestow praises on them. Before the Wababy invasion, the Beni Harb had never known a master, nor had the produce of their fields ever been taxed. The Sherif of Mekka certainly assumed a nominal supremacy over them; but they were in fact completely independent, and their Sheikhs seconded the Sherif’s views so far only as they were thought beneficial, or of pecuniary advantage to their own people. The latter now complained greatly of the heavy taxation imposed by the Wahabys, and said that, besides the money they were obliged to pay into Saoud’s treasury, the chief of all the Wahaby Sheikhs of the Hedjaz, Othman el Medheyfe, had extorted from them many additional sums. I thought the accuracy of this information doubtful; for I knew that the Wahaby chief had always shown particular care in preventing such acts of injustice in his officers, and punished those who were guilty. They also told me that not only had their gardens and plantations been taxed, but the very water with which they irrigated them had been assessed at a yearly sum.