HECLA 495 HEDJAZ Valley of Eshcol, famous now, as of old, for its thick clustering grapes, its olives, and other fruits. The church erected by the Empress Helena, the mother of Con- stantine, on the spot where Abraham is said to have been buried, has been con- verted into a mosque called El-Haram ("sanctuary") , built to inclose the cave which is the traditional burial-place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their wives. HECLA or HEKLA, a volcano of Iceland, about 20 miles from its S. W. coast, about 5,000 feet in height, and having several craters. It is composed chiefly of basalt and lava and is always covered with snow. Many eruptions are on record. One of the most tremendous occurred in 1783, after which the vol- cano remained quiescent till September, 1845, when it again became active, and continued with little intermission till November, 1846, to discharge ashes, some masses of pumice stone, and a tor- rent of lava. HECTOR, the son of Priam and Hecuba, the bravest of the Trojans, whose forces he commanded. His wife was Andromache. His exploits are celebrated in the "Iliad." Having slain Patroclus, the friend of Achilles, the latter sought revenge, and Hector was slain by him. The body of Hector was dragged at the chariot wheels of the conqueror; but afterward it was de- livered to Priam for a ransom, who gave it a solemn burial. HEDIN, SVEN ANDERS, a Swedish explorer and geographer, born in Stock- holm, 1865, educated in Upsala, Berlin, and Halle. In 1885 he made his first trip to Persia and Mesopotamia. In 1890 he went to Persia as a member of the Swedish King's embassy to the Shah. In the following year he explored Khor- rasan and Turkestan. In 1893 he began the four years' expedition which made him world-famous; a trip from Russia to Pekin, by way of Tibet. Subse- quently he made two other exploring trips to Tibet. Among his many achievements are the discovery of the source of the Brahmaputra, the Indus and Lake Chunitzo. Hedin lost some- what of his prestige by his fanatical championship of the Grerman cause dur- ing the World War. Among his works are: "A Journey Through Persia and Mesopotamia" (1887) ; "The Scientific Results of a Journey Through Central Asia" (6 vols., 1893-1904). HEDJAZ or HEJAZ, a kingdom of Arabia, situated on the N. E. coast of the Red Sea, extending from the Gulf of Akabah to about the parallel of 20" N. and to the Nafud Desert on the E. The area is about 96,500 miles, and con- sists largely of sand with little vegeta- tion. The land slopes to the N. with the Tehema Mountains in the center ris- ing to a height of 6,000 feet. Bedouins compose the population which is esti- mated at about 300,000. The chief cen- ters of population are the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, and Jeddah which is the principal port. A railway line, to be known as the Medina-Mecca-Jeddah line, was in the course of construction by the Hejaz Railway Company when the war broke out. The region was under nominal Turkish sovereignty, but in 1917 the Arabs, with the aid of the British, revolted against Turkish rule. The immediate occasion of the rising was the strengthening of the Turkish garrison at Medina by 3,000 picked troops, which the Sheerif of Mecca opposed. By inherited right, acknowl- edged by the Turks for more than two hundred years, he exercised an authority in the Hedjaz both political and re- ligious. But it was feared that Arabia was to be brought under complete Turk- ish sovereignty In June, 1917, the di-s- content among the Arabs and Bedouins come to a head. The Turks held Mecca by means of forts and foi'tified bar- racks. These were besieged by the Sheerif and his troops. The garrison opened fire upon the city with their guns and even the Great Mosque was damaged. After being beleaguered for a month the Turks in Mecca capitulated. Then the revolt spread to the coast. At Taif the Arabs besieged and took prisoners Ghabil Pasha, the Governor-General of the Hedjaz, and 3,000 Turkish regulars. Next, with British aid in the form of arms and munitions, they cut off Medina. It was not possible to storm the city, which was held by some 14,000 men and was strongly fortified. But it was block- aded, and the blockade kept up until the end of the war. In the meantime Arab forces moved N. against Maan. The Turks sent the re-enforcements from Constantinople and Damascus. The hos- tile movements of the Bedouins proved of value to the British as a means of withdrawing Turkish forces from the front in Palestine and in Mesopotamia, and every effort was made through Bi'itish diplomacy to add to the unrest among them. The rising in the Hedjaz al- most synchronized with the British entry into Palestine, and the two events caused much alarm among the Turkish leaders. Against General AUenby in Syria on the coast sector was the 8th Turkish army, Von Kraasenstein in
