Commissioned by Mehemet Ali to inform him about the situation in Nejd brought about by the rising power of Abdallah Ibn Rashid, Wallin left Cairo in April 1845, and crossing the pilgrim road at Ma`an, pushed on across the Syrian desert to the Wadi Sirhan and the Jauf oasis, where he halted during the hot summer months.
Following Wallin's route across the desert by Mean and Jauf, Palgrave and his companion, a Syrian Christian, reached Hail in July 1862; here they were hospitably entertained by the amir Talal, nephew of the founder of the Ibn Rashid dynasty, and after some stay passed on with his countenance through Kasim to southern Nejd.
Johan Olof Wallin (1779-1839) may be mentioned in the same category, although he is really distinct from all the schools.
He was archbishop of Upsala, and in 1819 he published the national hymn-book of Sweden; of the hymns in this collection, 126 are written by Wallin himself.
Wallin, was to make that the objective of his journey.
