 CHAPTER 12 On January 25 we started for Shibam, Carpets having been sent forward the day before. The sultan was to follow us in a day or two when some shakes had been to see him. We started at 8.30 and were at Shibam in four hours. We had eleven camels only, three horses, and the donkey. We traveled as soon as we left Alcatoun through sand nearly all the way. We passed the tall white dome of Sheikh Abu Bakr Ban Hassan's tomb, near which the ruling family are buried if the Syed's permit. They are all powerful and the sultan can do nothing in this respect without them, not even be buried in his own family tomb. There is a well beside the tomb, or rather the kind of building from which water is obtained in the open valleys. This consists of a small white building, eight or nine feet square, with a dome resting on an open pattern composed of a herringbone course of bricks. A little wooden ladle, four or five inches wide, stands in one of the little openings to dip out the water, which would otherwise evaporate. They drink out of the ladle and fill the water skins and the drinking trawl for animals, which stands always near. They would never let us drink from the ladles. As we neared Shibam we passed through a good deal of ground that had once been irrigated but it had had its ups and downs and was now abandoned. Once there had been plenty of soil and the palm trees were planted in it, then the wind had denuded the roots, some of which had been banked up and walled in with stones. Others were standing on bare roots but at this time the sand was bearing the whole place. There were high drifts against many of the walls and among the trees. Shibam is twelve miles distant from Alcatoun and is one of the principal towns in the Hatre Mount Valley. It is built on rising ground in the middle of the narrowest part of the valley so that no one can pass between it and the cliffs of the valley out of gun-shot of the walls. This rising ground has doubtless been produced by many successions of towns built of sundried bricks for it is the best strategical point in the neighborhood. Early Arab writers tell us that the hemeretic population of this district came here when they abandoned Shibam early in the Christian era. We succeeded, however, in finding evident traces of an occupation of earlier date than this, both in a seal, which is described further on, and in an inscription in which the name Shibam occurs, and which certainly dates from the third century BC. Even if the Shibam were not the site of the original capital, it must always centuries before our era have been a place of considerable importance as a center of the frankincense trade. For here must have been made up the caravans which brought the spices westward by the great frankincense road across Arabia. The caravans take twenty-five days on the journey to Sahut and five to Makala. They go also to Nejd, but we could not find out how long they take. Shibam is now the property of the Sultan of Makala, but was administered by his cousin Salah, who received forty thousand rupees a year for the purpose. It is now three hundred years since these yafai left their old home and came to settle in the Hadramat. They were then a wild predatory race plundering caravans. Now they have become peaceable and rich. They still remain close friends with the yafai father west, but are quite independent of them. It is the maintenance of a residence for the Nassam of Hadramat and their constant communication with India that has doubtless made all the difference between the yafai tribe and others. Building seems to have been their mania. The Sultan of Shibam has numbers of houses at Al-Qutun and Shibam and he was intending to spend twenty thousand rupees in rebuilding his father's house. For the castle at Al-Qutun is not his own but government property, and the strip of land across the valley, part of its sandy, goes with it. He was buying up land for himself in the Wadi-e-Lan and elsewhere. He told us his father left eleven million rupees to divide among his numerous progeny. Relationships in that family must be a trifle confused. Manisar of Makala had married two sisters, both now dead, of his cousin Salah. Salah had married two of Manisar's sisters, a daughter of Salah's married Manisar, and another of them was married to one of Manisar's sons and Manisar's brother Hussein of Shahar, married, or was married to a third daughter of Salah. Apparently the same complications existed in the generation before this, but into them it is impossible to go. As in India, the favorite marriage that a man can make is to marry his uncle's daughter. Possibly the fact that property goes from brother to brother till a whole generation is dead instead of from father to son has something to do with this arrangement. The town of Shibam offers a curious appearance as one approaches. Above its mud brick walls, with bastions and watchtowers, appear the tall houses of the wealthy, whitewashed only at the top, which make it look like a large round cake with sugar on it. Outside the walls, several industries are carried on, the chief of which is the manufacture of indigo dye. The small leaves are dried in the sun and powdered, and then put into huge jars and filled with water. Next morning these are stirred with long poles, producing a dark blue frothy mixture. This is left to settle, and then the indigo is taken from the bottom and spread out on the cloths to drain. The substance thus procured is taken home and mixed with dates and salt, Peter. Four pounds of this indigo to a gallon of water makes the requisite and universally used dye for garments, the better class of which are calendared by beating them with wooden hammers on stones. This noise was a great mystery to us till we traced our way to it and found out what it was. They used to also beat the dried leaf of a kind of acacia called carada, and when pounded make of it a paste which has a beautiful pea-green appearance, it is used for giving a polish to leather. Another industry carried on outside Shibam is rope making out of the fibers of the fan palm sap, which grows wild in the narrower valleys. The leaves are first left to soak in the water and then beaten till the fibers separate. Yet another is that of making lime for whitewash kilns. It is curious to watch the bedowin beating the lime thus produced with long sticks, singing quaint little diddies as they thump in pleasant harmony to the beating of their sticks. He entered the town by some very sloping steps which led through the gateway, passing some wells and the indigo dyers outside, also some horrible pools where they had put the little fish that the camels eat to drain the oil from them. We entered a sort of square, having the castle on the right hand side in a ruined mosque in front of us. This huge castle was built by the grandfather of the Sultan Manisar, Sultan of Makala, but owing to some difference about his wives, he left the two topmost stories unfinished. No one lives in it, so we had the whole of this immense pile of buildings to ourselves. It belongs to the Manisar. It is larger than Alcatun by far, and that is also exceeded in size by Hara. It is a most imposing structure and much more flora than the others. The gateway is a masterpiece of carving in intricate patterns. On entering this, you turn sharp to the right up a shallow staircase, protected from without, but exposed to fire from the inmates of the castle. The pillars in the lofty rooms are beautifully carved, all the windows are filled with pretty fretwork. Bolts, doors, and window frames are also carved. The huge doors are carved on one side only, the outer one, and inside they are rough and ill-grained, and splashed with whitewash. They are pretty dado patterns around the walls, and the staircase, as in the other castles, has numerous doors for defense, usually put in the middle of the flights. Shooting holes are in every direction. We established ourselves in a room about 30 feet by 25 feet, and used to go up and dine in one of the unfinished rooms at the top, where there was a little bit of roof and where the cooking was done. We generally thought it wise to dine in our grill room in order to have our food hot. We all greatly enjoyed the works of our own cook's provisions being supplied to us. We overlooked a huge puddle into which the surrounding houses drain, and it is a proof of the scarcity of water in this part of Arabia that they carefully carry this filthy fluid away in skins to make bricks with, even scraping up the remaining drops in the pool with their hands. In fact, it scarcely ever rains in the Hadremaut. From the roof of our lofty castle, we had an excellent view straight down the broad Hadremaut valley, dotted with towns, villages, palm groves, and cultivation for fully 30 miles, embracing the two towns of Shion and Trim, ruled over by the two brother-sultans of the Qatere tribe. Close to Shibam, several collateral valleys from north and south fall into the Hadremaut, and a glance at the map made by our cartographer, Imam Sharil Han Bahadur, will at once show the importance of the situation. Shibam is the frontier town of the Yafai tribe, the Qatere occupying the valley about two miles to the east, and these two tribes are constantly at war. In Salaz, Big Standard was in one of our dwelling rooms, ready to be unfurled at a moment's notice. He has cannons on the walls pointed in the direction of his enemy, old cannons belonging to the East India Company, the youngest of which bore the date of 1832. From the soldiers we obtained a specimen of the great conch shells that they use as trumpets in battle, in which are hung to the girdle of the watchmen who are always on the lookout to prevent a surprise. The Qatere are not allowed to stay in the town at night, for we heard that seven months before some of them were detected in an attempt to blow up the palace with gunpowder. There was a fight also about a quarter of a mile outside the town, in which five Qatere and seven Yafai were killed. There are three or four armed soldiers to protect Shibam. The Sultan has erected bastions and forts all about it, and the walls are patrolled every night. There are many ruined houses in the plain, relics of the Great War 40 years ago, when the Qatere advanced as far as Al-Qatun and did great damage. The Sultan of Shu'an was invited with seven sheikhs to the Palace of Shibam on friendly terms, and there murdered in cold blood, while 40 of his followers were killed outside. The inhabitants of Shibam were not at all friendly disposed to us. On the day of our arrival, my husband ventured with two of the Sultan's soldiers into the bazaar and through the narrow streets, but only this once. For the people crowded round him, yelled at him, and insulted him, trying their best to trip him up and impede his progress. He was nearly suffocated by the clouds of filthy dust that the mob kicked up, and altogether they made his investigations so exceedingly disagreeable that he became seriously alarmed for his safety and never tried to penetrate into the heart of Shibam again. On the whole I should accredit Shibam with a population of certainly not less than 6,000 souls. There are 13 mosques in it and fully 600 houses, tall and gaunt, to which an average population of 10 souls is but a moderate estimate. The slave population of Shibam is considerable. Many slaves have houses there and wives and families of their own. The Sultan's soldiers are nearly all slaves or of slave origin and one of them, Mu'ofok, whose grandfather was a Swahili slave and who had been one of her escort from Makala, took us to his house where his wife, seated unveiled in her coffee corner, dispensed refreshments to quite a large party there assembled, while Mu'ofok discourse sweet music to us on a mandolin and a flute made out of the two bones of an eagle placed side by side. Taishir and Abud were also abiding in Shibam. Taishir, when he met us, on the minute asked for Bakhshish, saying he had been ill when we parted and had had none, though we had sent it to him. Oh, there was such kissing of hands. So we thought of Pala take to love our enemy and gave him a present. So Asir Salaam bin Ali had traveled with us to take care of us in the absence of his master. Once the Arabs had a good laugh at the expense of three members of our party. One morning our botanists went forth in quest of plants and found a cast royal tree, the berries of which pleased him exceedingly. Unwilling to keep so rare a treat for himself, he brought home some branches of the tree and placed the delicacy before two of our servants, Nathaios, and I am glad to say, Salaam, who also partook heartily. Terrible was the anguish of the two victims, which was increased by the Arabs, veritable descendants of Job's comforters, who told them that they were sure to die, as camels did which ate these berries. The botanists did not succumb as soon as the others, who, not believing he had eaten any berries himself, vowed vengeance on his head if they should recover, and demanded that, to prove his innocence, he should eat twelve berries in their presence. To our great relief the botanist was at last seized with sickness, and thereby proved his guiltlessness of a practical joke. Three more miserable men I never saw, for the space of several hours. However, they were better, though prostrate the next day, and for some time to come the popular joke was to imitate the noises and contortions of the sufferers during their anguish. In consequence of the enmity manifested towards us, we were even debarred from walking in that interesting, though smelly part, just outside the town under the walls, with the well, the brickworks, the indigo, the oil making, the many lime kilns, the armorers, and all the industrious people of the town. We used to take the air on the roof in the evening. There were no mosquitoes, but we were never so persecuted with flies. Fortunately our castle was near the wall, for to dwell in the narrow, torturous, dirty streets must be fearful, most likely the dust as much to neutralize the evils of the defective drainage. The houses are very high and narrow, and built of mud brick, kucha, which is constantly, though slowly, powdering away. There are many houses in ruin. We had two or three days of slight cold, the temperature was sixty-two degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, and it was so cloudy that we expected rain, but none came. Salah managed to get ten rupees from my husband, who refused any more, though he bought a piece of cloth which he said he wished to buy from the Sultan. The money was only wanted for gambling. He went to Imam Sharif and said, How is this that Mr. Bent, who at first was like my brother, now is quite changed? Imam Sharif said, If he was kind to you when you were a stranger, and now that he knows you is different, there must be some reason for it. What have I done? You know best, said Imam Sharif, and I advise you to beg pardon. Salah exclaimed, And you, who are a Muslim, Take part against me with these Christians? This is the keynote of his conduct to us. We rode two hours one day, without Salah, to a place called Qamur, on the southern side of the valley, where there is an inscribed stone at the mouth of a narrow slit or gorge leading to the Aqaba. The words thereon were painted light red, dark red, yellow, and black, and scratched. The decipherable words, morning light, and offerings, point to this having been a sacred stone when sun worship was prevalent. The letters are well-shaped, some letters being strange to us. The writing is boostrophedian, which means that it runs backwards and forwards like an unbroken serpent, each line being read in an opposite direction to that, preceding or following it. There is no difficulty in seeing this at a glance as the shapes of the letters are reversed. For instance, if this occurred in English, the two loops of a B would be on the left if a writing were to be read in that direction. The Greek name comes from this style of writing being originally likened to cattle wandering about. This at once relegates it according to the best authorities to at least the third century before Christ, and we were forcibly reminded of the large stone in the ruins of Zimbabwe and its similar orientation. We heard of a cave with an inscription in it in the Qatiri country, about six miles off, almost in sight. We longed to dance on the Tom Tiddler's ground and make a dash for it. But the forfeits we might incur deterred us, being our lives. Thawassir said he would try to arrange for this, but that even if the Syed's consented, we must take forty soldiers well-armed, pay them as well as the Eciar to the Qatiri, pay the expenses of the Eciara, and take as short a time about the business as possible. On the 27th we heard that some of the tribe of Al-Jabbar, descended from O'Hama's great friend of that name, had passed Shibam for Al-Katun to Fetchus, but there was no news of the Minhali or of the Tatmini. It was said that the Jabari could not take us over their highland, pass the Qatiri and into the Tatmini country, without consulting the Qatiri, who sometimes held them in their wars. It must be remembered that the Qatiri Bedouin were for us, no doubt in view of the payment of Eciar, while the Syed's and Arabs of that tribe at Siwan, and their friends at Terim, were against us. I need not say we were weary of this indecision. So we sent a letter to the Sultan of Shabam, by a messenger, saying, We have been here three days. What are we to do next? And plan that Imam Sherif should ride over the next day, as he could communicate mouth to mouth with the Sultan in Hindustani. We had one consolation in our imprisonment, for the seal of Yarsahul, which had been mentioned before, was brought to us. The stone is in brown and white stripes, and the setting is very pretty. It had been in the bezel of a revolving ring. We began bargaining for it at once. My husband offering ten rupees for the stone, and ten for the golden setting. But the Syed, who brought it, said it was the property of a man in Siwan, who wished to keep it for his children, and he must take it back to him. My husband said he should like to look at it very quietly by himself and think over the stone, and therefore asked the Syed to remain outside the door for a few minutes. I quickly utilized this quiet time to make an impression with sealing wax, in case we never saw the seal again. In two hours the Syed appeared again, and said he had had a letter from Siwan, twenty-four miles off, saying the imaginary owner would not part with it under thirty rupees. But he very soon took twenty and laughed most heartily when I said that if I had known how near Siwan was I would have gone myself. This seal is of particular interest, for on it were the words Yarsahul, the Elder of Siwan, and in an inscription published by M. Helevi, we have the two Yarsahuls and various members of this family described as vassals of the King of the Gebeniti. Now Pliny says that the capital of the country was Thumna. This is quite correct and was confirmed by the seal, for Thumna was the capital of the Gebeniti, who were a hemeritic tribe west of the Hahtrema. It is therefore an additional confirmation of the accuracy of the ancient geographers concerning this district. In the old days Shabbat, as it is called in inscriptions, or Sabatha, Shaba, and Sabatha, as it is written in the ancient authors, was the capital of the country. Hamdani tells us in his Geography of the Arabian Peninsula that there were saltworks at Shabua, and that the inhabitants owing to the wars between Himyar and Mahiq left Shabua, came down into the Hahtrema and called the place Shibam, which was originally called Shabbat. Times are much changed since Shabua was a great town, for from all accounts it is now quite deserted except for the Bedouin, and is six days from good water. The water there is salt and bitter, like quinine, the sultan said. The Bedouin worked the salt and bring it on camels, as is mentioned by Makrisi. The effect of salt is traceable in the water of all the wells in the main valley. We would gladly have gone into Shabua, but it was obviously impossible. There was a great deal of gun-firing when the Jabari went by with the shake of the Qatiri, and our next interest was the letter from Al-Qatun saying that the Tatlimi, who had sworn on their heads and their eyes to do so, had never appeared, and that the Jabari wanted a hundred ten dollars exclusive of camel hire to go with us, the camels only to go a short distance, and then we must change what did we wish to do. Of course we could not start without providing camels for our onward way, so this answer was sent back. We have not come to fight. We do not much care when we go, and we await the advice of the sultan when he comes tomorrow. Salah was quite delighted, but we thought any direction would be good for our map, and we still had hopes of digging near Meshed, though we began to have fears that a repulse eastward would strengthen the hands of our enemies westward. On January 29th, the letter was brought to us by the Basir and the governor of the town, attended by Salah. Four pleas than ever. They said the letter had arrived last night, and it was to say that the sultan's pain had increased so he could not come today, and adding what we already knew as to the three neighboring tribes. We had a council of three, and feeling that the journey to Ber-Bohat was out of the question, we determined to beat what we hoped would be a masterly retreat, so the Basir and the governor were summoned and the following answer was sent. We cannot understand the letters of the sultan, having no means of communicating with him privately. Therefore we will return to Al-Katun tomorrow and see him face to face. The servants were all quite delighted at this, for Salah told them the letter was to say, we and the soldiers were all going to be murdered. We had stayed five days at Shabbam, and on the first three had taken sundry walks in the neighborhood, but during the last two we never ventured out, as the inhabitants manifested so unfriendly a disposition towards us. After the Friday's prayer in the mosque, a fanatical mullah, Al-Habib i-Arbin Abdullah Sumayyad, alluded to our unwelcome presence and offered up the following prayer three times. O God, this is contrary to our religion, remove them away! And two days afterwards his prayer was answered, this very gentleman had not long before been imprisoned, for praying to be delivered from the liberal-minded sultan Salah. But the people had clamored so much that he was released. As we halted at the well outside the town, whilst the various members of our caravan collected, we overheard a woman chide a man for drawing too much water from the well. To which he replied, we have to wash our town from the infidel this day. Just to say, we gladly shook the dust of Shabam off our feet and returned to the flesh pots of Al-Katun with considerable satisfaction. Of a truth, religion and fanaticism are together so deeply ingrained in the hadrima that anything like friendly intercourse with the people is at present next to impossible. Religion is the moving spirit of the place. Without religion the whole hadrima would have been abandoned long ago as useless, but the inhabitants look upon it as the most sacred spot on earth. Mohammed, having been born in Arabia, enhanced their objection to its being visited by unbelievers. The Shafi sect prevails to the exclusion of all others. The men go in crowds to India, Batavia, and elsewhere, sometimes remaining absent twenty years from their wives and families. And indeed we were told of one case in which a husband had been away for forty years. They return at last to spend their gains and die in their native sanctity. We reached Al-Katun on January 30th and found our friend Sultan very well indeed. We had begun to suspect we were being deceived as to his illness. For when the Wazir and Salah, who seemed to lead together, heard the Sayeed's son-in-law, who came straight from Al-Katun soon after the letter, telling us that the Sultan was much better, they looked disconcerted, whispered together, and the Wazir said, You should not talk of what you know nothing about. We were most anxious to learn all that had gone on in our absence and what arrangements had been made. It seemed to be considered a mistake or ever having gone to Shibam, but I do not think it was. Had we not gone we should never have seen that fine and interesting town and assuredly not have obtained King Yarsahul's seal. The Sultan told us there had been a great uproar about us and all the Yafai tribe were now considered kafirs. The Qatiri absolutely refused the Jabari leave to conduct us and the Nahadi, through whose land we had passed from Hagarin, said that if they had known how the Qatiri would treat us, they would have treated us just the same. It would be madness to go to Shabwa, as we should, even if we could get there, be only further hemmed in. The Wadi bin Allah was close to us, the Nahadi were between us and Medjid. Nevertheless, the Sultan had actually sent a man to ask if we could dig there a few days, he camping with us. Our very faint hope of this was only founded on the fact that the Syed's of Medjid are at enmity with those of Siwan. On February 1st, the Tatmini sent to say they had really started to Vecis. But the Qatiri told them they would declare war on them unless they retired. The following evening we were thrown into some excitement by the arrival of the Sultan in our room with seven letters, the general tenor of which was that eight of the Tatmini had come with the Asiari of Four Amri only and no Asiari of Qatiri as part of Siwan and asked to be passed on but that the Qatiri refused them safe conduct. They asked the Sultan of Siwan to go to Siwan and arrange for them to reach us. They proposed that we should, without touching Siwan, turn into the very next Wadi and go up onto the Aqaba. The men who went with us were to stay with us all the way to the coast. The Sultan promised to keep hostages till his returning soldiers told of our safety. We had another council with Imam Sharif. We counted up our dollars for we had to live on our money bags till we reached the sea and determined to reach Bear Barhat if we could, saying nothing to the servants to upset their minds till all was settled. The Sultan went away to Siwan the next day and as usual the women became very noisy and during his absence we were close prisoners on account of our fear of being mobbed. The Indian party were generally looked upon as Jews. In the evening the Sultan came back telling us that the Tahtmini wished to bring four hundred soldiers unpaid and to take us through their country but the Qatiri were too strong for them. They said, one man came disguised to see us, Herh-Van-Rida. One man came undisguised, Herh-Hersh and now a party has come. Next time it will be a larger one still and then it will be all over with the sacred valley of Hadremat. Salah, meanwhile, was doing all he could to annoy us. When we were talking over our difficulties with Imam Sharif, he strutted in with a bill for the camels. My husband said, it is already paid. I shall see about the others then, Salah said. They are ordered already. Your groom, Islam, will not go with you, said Salah. So I told him, he won't get the chance. We would not have him if he were paid, and though we have paid him beforehand we willingly lose our money. I must then speak to the Sultan about him for you. I said, the Sultan has decided what he will do with him and I don't think he will like it. Haidar Abul will not go with you. This made us very angry as we had seen that Salah had been tampering with him, lending him his donkey and his sandals when he walked, and whispering with him. He tried to separate everyone from us. Haidar had promised to go with us all the way, and later Imam Sharif brought him to me when I was at home alone, and made him repeat his promise and assurance that he had never told Salah he would not go. Salah also wanted money, but was refused. He got a hundred rupees a month and two hundred were prepaid at Aden. He gambled, and my husband wished to keep the contents of our money bags for our own use. We calculated that at the cheapest for soldiers, Anissyara, and camels, their war-hot would cost one hundred thirty-one. Salah had put all the servants in a most terrible fright, and a soldier had told them that if we went beyond Shabbam we should all be killed, and that we should find no water by the way, so we had to explain to them the plan of going by Wadi bin Ali and to comfort them as well as we could. These people never seem to think that we value our own lives as much as they do theirs. Menjt was also closed against us. The Sultan of Siwan and the Syed had sworn on the Koran, not to let us proceed on our journey. The Qatiri had also sworn and sent messages to the Tath Minami of Beir-Borhat, the Jabari of Wadi bin Ali, and the Nahadi, and they were all against us. We had another day of anxiety and uncertainty as to when we should really start, as the camels were not collected till late. We watched eagerly from our tower, counting them as they arrived by twos and threes. We were rather in a despair as, as we sat dining in a yard, for at this time we were started with our own cookery and dine near the kitchen, which Matthias had been able to make in an arch recess of the enclosure, where there were high hills of date stones kept to be ground to paste for cattle food. He could not be allowed to defile a Muhammaden kitchen. After a few minutes, however, my husband had an idea, which was to go to Shahar somehow, and turn up inland from this. There were plenty of Tath Minami there to help us, and we could thus get to the east side of the Qatiri. Salah was to know nothing till all was settled. February 7 was a very weary day of waiting, for we had mended and cleaned everything we possessed, and we packed and hoped the camels would come, expecting to be off on the morrow. But it was not till evening that people, I cannot remember of what drive, came to bargain with us, and the bargaining continued next morning. So we made all baggage ready to be tied into bundles, for we had no doubt we should start on the 8th at latest. First they said we must go by the Wadiya line, their own home, and this we knew was that they might blackmail us. But they told us it was from want of water on the high ground, over which we must travel for six days, and that we must take two camels for water. Then they said we should take 17 days in all, and were to pay for 20 at more than double the usual fare. We should have to go back on our old road as far as a dab. Then three days in the Wadiya line region, the same road near Habal Gabrain, go on to Gafet, and then turn eastward to Shahar. We were perfectly horrified at this plane. The price was great, and the sultan seemed not to think it possible to go against the Bedouin. But far worse in our eyes was the thought of our map, as we should see no new country, instead of taking a turn or a climb that would have added miles to it. They left us, and we were sitting on our floor in the deepest depths of dark despair, when news came that these camelmen, having made a fresh plan for more extortions, i.e., that there was to be no limit to the number of camels, save their will in loading them. The sultan, being indignant, was thinking of sending for other men. When we heard that, we roused it up and concocted a new plan, which was to send for the sultan, and ask him to get the jibiri, and make them take us by the Wadi Ben Ali. So he came and agreed to this. We were not to go so long over the Highland, but to go up and down at least twice, which would suit us in our map. The sultan told us we should find running water, and that it was a shorter way to Shahar. Besides this, they are lurked in the background, not to be revealed to the last moment. They are designed to get the tatmimi to come to a place in Wadi-Ad-Din, and take us to Bir Borhat, a name truly terrible to Mathias and the Indian servants. We were in high spirits, and agreed that no matter what our fate might be, we were having a delightful evening. Truly, I think the pleasures of hope are not sufficiently appreciated. For even if your hopes are never realized, the hoping has been a great happiness. On the eighth, those extortionate men of Wadi-Eline, sent to say they would take us by the Wadi Ben Ali, running out of the Wadi Hadraman at El Gran, crossing the Wadi's Ben Ali and Ad-Din, and reaching Saha, where we could branch off for Bir Borhat. This offer was declined, for we were watching and waiting for the Jabari, and at night we heard that the brave Jabari were at Shabam, whereas our messenger had been sent to Wadi Ben Ali. They said they wondered at not hearing from us, as a sultan had engaged their camels and promised to let them know when they would be wanted. It was a great mystery to us why the Wadi-Eline people had ever been sent for. The Jabari thus defied the Qatari. As sure as we come from Jabari fathers and Jabari mothers, we will take these people safely to Bir Borhat, and as sure as you come from Qatari fathers and Qatari mothers, you may do your worst, but still we will keep them safe, to which the Qatari replied, We do not wish to make war on you, and we do not care where you take them, so long as it is not into our country. As soon as we had finished our breakfast next day, a message came to say our horses were ready, and we were to go and drink coffee at the little tower the sultan has in the plain. Most of the party walked. There were only horses for five. A donkey carried a water-skin, and our donkey, the Saud, carried halters for every animal. There were two wazirs, the sun-in-law, the Sultan of Hurah, and a good-many servants with carpets for us to sit on, and a teapot. We sat there for about two hours doing nothing but look at the green, an occupation for which this house is expressly built. A gun announced the arrival of the men of Al-Jabir, and the Sultan sent them in to kill a goat and receive them. Our great joy at their coming was nothing compared to our extreme satisfaction at parting with them later on. I cannot say much for my skill as a physiognomist, for I have it recorded that I like the looks of our mocharum, that is chief of our kafila, or leader, Talab bin Abdullah, son of the Jabiri Sheikh, and that I did not care for the looks of our new groom, Salem. I was quite wrong in both cases. There were also Salah bin Yamaani and another Jabiri. We were certainly this time to start next day, but with another change in our route, I believe, on account of water. Instead of going by El-Gran, we were to go by Wadi Ben-Wab, retracing our steps as far as Farhud. Very early in the morning, Imam Sharid came to us and told us that there Jabiri had not sufficient camels with them, and that we must take camels of Mundaab, the first day or two, and that others would meet us in the Wadi Ben-Ali. So there was little hope of a move that day, that Jabiri afterwards said the Mundaab way was much the longest. So we changed again. We delayed several days longer at Al-Katun, hoping against hope that the Sultan of Teran would grant his permission to pass through his territories, that we might prosecute our journey. End of Chapter 12 Chapter 13 of Southern Arabia. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Chapter 13 Farewell to the Sultan of Shabam. Our departure from Al-Katun on February 12 was almost as serious an affair as our start from Makala. Sultan Salah, with the instincts of true hospitality, not only refused to receive remuneration for our entertainment, but loaded us with presents of food for the way and fodder for our animals. Indomating that Bakshish to some of his dependents would not be altogether unacceptable. With the object of receiving rewards for their services, the Grand Viziers, the Maunchi, Escrib, the Hall Porter, the water carriers, the slaves who had waited on us, were all brought in a bare-faced manner to our room. As we descended the stairs, expectant menials lined the passages we had to remember the grooms, the soldiers, and the gardeners. Never again will the irksome custom of tipping be half so appalling as when we left the Palace of Sultan Salah. The Sultan wished to fire off seven guns at our departure, but this be declined. He came about a mile with us and then went to Shabam to send an answer to the letter from the Tatnami saying, on their eyes they would meet us at Sa'a. He also determined to stay away a few days as he should find his house very dull when we were gone. It had been such a great break in the monotony of his life having us, and he had so much enjoyed the society of Imam Sharif that he was always promising him houses, wells, lands, slaves, and wives, if he would only return and settle down in the Wadi Hatredat. An old and confidential relation of his was to accompany us all the way, and the Wazir Salim bin Ali came as far as our first camp, two hours off, in the Wadi Hadirah Here we could plainly see the formation of these valleys abrupt at the end and like a circus, not made by streams descending, but like creeks and bays of a gigantic fjord. There is not much cultivation in the little valley. This is the road to Shahir. There are two approaches to the Akhaba, one by the Wadi Hadirah, and one by the Wadi bin Ali, which is the way to Shahir. We had to enter the Wadi bin Ali sideways by climbing over the Akhaba from Wadi Hadirah, owing to the opposition of the Qatiri who hold the mouth of the Wadi bin Ali. The Wazir departed in the morning with a Martini Henry rifle, which my husband sent to the Sultan. This gave rise to the report which we heard afterwards that we were distributing arms of which we had 500 camel loads. That day we had a very tiresome adventure, starting off early before our caravan with several Jabiri. We intended to ascend to the plateau before the heat of the midday came on. We were accompanied by a few soldiers who it turned out did not know the way. And having ridden for an hour and a half of a narrow gorge with wild figs, wild date, and fan palms growing around us and really magnificent cliffs, 700 to 800 feet high on either side of us, reddish in color and with fossils in the limestone strata, a truly fearful and awe-inspiring place, we suddenly came to an abrupt termination of our valley, having wormed ourselves along chiefly on foot and found that unless Sinbad's rock came to our assistance, we could not possibly get out of it. Consequently, we were regretfully obliged to retrace our steps, having spent three hours and much toil, but glad of having had an opportunity of following one of these valleys to its bitter end. It appeared that our supposed gods had never been there in their lives. We scrambled down this wadi and into the wadi to our right, the way truly was difficult, the valley narrowing and nearly blocked up by perfectly perpendicular cliffs. Our caravan and servants were anxiously awaiting us at a curious spot called Mikadei, about a quarter of the way up the cliff where the road which we had missed goes through a natural tunnel about 20 yards long from lovely pools of rainwater preserved in its recesses, with which we eagerly refreshed ourselves. The rest of the ascent to the plateau was marvellously steep, the camels had to be unloaded and too fell down, all the baggage was carried by men up crag after crag and sometimes there was no sign of a path. I never could have imagined it possible for camels to ascend the roof-like slope of rock, of which they had to clamor for the last 50 yards, and indeed one poor animal did fall and injured itself so that it had to be unloaded and taken back. We're upon those Bedouin who did not own it, heartlessly regretted that it had not been killed as they would have liked some of its flesh for supper. Just at the end everything had to be unloaded again and the camels literally dragged up to the top while we sat dangling our legs over the cliff, such yelling and shrieking I never heard among the Bedouin. Our soldiers and our servants all calling each other rascals and no one doing much more than he could help. And in as much as we had about five salahs, four umbaraks and other duplicated names amongst our men, the shouts of so and so, son of so and so, made us fully realize the clumsiness of our obnomenclature. When we clamored up to the akhaba, it looked dreary and lifeless, silent and lonely and stony, but it soon became lively enough for we were a large kafala, about 50 people and 24 camels. We had, by very good fortune, a great deal of cloud that day, but also some tremendous sun. We sat eagerly counting the camels as they came into view and had great anxiety about eight of them and were obliged to send two soldiers back to search for them. We meant to proceed farther as water was two hours on and some of the first arrived camels were reloaded. But after all, we felt we must wait for those eight camels and send back to make a day for water. We could not encamp very comfortably for the camel which had fallen and hurt his chest had our bedding and nightclothes and Imam Sharif's tent poles. And besides this, our kitchen box was missing and we had had no luncheon. So another camel was sent down to get those necessaries. It was dreadfully windy, much dust blowing and so stony that we could only have a peg in each corner of our tents. Rain was threatening, so the baggage was all stacked under the outer fly of our tent. The soldiers behaved most helpfully and the brave and bold Jabiri had not yet once mentioned Bakshish in our hearing and were most polite. They were better looking than others we had seen, all tall, slight, wiry and very muscular, a higher type than that kailiki and much more dressed. The three principal ones were turbans, red and yellow. They said they were so very sorry for losing the way that none of them felt quite well when they thought of our inconvenience. I could not sleep that night, so I got up and put on my dressing gown and sat near the door with my head out and so was fortunately ready to slip out when I heard the trailing picket and found Zubda rushing up and down, looking for water, I suppose. We were so short of it that we had washed in a very little without soap and one horse had drunk that and the other, the water the chickens were washed in. I caught him, but as I could not possibly drive in the picket, I tied him to a packing case and then had to collect his food, which was blown all over the place and take it there for him. On February 14, in consequence of the want of water, great was the hurry to start. We were off about half past six and traveled till one o'clock without stopping or getting water. The horses only had half a pint each that we had washed in. We should not have been so extravagant as to wash that much if we had not wanted to let the horses drink. The plateau here offered features that were new to us. It is, as it were, in two stories. From the bottom of a wadi, you reach first a slope or talus of loose stones, then a cliff, then another slope of loose stones and a cliff. And next comes the main akaba. And on this again, a great deal more of the upper story is left than we had hitherto seen. The upper part is from 80 to 100 feet above the lower. Sometimes it is in the form of an isolated flat-topped hill, larger or smaller, and sometimes like a kind of centipede. And in the gullies between the legs of these centipedes are to be found whatever remain of frankincense trees. For vegetation is very sparse on the akaba. Showered about everything are small bits of black basalt. We had several ups and downs and past wadis running in close to us before we began to descend by what must have been a fearful road for the camels down the two precipices and the two flights of rolling stones into the wadi benale. The way was far better than that of the day before. The very Jabiri never saw such a road as that, they said. When we started descending, we saw the village of Baza-Hell below us, the Jabiri capital. It has a picturesque modern fort built on old hemeretic foundations. When we reached it, the soldiers fired guns and we were very kindly received by the inhabitants who led us to a house they had prepared for us. We excused ourselves from inhabiting it saying it was better not to have our baggage carried up, but we would gladly rest in it. The house seemed very clean. It was a mud, of course. The walls of it and the stairs had all been scraped into furrows and curves and also the daddos of the staircase and room were decorated with a kind of basket pattern and the floors were also in a raised pattern. Carpets were spread, water brought and with great kindness they locked us in that we might not be disturbed. Only our own party were in this room, the soldiers in another. Mathias had joined himself to the vanguard to see what happened to us so my husband shared his horse with him. He had been terrified the day before at the fear that we had been carried off. The Indian servants and the botanists joined us just as coffee with ginger and other spices were brought. Our host had long wrestling with a lock before he could open the door and after this we were desired to bolt it on the inside. We had a pleasant camp with palm trees to shade each cooking fire no stirrers being allowed. A woman here joined our caffella for protection for a few stages. Even I never saw her face. She always wore her mask in her hat and looked a most ungainly object. I daresay I looked the same to her. The Sultan of Shabam had sent a man on horseback up that dreadful wadi to our last camp to thank us for the gun and to warn us by all means to keep on the highlands for fear of the hostile Qatiri. At Baza'hel, Abdullah Mara Ben-Tala Ben-Said, Chief of the Jibri, welcomed us to his own house later in the day, a most unwanted piece of hospitality. He is much stained with indigo, a very elastic and naked sovereign who bends his fingers back in a way horrible to behold when he wishes to emphasize his remarks as he did when he spoke of the Qatiri and his wars with them and is constantly losing men in raids as is also the case in his fights with the Hamadmi. As we sat around drinking his coffee, he boasted of his direct dissent from Javar of Hayad, the friend and counselor of Muhammad and told us that his family pedigree was safely kept at Turin with those of all the surrounding tribes of Arabs. Somehow or other, we did not care for the Jibri at all afterwards and for the rest of our journey to the coast our quarrels with Tala the son of Abdullah and the difficulties he would throw in our way were daily sources of annoyance to us. We left Bazahel at half past six next morning with the intention of climbing up to the table land again. The Wadi Ben Ali is not very wide and the ground is bare though there are many villages scattered about. At rather a large one where the Wadi forks in which we reached at eight o'clock we were to begin our ascent to our dismay the camels were made to sit down and the camelmen said we must stay there the night as there was no water up above. We declared we knew there was and that we would go on. They must fill the 20 water skins which we always carried. Some men were inclined to go on but were overruled by the majority. After half an hour's contention we rode away with a good many people leaving a few soldiers with a baggage to show our determination to proceed. We being told that the others would be afraid to stay behind. We sat down once or twice in full view of the village to survey the camels and wonder if they were coming and much perplexed were we. We had expected to change camels the following day and this was the last day with those men who by delaying us wished to spend out another day's journey at 25 rupees. Those soldiers who are with us recommended us to push on round a corner where the wadi ran in and conceal ourselves behind rocks which there stood up between the path and the village that the camel men might not think there was any hesitation on our part. So men and beasts and I were carefully hidden and one who peeped without his turban reported that some camels were rising and finally ate starting. When we reached the table land we had to go a long way round to avoid a good many little wadis which were all quite steep before we reached the water. At the edge of the table land are some little shelters used by hunters to shoot gazelle which come down the gullies that to us appeared inaccessible. Near the water the soldiers made us climb down to the first story of a small wadi where we sheltered under a shelf of rocks which overhangs the whole end of it. When I was cool I clambered up and found a hollow or depression above our heads with a few tufts of grass and some shrubs so I took down some bits of shrubs as samples on approve to the horses and as they did approve they were sent up to graze. We lay on our saddlecloth till three, pretty hungry when the eight camels came and a good long time after the others arrived. Also the relation of the Sultan Salah joined us on a riding camel an old man, Salam bin Mohammed by name. He said the camels had been changed and the money paid in advance for this day taken from those men. We had a cold windy night at this place, Farash. No one had tents but our own party. Even the Sultan and other gentry lie in the open on journeys. Our horses were given a supper of dates which are considered very strengthening and which they much enjoyed. The tribe of Al-Jabbar possessed the parallel wadis, Adam and Ben Ali and the road between them across the Aqaba is much diverse and apparently an ancient one. We went across on the level eight miles and then descended by a narrow valley leading into the wadi Adam. The way was made longer by its having to wind about to skirt the wadis which cut into it like a fringe. Sometimes we were only half a mile from our former or future track. Once we heard a gun fired and looking across we saw a kafila of 50 camels a much larger one than our own slipping behind a hill to hide from us and presently some men climbed up to peep. We, that is to say my husband, Amam Sharif and I, with the three chief Jabari, the relation and some soldiers and others all gathered up together and stood at gaze without returning the gunfire which was meant to find out if we had any bad intentions. Our own camels were very near the strange kafila and that party was terribly frightened. I think the fright was mutual when we had gone some distance and were out of sight of the strange caravan. We were amused at seeing the soldiers and the Jabari all in line running on at a double firing guns and shouting, oh, oh, oh, oh. My husband asked the relation what chance we had of being robbed as this seemed a convenient place. But he comfortingly said, we need not be much afraid for we have a chief of the robbers with us. This was really true. The place where we were to climb down into the Wadi Atam was tremendously steep. It really seemed very like trying to climb down the sides of a teacup. I wondered how we in the camels and horses would ever do it. However, we all did and the valley became first a crack and then a little wider and the road then was not so very bad in its own wild way. As soon as the valley became a little flat the men wanted to stop and wait for the camels but we said we would rather be in the village of Gahail Omer which they said was only just around the corner. So we went on but for fully two miles till the Wadi Atam crossed our path. It was full of ponds on the far side so we went over there but we're made whether we would or no to return to the mouth of our little Wadi again. They said on account of food for the camels there was a fearful row when we crossed the valley to make us go back. There were daggers out and loud shouts that my husband and I were rascals. How am I? And a mom, Sharif, a dog and Matthias and the rest of the servants were in great alarm. We were now in much anxiety and perplexity for we were told that the tapimi had not come and they were to have been at Gahail Omer before us to fetch us to Bir Bohat. We ourselves were not at the appointed place for we were kept pent into the little Wadi. We were told that two men had been murdered on the way to Shahir but we never made out who they were. Also that a Sayid and a lot of the Omeri tribe had come. So the relation took my horse and went off to investigate them. Next morning we thought it well to be ready and to look undismayed. The Sayid with the ten Omeri joined us and we all turned into the Wadi Adam to our right and south. The valley is most fruitful and well we're seeing. There are miles of palm woods. It is about a hundred feet higher than Wadi Ben Ali. The slope is greater and the mountains lower. It is the most frequented caravan route from Shahir to the Hadramat. We pass plenty of people coming up and one day we met a caravan of 150 camels from Shahir with Hadrami merchants returning from India to enjoy the fruits of their rascality and end their days on the sacred soil of Arabia. There were little tents on the camels for women and they seemed to us to have very few armed men. The stream Gahail Omer is the first running one we saw since Al Gahail. It comes from a small Wadi lobin and is very considerable. Wadi Adam is quite the gem of the valleys that we explored. There is a Ziyarat or place of pilgrimage which attracts many people to the tomb of a Sayid Omer called after Omar, one of the four successors to Muhammad. The Jabari seem in spite of possessing this rich valley to be a poor tribe. There is a large population scattered in small homesteads. They have slaves who live in little huts made of palm branches with the interstices clustered with mud. 10 more Jabari joined us. So when we reached Sa'a in two hours and a half we were more than 80 people with 25 camels, two horses and three donkeys. We dismounted in a dense crowd in a field of dry earth cut up into squares with hard ridges. So our floors were most uncomfortable. Naturally we dared do no damage by having them dug smooth. On our arrival at our camping ground and while we were waiting for our tents to be ready always a weary irksome time to the way worn traveler I was surrounded by women all masked. They seemed highly astonished at a safety pin I was taking out. So I gave or rather offered it to an old woman near me. She wanted to take it but several men rushed between us and roared at us both and prevented my giving it to her. I stood there holding it out and she stretching out her hand and one or two men then asked me for it for her. So I put it down on a stone and she took it away and seemed pleased but a man soon brought it back to me on the end of a stick saying they did not know these things and were afraid of them. There was no news of the tatami and many told us they would not come but we still kept up our vain hopes as they had promised to come and wait a day or two for us bringing with them a Sierra of them in Hale and of the Himalmi. However, we were never allowed to get to the tristing place as we afterwards thought because the Jabari wanted to keep the fleecing of us in their own hands. Not one of our party with the exception of Imam Sharif wished to go to Bir Borhat and they all encouraged each other in discouraging us. About a mile before reaching Sa'a we saw an all fortress on a spur jutting out of the precipice with a cut road leading to it. So of course we determined to visit it. We accordingly set out about two o'clock. My husband and I, Salah, Ahmadaki, some soldiers, some of our Assyria of Jabari and my camera. But we came to a standstill when first four, then nine and at last 14 men were seen on the top of the ruins pointing guns at us. They said they would not let us advance without paying and we feared to come to terms as our Jabari first said they were Amri and then a tribe of Jabari with whom they were at war. In this uncertainty we had to turn back and my husband complained to the Sheikh of Sa'a who said that this blackmailing had been planned by one of our three best Jabari, Zaid bin Aislam, who went with us and that he would send men of his own with us in the morning. In the morning they came, sure enough, and first asked for a dollar to buy coffee but my husband said no. He would give back shish if he found writing but if he found no writing he would give nothing and in any case nothing till we returned. As we heard no more of them after they had retired to think over it we were sure there could be no inscription besides we had seen that the cornerstones were the only cut ones, the others were all rough. After dinner we and Imam Sharif had another serious council finding ourselves in a regular fix. We determined to stay on one more day at Sa'a to give the Tatmimi a chance to join us for if we were baffled in getting from here to Bir Barhut we must get to Shahir as quickly as possible and try from there to reach Bir Barhut. We wished to dismiss our camelmen but they said they would not let us do so nor allow anyone else to take the loads. They said they would take us for one rupee a day each camel but we did not know how many days they would take they had also said that they would stop where we pleased or go on all day if we liked but we had had experience which led us to doubt this. They had now been asked to name their stages. Kaphilis can go in seven or eight days. We determined that our next attempt to go to Bir Barhut should be with fewer camels. It is a great mistake for explorers in dangerous countries to have collectors with them. They are a great dragon and extra anxiety. The preparations they can make are necessarily all made by guesswork as no one can tell what is to be found in an unknown country. If we had known we should never have carried the huge spade and fork which were hated all the way by everyone or the quantities of cases of spirits of wines and receptacles for large animals and the dozens of gins, snares and traps of every description for things that we never found. Of course in the case of our expedition there are certain plants and reptiles which would not yet have emerged from their primeval obscurity and it is a great consolation to feel that something was accomplished in that way. For everyone who was added to such an expedition the leader has one more for whose life and health he feels a responsibility. One more whose little idiosyncrasies must be studied by all the rest and who may endanger the safety of all by his indiscretions with regard to the natives and one more who must be made to pack and be ready in time or willing not to stray away in times of danger. Mere servants do not so much matter as they are under control though the fewer of them the better as they are human beings who must be fed and carried but those above them and who though not entitled to a seat in the council feel free to make comments are the hardest to deal with. Before we went to bed that night Hadar Abul, the second interpreter came and swore on the Quran that the relation had promised the camelmen two rupees each. Still we lay down happy in the assurance that we would be at Shahir in seven days but after a night much disturbed by guns for a wedding the first news that greeted us was that those camelmen wished to leave us. They were told that they could not do so. They were bound to take us to Shahir. They then said they would not go in seven days who had arranged such long stages. They were told their shake had. Then we agreed to go in eight days hoping that in the end they finding they would lose no money would allow us to gain time. Some hours after the little crooked shake sent to say that if those men would not take us in seven days he would get others. The relation was not of much good to us. There is here no law, order, authority, honor, honesty or hospitality and as to the people I could only describe them as hateful and hating one another. It must be an awful life to live forever unable to stir without a Sierra even a few miles. The rude Carthenian bore cannot have been as bad as these Arabians. After this they came and said we should go in 13 days. Later the shake sent to say he would send 20 soldiers and make them take us in eight days. This my husband declined as we knew he had no power even in his own village. Then the brother of the shake came to ask for a present for him which was refused and the shake said afterwards we could not trust that brother he was a liar. At last another list of different stages was brought and they swore by God and upon the Koran that they would take us in seven days. All the time we were in Saha we had to remain in our tent tightly tied in for if we did not we were quite deprived of air by the crowd which became thicker and thicker driving the foremost nearly into the tent headlong. I sewed strings to the extreme edges of our doors which lapped half a yard and this extension of size was very welcome. We afterwards found these strings useful and pleasant but we always call them the Jabiri strings in remembrance of these tormentors. If thinking the crowd had dispersed we ventured to open the tent a scout proclaimed the fact and we were again mobbed. Our tent was seven feet six inches square and we found this quite large enough when it had to be pitched on a slope or on a narrow rocky ledge when trees had to be cut down to make room in a forest or when it was among the boulders of a riverbed. Imam Sharif's tent was larger and though it looked more stately in a plane he sometimes had not room to pitch it and had to sleep with his servants. End of chapter 13. Chapter 14 of Southern Arabia. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Southern Arabia by James and Mabel Bent. Chapter 14. Harassed by our guides. We never could ascertain whether the Ta'amimi had come or not. So on February 18 having given up all hope of joining them and changed 10 camels we set out but not before nine o'clock. After Sahaa the Wadi Adam becomes narrow, stony and uninteresting and our way lay for a good part along a stony riverbed gradually mounting but almost imperceptibly. For several days we pursued the course of this valley and had we known what would befall us as we approached the head of Wadi Adam I think nothing would have induced us to take this route. It appears that a very wicked branch of the Ta'amimi tribe hold a portion of this valley and determined that their enemies, the Jibiri who stole their cattle and plundered their caravans should not have the exclusive patronage of the lucrative English travelers on their way to the coast. To our surprise at 12 o'clock we stopped at a well, Vir al-Gahuz when our men began to unload the camels. They said they were only just waiting for the Ha'amimi Asyara to come up and that they had already arrived at Sahaa. The Ha'amimi are a small poor tribe of Bedouin who occupy the lower end of Wadi Adam. They hire out camels to caravans and do a great deal of the carrying business. Their villages consist of miserable little hovels gathered around forts placed at intervals down the valley so that they can see from one to another. They have many flocks and herds where there is actually pastureage for them and many of the shepherds live in caves. There being plenty in the sides of the valley which are composed of pudding stone. They wall up front. We consider that as Talab and Abdullah, the chief of the Jibiri and so notorious a robber was our Mokadam, we had better keep friends with him. Therefore we spoke in fear. He and his companions came and wrote their names after a list of stages and made a most solemn oath they would do anything we liked. And after we had sat for an hour or more in the sun waiting for the Ha'amimi, they said we must pass the night at Bear al-Kahuz still swearing to the seven days. We therefore encamped and very soon the Jibiri came and asked my husband for a sheep. But he said he would not give one now but later in the journey he would do so if he found we were getting on well. So they went away but soon came back for $27 as a Sierra to the Ha'amimi. My husband said he had agreed for $25 but they said they had spent $2 on a messenger to fetch the Ha'amimi. The Jibiri were by way of having $110 for their a Sierra. 41st and the rest at Chahar. They would not move next morning the 20th without the hold of the money. So they had to be given that and the $27 for the Ha'amimi. Besides this they always demanded their camel hire every evening. They next said the way was very dangerous and we must take men from five other tribes though we could not imagine how so many could be accommodated in that wilderness and pay $20. As my husband refused and asked them to reflect upon the consequences of their conduct the soldiers came and now said they recommended him to pay and recover the money at Chahar. Otherwise they the soldiers said they would give up their weapons to the Jibiri as a pledge that they would pay $40 at Chahar. We said they might but Talib told us that if we did not pay they would give the Ha'amimi their money and all go back themselves. We then summoned Imam Sharif and had another council of three. The servants meanwhile used often to be leaning in at the tent door scanning our faces and begging us to do anything the Jibiri wanted and moaning that we should never see the ocean anymore. The Jibiri had gone away as my husband said he must think over this so we consulted together. We at first quite decided to return to Alcatoun and try to reach the coast by Wadi El Ain and if we could not have the camels to load our own three animals with necessaries and money leaving all else behind and perhaps to slip by Siwon in the night. So Talib was recalled and told that we would go back, that we were now convinced of the dangers of this road as we saw he was afraid himself and as he had told us of two places where murders were always committed but afterwards we thought it wiser to consent to pay the extra $30 in all 57 as a Siar to the Ha'amimi. All the tribes mentioned being varieties of Ha'amimi. The money was to be placed on the Quran and taken thence by Talib with an oath that if the Sultan of Shahir thought it unnecessary it should be refunded. Sa'id bin Aisulam and three soldiers witnessed this but Talib would not allow the Ha'amimi to be present. Instead of taking Talib's gun as a deposit the soldiers were to keep the money in their hands. We were still to be at Shahir within the seven days and not now to wait two or three days for five tribes. Though we did unpack a Quran and make Talib bin Abdullah swear on it we did not then understand that merely swearing on the binding is nothing. The Quran must be open and some places are better than others. Oaths by the life of a son or to divorce a favorite wife are really good. We being as I say ignorant the oaths were broken. My husband and I now felt quite conquered and it must be admitted we had reason. We had a horrible evening of dust storms and hurricanes and we're dreadfully afraid of the tent being blown down. In the morning we packed and the baggage was taken out to be tied in bundles when Talib demanded the $11 camel hire for the day before. In vain was he told that all was packed and he should have them at the next stage. No, he would not go away without his money. So at great inconvenience we had to pay on the nail. We had not gone an hour before we stopped, unloaded and changed our camels for how maumi camels. Now all is peace, said Talib bin Abdullah and at the same breath asked for $2 for two extra camels that we had had before we reached Saha. My husband refused but when we reached our stage Talib asked for that day's pay and would not take it without the $2. Of course my husband refused again saying we were not responsible for those two camels that Talib had contracted to take us and our baggage and that now we had 22 camels instead of the 15 with which we arrived at Alcatoun. Equally, of course, he knew he must pay and did. We settled ourselves under some thorny trees at Birbin Abadan where there are two wells with good water. It is larger than most hamaumi villages and has palm trees and many large badom trees. Besides the hamaumi, Jabiri and Nyafi there are many small subsidiary tribes or rather families forming little independent communities of their own in this region to continue the life of Talib bin Abdullah. As soon as he had received the last mentioned money he and his companions and the hamaumi had a great and loud quarrel. Our money, being so bulky, was in bags scattered about among all the baggage but we always had one store bag in my box and my husband had some for current expenses. The camel men thought all the money was in a certain bag that was solemnly carried into the tent every night. While they shouted, we filled the bag with a certain amount of dollars meant to represent our entire fortune and placed it on the table. We had become great hypocrites but now we both decided that sweet words were of no avail. Whenever Imam Sharif was sent for the servants crowded around scanning our faces and in despair themselves saying our lives are sacrificed and making great lamentations about their wives and families. It was very hard sometimes to keep our voices and countenances cheerful while holding counsel with Imam Sharif as to how we ought to act for sometimes it is right to haggle over forfeits and sometimes it is right to pay through the nose. It is difficult indeed when you are cuddling your brains not to knit your brows even if you only wish to decide if you will take your umbrella or not. Talib had not been absent from us an hour when he again arrived saying he wanted four dollars to pay a debt he owed and beer been a Bowden. It was to come out of the $30 he was still owing for the Isheerah and to be paid at Shaheer, he said. He was of course told that the money for the Isheerah had been fully paid up. $70 before the Sultan of Shabam and $40 at Sahaa. Talib bowled a good deal and my husband pointed to the money bag and said if you want my money take it but call it by no other name than robbery. Take all at once instead of bothering me perpetually and I will settle with you at Shaheer. When they heard this they were frightened and went away saying, oh no, no we do not want that. They were soon back and said they wanted four dollars on their food money for Amos a day but not at all unless we wished they then acknowledged before the soldiers that the Isheerah was fully paid up and that Talib had made a mistake about those two dollars that he had obtained for the camels. In the meantime we had been planning to get our most urgently needed things ready to load on the horses and to walk to Shaheer only 65 miles but such miles. However we knew our enemies had the advantage of knowing the way and the water places which we did not and could climb like monkeys over places where we could not take horses. I am sure we should never have found the way over such mountains where camels sat down and slid and we did much the same sometimes quite involuntarily. Salah at this time seemed disposed to do his duty. The money, $30 that had been extorted the day before for Isheerah to the Hamaumi who had not yet turned up and given to the soldiers was by them put into Salah's keeping as he had a box that could be locked. In the night Talib came to Salah and said, six Hamaumi are here. Give me the money for them. Wait till morning said Salah and I will give it to you before Mr. Bent Imam Sharif and everybody. But when he offered it to him then he said, no, keep it. We had gone a little ahead next morning, February 21. Talib, Imam Sharif and I with the needful escort my husband having to ride a camel as his horse's back was sore and had proceeded an hour on our road when bang went a gun high up in the rocks to our left near the village of Kauna or Kautna and bang went another so we stopped and with some hesitation, five of the soldiers and some of the Jabiri went forward getting round behind the shelter of some trees. There were seven men up in the rocks and a tower in the village was crowded. They constantly fired from both places. The camel soon came up and we all dismounted and stood together with our animals Basha, Zabda and Masoud close by. This shooting and parlaying went on for half an hour. We thought at first that they would only fire over our heads but a bullet struck the ground very near us. We could not make out what it was all about. There were so many different suggestions made to us the cause. Some said the people of the village wanted to come with us as Asira and some that they wanted to fight the Hamami who had lately taken their camels. Our men shouted, Asira, Asira and the men on the tower, come no nearer. By my God, you shall not come on. We are fighting and we will slay him who dares to stir a step. Talib said, now we can go neither backward nor forward. And amazed us by asking for no money. At last the soldiers came back from the village and told us to advance. So we mounted and rode through the village amidst uncomplementary remarks from the scowling inhabitants. We were told some people had gone on to intercept us and accordingly about a half a mile farther there were more shots. This time to our right. We of course came to a standstill but Talib, in spite of the shooting, rushed at Mausad's bridle and dragged Imam Sharif down into the riverbed calling excitedly to the rest of us to hurry on. We passed safely and you may be sure looked in every rock and bush for enemies. Hardly a quarter of a mile on and where the valley is about 300 yards wide there was a small tower to our left and we saw a lot of men rushing into this and appearing on the battlements. We knew they would shoot at us and I was watching for the puff. The first shot threw up the earth nearly two yards from my horse's nose and the neck seemed to say tch, just at the back of my neck. It went just between my husband and Imam Sharif who were on foot behind me. Everyone ran as fast as the rocky ground to let them, to some trees out of sight of that tower. But not knowing whether we were not going to meet with more shooters, we always had our revolvers ready though no one knew that, our safety lay in being unarmed in the enemy's eyes. We kept them for worst need. The Sheikh of Kauna said his name was Abdullah Baljabeli of the tribe of Obathani. There are two other small tribes, Zaid and Sheikh Ibn-Adhan and Shibim Sheikh Ben-Gaden. After that last firing there were no more that day and we slept peacefully at Naida which we reached about 1230 and where the inhabitants were quite friendly bringing us all the food we asked to buy. The valley seemed to come quite to an end but took a sudden turn eastward just before we reached the village. It is rather a pretty place but the spot on which we were encamped was dreadfully dirty and we were so afflicted by dust storms that our books were covered while we read and the color of our clothes and bedding obliterated. And we had to tie our hair up in handkerchiefs to keep it clean. We always had quilts of turkey red or some other cotton for when we lay down our beds often became sandy and the quilts could easily be shaken or brushed and besides protected the blankets from burrs and grass thorns. We were by ourselves in the afternoon when Talib came quite alone and with an air of secrecy to ask for his $11 for that day's camel hire. I rushed out to the kitchen and brought Mathias as a witness. Then Talib asked for $2 and when my husband began to call Salah he said he did not want them and went away. He was soon back again however with Salah to ask if my husband wished to pay anymore for a Sierra of the people we were coming to. My husband said no. And after some talk, Talib said he would not ask it if my husband did not wish. I told Talib the very next thing he would get would be my husband's money bag. So he retired. Later he came for $30 to send to some people that night. But my husband told him to send his own men for them and not afterwards to say he had paid a messenger. The money would only be paid into those people's own hands. We lay down with no great certainty of peace for tomorrow when we expected to reach Gahida. All however went quietly that day much to our relief. My husband had been induced to pay a rupee to send a scout up the mountain to look behind rocks and bushes for dangers. But we passed on our way completely unmolested by the shepherdesses young and old who were all we met with in the shape of human beings. The valley became narrower. We rose higher and the cliffs were cavernous. Sometimes the valley seemed quite to finish up but then it always took a turn again. Much of the way was over large round stones most horrible for the horses. We passed a water place two hours after we left Gahida. Though Talib had made a stop there because he said there was no water within a day's journey and we found ourselves stopped at Raba two hours at least before Gahida where we expected to be. Talib's still sticking to it that we should be at Shahir in three more days. He only asked for four anas for coffee to drink at the great tomb of a Wali. Sheikh Salim bin Abdullah Mola al-Mohaghair who was buried near a mosque and a tank. The foot bath of cattle from which we drank pea green water boiled and filtered of course altogether Raba is a pretty village but much exposed to wind. The tribes there about are Mahri, Gohi and Sabani. February the 23rd was a weary day. Talib had asked leave to go to Sufila to arrange something with the Sheikh soon after our arrival at Raba saying he would not be away long. He did not go all day but at night said he was now going and would take 60 rupees SR then but was told we would take it ourselves. In the morning the Haal Maami refused to load up saying they had not been paid the $27. Talib was absent but being fetched said he was keeping the money as otherwise the Haal Maami might leave us anywhere they liked. In the meantime the soldiers according to their habit instead of keeping their weapons for our safeguard once more gave up their swords and guns to the Haal Maami. They always were pledging them to our enemies as an earnest that we would do what they wanted. The Haal Maami loaded the camels on the oath of Talib that they should have the money that night at Sufila a place that we were to pass in which the day before we were told it was impossible to reach in one stage. They swore to take us to Bir Raba open. We started about 10 o'clock and at 11 the camels were stopped at Sufila. And the men said they would wait a quarter of an hour to which my husband consented. They then began to lead the camels away to feed. So my husband stoutly said that if they did that he would get other camels. Neither he nor any of us knew how or whence these other camels could be procured but it had the desired effect and they left the camels sitting among their loads. Sufila was sent to arrange with the wretched little shake and remained away till after two o'clock. A soldier was sent to fetch him and then arose a tremendous uproar. First they said we should stay where we were then that we should go only a short distance and on a different way to that already settled. After that we were told we could not go to Al-Fikra or Al-Madi as these were recognized places for murders and we were told the same of Gahel Bavwazir. Also a good many different numbers of days were mentioned for our journey. My husband said he would camp at Sufila but they quickly loaded up for beer. They opened, they said. The shake was given $15 and he told us he would send four of his sons with us. I must say that after those four or five hours of being stared at and called bad names I was pretty tired. We none of us remarked that three of the soldiers, all the Jabiri and the four sons stayed behind. I was riding with Imam Sharif, two Indians, four soldiers and the groom leading Zubdha whose back was still sore. When we came to a fork in the way the soldiers asked a passing man which is the way to Gahel. The man looked puzzled. So were we. I said, we want to know the way to beer Veilkban. No, no, Gahel said the soldiers. And when I said Veilkban, again, they laughed scornfully. Arkafila came up and I wrote to my husband and told him I was sure we were being led out of our way. We were guided down a rocky slope into a valley not more than 200 feet wide with thick woods up each side and a sandy bottom. Here we were stopped by a good many shots from each side and retreated a little without turning our backs and then looked about for the four sons. There was another row, of course, and my husband said we would return to Sufila but we were told at last that we might pass. So we did and one of the shooters soon joined us and asked for a rupee for coffee but was refused and then said he would let us go to beer Veilkban if he got a rupee, but he did not insist. We now thought it well to ask where we were and were told that it was Hadifah, a place we had never heard of before. My husband said we should return to Sufila and carried off a string of camels. There was a great consultation amid much roaring and shouting, I rode fast at the head of the kafila to see what was happening. My husband still going back with about six camels, the others going on they said to beer Veilkban. I then galloped back over the stones to the soldiers who were behind and said, your sultan has placed you under our orders, go and get those camels back. No, no, they said, it is quite safe to go on and ran back as hard as they could. I then rode back quickly to my husband and found him in abject distress. One of his camels had shed its load and was seated on the ground. The soldiers remained behind sitting on a bank. After long counsel, we determined to go on to a village close by where we joined the other camels. We had barely time to set up the tents before dark and our store of bread and charcoal stood us in good stead. The Indian party were dreadfully late getting to bed. Dismay reigned supreme amongst us all. Salah came into our tent and said, the man who shot at us says, you cannot go on tomorrow. Today we only shot our bullets in the air, but tomorrow we shall shoot at you. We thought of going back to Sufila and sending to the Sultan of Shahir for help, but where could we find a messenger? When we were in bed, Salah came and said, two men with the matches of their guns of light were standing by our tent. Some of those that had shot at us and said they wanted four or six on us as they were returning to Sufila. They refused to take four then. So my husband said they had better come about it in the morning. Morning revealed that these were some of our own camelmen who were just pretending to be the shooters in order to get money. And also we found out that Talib had employed the shooters to give us the fright in order to delay us that the Jabiri and the soldiers might have a feast at our expense in the village and time to eat it. They did not reach camp till 11. Next morning the soldiers brought my husband 12 of the $15 the Sheikh had received, being part of the original 30, said to be for the three other tribes of the Hamami, saying that he was a very wicked man as he had not sent his four sons so they had only left him $3 for the feast. Hardly had my husband put this by when Talib came and had to be given $36 for SCR to the Maafri. Plainly we were in their hands and had to pay whatever Talib chose as we might be hemmed in at any moment. We felt as if we were in a net. The $11 camel hire, which we had kept out having gone to make up this sum and the camelmen refusing to load without it, we had to unpack again to get it for them. Sufala, where we had endured such a disagreeable delay, is on the table land, 3,150 feet above the sea level with excellent air, excellent water, palm and other trees and would make a first class sanatorium for Aden. It is 10 miles inland from Shahir as the grove lies. About eight o'clock next morning we started not knowing precisely whence or whether and determined to keep together as much as possible. We followed for miles the bed of a stream which collects all the water from this part of the Aqaba and gradually develops into Wadi Adam, the great approach to the Hadramat. There is a fortress on a hill 3,500 feet above the sea level the highest point in this part, Hybel Gabran being 4,150 feet and near Dizba the highest point is 4,900 feet. After some miles on the Aqaba we plunged into a valley about 200 feet wide and wooded with palms. The earthen cliffs were about 60 feet high and the beds sandy. By this time we neither had a liking for valleys, cliffs, trees nor people. We did not feel pleased at being led straight across the valley to a band of armed men in a most unpleasant situation for us if they meant mischief. These were only Jabiri traveling and they were told that we were friends with the Sultan of Shahir and not going to stay a minute. I suppose they would have fired if we had not been introduced to them. We were glad to reach Biyalkupin at 1130. It is a well and a bare place at the mouth of the valley. Talib did not wish to stay there for the water is brackish and he wanted us to go on before the camelmen came up but we waited and they and the Jabiri had a loud and angry quarrel and we were told there was no water nearer than Al-Madi and some of them wanted to stop at a place halfway to Al-Madi and send for water. We could nake neither head nor tail of it. Talib then asked my husband which he wished to do for so it should be. But as he knew it was a case of you may do what you like but you must answered to that effect. Whichever Talib liked we were in his hands and could not choose. After great hesitation we encamped in a windy, dusty but rather pleasant place near Biyalkupin. There were many tombs on the way. One had three upright stones which the Hamalmi camelmen touched and then kissed their fingers. They cheerfully told us that many caravans have been robbed here and men murdered. Pleasant news for us. We asked them why we had been fired on and they said that the people believed we poisoned the wells. The soldiers came and shouted at us a good deal saying, Why do you hire Bedouin to protect you? Are we not here? Do you not trust us? We soothed them with flattering words and then Talib came and extorted nine more dollars. In the morning we had to pay three dollars to three men who said they had seen four men which four men ran away. We were informed that we were to pass through three tribes that day and should have a good deal of trouble on the way to Dizba, the place halfway to Almadi. As a matter of fact, we were pretty sure that these later scares were only gut up to frighten more money out of our pockets. The soldiers were told to go in front but they often sat down and lit a fire for their water pipe, got behind or rode a camel. Though we went up and down a good deal it was not too steep to ride all the way and though there were watchings and scoutings we saw neither man nor beast nor any habitation of the three tribes. As we went along my husband was told that an old woman whom we never saw had come and said that the men of Almadi would not let us pass and that we must write to the Sultan of Shahir to send us 200 soldiers. There is water at Dizba though we were told there was none till Almadi. We encamped in a sheltered spot a sort of pot between low hills. We ought according to the solemn contract to have been at Shahir by that time. We talked over the plan of sending to Shahir and decided that doing so meant much pay to the messenger 30 or 40 more dollars SCR and what was worst four days delay. It would also cost $44 in camel hire. So we decided it was far better to push on for our delay would only give time to more enemies to gather round us. It would likewise be far cheaper and so it subsequently turned out. From being hypocrites we now became liars and my husband said he had not so much money left and that he had already paid four rupees to send men on the morrow. There was some talk of our all going by night and getting past Almadi but in that case our own men would only fire on us to frighten us. Next we heard that there was no village at Almadi where we could buy forage. We had but little left though plenty of dried bread. Then three Jabiri came and said they were getting lame and wanted $8 to buy a donkey out of their food money but my husband said he had paid so much for Asyara that he had not enough to pay that till we reached Shahar. There was an idea that they would shoot round us in the night for they spoke of the dangerous situation in which we were and wanted six or $8 to pay for scouts on the hills but went away when my husband said he would see about it in the morning. In case they did we determined to remain silent in our beds that they might be unable to locate us and in that case they would not fire at our tents for fear of hitting us. We had a very cold night the dew in the morning was streaming off our tent in heavy drops. Talab said the people of Almadi do not want money but our lives and souls. We did not think they meant to kill us but only to frighten money out of us. We also overheard some conversation about our lives and baggage being in peril. We had not far to go but the way was very intricate. At sunset we three had a great council and sent for Salah. The soldiers having been flattered were fetched too as we now thought we had them on our side and we threatened to ruin them and their families or to give them good backsheesh if they did well by us. My husband said we had decided that in the future he would not give another pie, not to eat but there are a good many pies in an ana and also pies but that as the camelmen spoke of stopping between Dizba and Almadi we would have some food ready to eat on the journey and get the soldiers to force them on and if we had to stay to load the horses and start the following morning to Shahar. The soldiers agreed on promise of a good sheep next day. The Haumalmi camelmen were promised coffee and sugar so they agreed also. When they were all gone Salah to our unbounded amazement said that Saeed and Talab had confide to him 114 rupees on account of his having the locked box so he brought them to us and amid shouts of laughter they were engulfed in our bag. By the by we actually had two of the Almadi people with us so we ought to have been safe or what is the good of Asyara? In the morning an awful object met our view. This was a soldier, a very ugly black man who was dragged along on his knees by his arms and shoulders to our tent. He had been struck by the cold, his companion said. He seemed to be perfectly helpless and to have no control or use of any muscles saved those which were at work making the most horrible grimaces. I ran to the kitchen and fetched our tea to the rage of Matthios who said he had no more water to replace it and that as it was we could not have a cup full each. It was poured down his throat in a very rough way but refused to stay. My husband gave him some of an unknown medicine that he said was specially used for such cases and this brandy just trickled out of his mouth so they dragged him away to their own fire still in a kneeling position. They then opened his jacket and burnt him a good deal with a hot sword and he was given tepid water to drink which stayed down very well. When we were about to start he was held upright by two men. A thick square shawl was put rather carelessly over his head with the fringe over his face and pushed back off his shoulders to allow his arms to come out through an abba. A kind of cloak with arm holes which was also put over his head. They came out so high up of course that the hands stuck out on a level with his ears. High up over his elbows and far above his waist a turban was wound and a muffler was put round his neck and mouth. He hobbled along with two supporters and leaning on a spear with the shawl streaming on the ground like a train. A very absurd sight. In about an hour he was quite well. Talib not knowing of our little plan of going with the haumami to Almati came and told us how very dangerous Almati was and that it would be far better to go by Gahail to Abwazir if only the camel drivers would agree. If they would not he would put all our most necessary things i.e. our money on his own camel and we would ride secretly off together. It is needless to say we did not consent as it would have been goodbye Talib and money. Then Allah the chief of the camel men came and said he would not go unless he got six secret dollars for himself and six for the others. And said he would like Ananias and Saferah swear he had only six. Imam Sharif and Salah again perjured themselves in our behalf to such an extent that my husband and I could hardly sit by but we must speak the language of the country I suppose. From Dizbah we passed over very high ground 4,300 feet with a cold refreshing wind from the sea. It seemed to us a healthy climate and a little narrow pass is a rude tomb near the rough stone cabin of a saint and lady called Sheikh Ha where our soldiers and camelmen made their devotions. I had a very uncomfortable ride for on the way we saw an aloe of a con we had not seen before and which proved to be new enough to obtain the name of aloe luntiti. The botanist sawed off the head of it which is growing now in Q gardens and we knew he dared not try to take it on his camel as the men always quarreled over every weight that was added to the load. So I told him to go on and leave it as if he did not care for it and then I tied it to the off side of my saddle and had to ride hanging heavily on my left stirrup as otherwise I should have been over balanced and my horse would have got us or back. On arrival I dismounted in a quiet place put the aloe down with my jacket thrown on it and later fetched it into the tent under cover of my feminine draperies and at night it was smuggled into some package on one occasion when no one had been riding for some days past. A felt saddlecloth somehow was left behind by us so one of our own men was forced to carry it in his hand till I discovered it and tied it to my saddle for he was not allowed to put it on a camel. I tell you this to show how very disobliging they were to us. Mariela is the name of a disgusting pool or cistern of the very dirtiest water on a bare and lonely hillside where we were exposed to wind and cold and where we encamped in much the same state of perplexity as usual. Soon after our arrival my husband was asked for $8 to send 15 men up the hills to look for murderers. He refused. Then the camel men said they would not start without six men to go ahead but that was refused too. Next morning we started for Almaty. We wound up and down over bare ground and could see no danger for miles. At a point on the Highland we waited for the camels to come up. They came and passed to the southward on a well trodden path. Talib called out to them to stop and said that he would not go that way and that we should not and that the men were taking us into danger. He pointed to the southwest but we did not like parting from our baggage. Talib then asked my husband which way he pleased to go. Which is best, he asked. I do not know, said Talib. Very well said my husband. We will follow the camels. On we all went in great doubt and the Jabiri told us awful stories of the Hamami intentions. We had five armed Jabiri, seven soldiers and 12 Hamami, all armed including two little boys. The soldiers, so brave the night before, said we can't do nothing, we are afraid. If we fired a gun or if they fired, hundreds of people would come and they would kill us. They never either raised their weapons or their tongues in our defense. They said the Sultan of Shahir would not be able to go himself or send soldiers into these parts and that the Al-Madi people wished to decoy us to Al-Madi and kill us. The Jabiri said the same and Talib again wished us to ride off with him. The Hamami said it was all Talib's fault for he owed a great deal of money at Al-Madi and was afraid of going thither. The Hamami then said they would take us to Gahail, Barb Wazir or Barb Azir or Barb Wazir. But we must keep it a secret from Jabiri and the soldiers. Salah said to them, my dear friends, tell me the truth, where are we going? I also am an Arab and a Muslim and I swear by my Quran and my religion that we will give you $40 and spend two days in Gahail, Barb Wazir during which you will have your $11 a day and we will engage you on to Shahir and give you good Bakshish and a good character to the Sultan and two nice turbans. We gassed in amazement at this. Oh, Sitzila, I only read than something from the preface of the Quran. We are not bound at all. If I had to swear falsely on the Quran, I should have to be given a great many guineas. We never knew the name of the place where we slept that night. Talib came in the morning and said he could not persuade the Badaw, Hamami to go to Gahail, Barb Wazir. We told him that they had agreed to do so and he was very angry at our having settled anything without him. Then Allah said he could not go in two days so he was let aside and privately threatened with public betrayal as to having taken $12 and saying he only had six. Then they all wanted payment in advance but the same threat to Allah availed to avert this bother and we set out, told that we should go as far as Gambla. We had, after all, to part from the camels which went a more roundabout way while we climbed down a thousand feet over very steep rocks with the use of hands as well as feet, the horses being with us to a place not very far from water. The horses were sent to fetch a little while we awaited the camels more than half an hour and ate some food we had with us. The horses had been badly off and had only bread and dates for the camel men would sell us no forage. When they arrived, they said we must stay where we were and there was a fierce row, as usual. They also demanded their $11 but gave up sooner than unload as we said we would not stop. At one time, when we had been waiting a long while for the return of those camels which had gone to fetch skins of water, Talib caused our horses to be saddled, mounted his camel and started but my husband would not go on to Gambla when the camel men had refused to go there and we all laid down on rough stones scorching in the sun for hours wondering what would happen and whether we could get any farther that day but at length we suddenly were invited to start. We had a very steep climb up on foot and then down and pitched our tents for the night in a very bare little hollow. We were very sorry for the horses. It was sad to see them turning over the stones and we longed for some real horse food for them. The soldiers sent a letter to Shahir to announce our arrival and they wished to send for more soldiers but we begged them not to do so as they were quite useless. Sa'id bin Aisulam in this lonely spot came to Salah and wanted some money to buy something where there was no one to sell. Salah said the money was still in his box and to make his words good smuggled it in again in a most clumsy but quite successful way. Salah's secret had twice to be threatened next morning for different reasons before we could start and then they all roared that they would none of them carry our chairs. We all traveled on foot still as there was much climbing to do. We climbed down 2,000 feet very steep in parts to Gambla. Gambla is a verdant and palmy place where we could buy so much food for our hungry horses that at length my Basha turned his back on his big pile and came with long green streamers hanging from his sated mouth to doze beside me. There was a struggle of course to stay the night at Gambla and we were told we could not reach Gahail Babwazir till very late but we said we did not care how late and Allah was once more privately drawn aside and again threatened about the $12 so it was agreed we should go on. We waited however a long time and seeing no camels collected to load I said very loud, call all the Hamami together here and tell Allah that the very last moment has come. Allah rushed about and soon had us on our way. End of chapter 14.