DivisionT^} SR07 
 Section #.73 l- 2* ^3 
 
 No,.. .. 
 
 
 
 
 
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NIGHT MARCH ON TIIE ARABIAN DESERT. 
 
ILL USTIIA LED LIBRAS, Y OF TEA VEL 
 
 rRAVELS 
 
 IN ARABIA 
 
 COMPILED AMD AB3ANGLD BY 
 
 V. 
 
 BAYARD TAYLO 
 
 T> 
 
 iv 
 
 YEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 
 743 & 745 Broadway 
 1881 
 
COPYRIGHT 1881, BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNERS SON 
 (All Eights Reserved.) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 FAGS 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 Sketch oi Arabia ; its Geographical Position and Ancient His¬ 
 tory .... * 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Earl} Explorers of Arabia . 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Niebuhr’s Travels in Yemen. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Burckhardt’s Journey to Mecca and Medina. JO 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WYllsted’s Explorations in Oman. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Wellsted’s Discovery of an Ancient City in Hadramaut 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 Bui ton’s Pilgv.magc to Medina and Mecca . 
 
IV 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Pa]grave’s Travels in Central Arabia : from Palestine to the 
 
 Djowf. 8(3 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Palgrave’s Travels—Residence in the Djowf. 110 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Palgrave’s Travels—Crossing the Nefood .. 132 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Palgrave’s Travels—Life in Ha’yel. 1'IS 
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 
 Palgrave’s Travels—Journey to Bereydah . 188 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Palgrave’s Travels—Journey to Ri’ad, the Capital ot Nedjed 217 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Palgrave's Travels—Adventures in Ri’ad. 236 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Palgrave’s Travels—His Escape to the Eastern Co * t - 203 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 IVlgrave’s Travels—Eastern Arabia. 28o 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 binpvvr. ck ou the Coast of Oman-Conclus* a\ . 304 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 - «- 
 
 IX ox 
 
 Night March in the Desert. Frontispiece. 
 
 The Coffee Hills of Yemen.20 
 
 View of El-Medina.40 
 
 A Valley in Oman.54 
 
 The Ruins of Nakab El-IIadjar .... 62 
 
 View of Medina from the West.72 
 
 Camp at Mount Arafat.«0 
 
 Costume of Pilgrims to Mecca.84 
 
 William Gifford Palgraye.87 
 
 An Arab Chief.03 
 
 Captain Burton as a Pilgrim. 
 
 The Village of El Suwayrri tau.>96 
 
 An Arab Encampment.202 
 
 Death on the Desert. 126 
 
TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 SKETCH OF ARABIA: ITS GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION, AND 
 
 ANCIENT HISTORY. 
 
 HE Peninsula of Arabia, forming the extreme 
 
 X southwestern corner of Asia, is partly de¬ 
 tached, both in a geographical and historical sense, 
 from the remainder of the continent. Although 
 parts of it are mentioned in the oldest historical re¬ 
 cords, and its shores were probably familiar to the 
 earliest navigators, the greater portion of its terri¬ 
 tory has always remained almost inaccessible and 
 unknown. 
 
 The desert, lying between Syria and the Euphra¬ 
 tes, is sometimes included by geographers as be¬ 
 longing to Arabia, but a line drawn from the Dead 
 Sea to the mouth of the Euphrates (almost coin¬ 
 ciding with the parallel of 30° N.) would more 
 nearly represent the northern boundary of the pen¬ 
 insula. As the most southern point of the Arabian 
 
2 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 coast reaches the latitude of 12° 40 , the greater 
 part of the entire territory, of more than one million 
 square miles, lies within the tropics. In shape it is 
 an irregular rhomboid, the longest diameter, from 
 Suez to the Cape El-Had, in Oman, being 1,660, and 
 from the Euphrates to the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, 
 1,400 miles 
 
 The entire coast region of Arabia, on the Red 
 Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Gulfs of Oman and 
 Persia, is, for the most part, a belt of fertile country, 
 inhabited by a settled, semi-civilized population. 
 Back of this belt, which varies in width from a few 
 miles to upwards of a hundred, commences a desert 
 table-land, occasionally intersected by mountain 
 chains, and containing, in the interior, many fertile 
 valleys of considerable extent, wdiich are inhabited. 
 Very little has been known of this great interior re¬ 
 gion until the present century. 
 
 The ancient geographers divided Arabia into 
 three parts ,—Arabia Petrcea , or the Rocky, com¬ 
 prising the northwestern portion, including the Si- 
 naitic peninsula, between the Gulfs of Suez and 
 Akaba; Arabia Deserta , the great central desert; 
 and Arabia Felix , the Happy, by which they appear 
 to have designated the southwestern part, now 
 known as Yemen. The modern Arabic geography, 
 which has been partly adopted on our maps, is 
 based, to some extent, on the political divisions oi 
 the country. The coast region along the Red Sea, 
 down to a point nearly half way between Djidda and 
 the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, and including the 
 holy cities of Medina and Mecca, is called the Hed- 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND IHSTORI. 
 
 3 
 
 jaz. Yemen, the capital of which is Sana, and the 
 chief sea-ports Mocha, Hodeida, and Lolieia, em¬ 
 braces all the southwestern portion of the peninsula. 
 The southern coast, although divided into various 
 little chiefdoms, is known under the general name of 
 Hadramaut. The kingdom of Oman has extended 
 itself along the eastern shore, nearly to the head of 
 the Persian Gulf. The northern oases, the seat of 
 the powerful sect of the Wahabees, are called Ned- 
 jed; and the unknown southern interior, which is 
 believed to be almost wholly desert, inhabited only 
 by a few wandering Bedouins, is known as the 
 Dahna or Akhaf. 
 
 Arabia has been inhabited by the same race since 
 the earliest times, and has changed less, in the 
 course of thousands of years, than any other country 
 of the globe, not excepting China. According to 
 Biblical genealogy, the natives are descended from 
 Ham, through Cush ; but the Bedouins have always 
 claimed that they are the posterity of Ishmael. 
 Some portions of the country, such as Edom, or 
 Idumaea, Teman and Sheba, (the modern Yemen,) 
 are mentioned in the Old Testament; but neither 
 the Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, nor Egyptian 
 monarchies succeeded in gaining possession of the 
 peninsula. Alexander the Great made preparations 
 for a journey of conquest, which was prevented by 
 his death, and Trojan was the only Roman emperor 
 who penetrated into the interior. 
 
 The inhabitants were idolaters, whose religion 
 had probably some resemblance to that of the Phoe¬ 
 nicians. After the destruction of Jerusalem, both 
 
4 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 Jews and Christians found their way thither, and 
 made proselytes. There were Jews in Medina, 
 Mecca, and Yemen; and even the last Himyaritic 
 king of the latter country became a convert to Mo¬ 
 saic faith. Thus the strength of the ancient re¬ 
 ligion was already weakened when Mohammed was 
 born (A. D. 570) ; and there are strong evidences 
 for the conjecture that the demoralization of both 
 Jews and Christians, resulting from their long 
 enmity, was the chief cause which prevented Mo¬ 
 hammed from adopting the belief of the latter. At 
 the time of his birth, the civilization of the domi¬ 
 nant Arab tribes was little inferior to that of Europe 
 or the Eastern Empire. There was already an 
 Arabic literature; and the arts and sciences of the 
 ancient world had found their way even to the oases 
 of Nedjed. 
 
 The union of the best and strongest elements in 
 the race, which followed the establishment of the 
 new religion, gave to men of Arabian blood a part 
 to play in the history of the world. For six hundred 
 years after Mohammed’s death Islam and Christen¬ 
 dom were nearly equal powers, and it is difficult, 
 even now, to decide which contributed the more to 
 the arts from which modern civilization has sprung. 
 Arabia flourished, as never before, under the Ca¬ 
 liphs ; yet it does not appear that the life of the in¬ 
 habitants was materially changed, or that any 
 growth, acquired during the new importance of the 
 country, became permanent. Its commerce was re¬ 
 stricted to the products of its narrow belt of fertile 
 shore ; an arid desert separated it from Bagdad and 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY. 
 
 5 
 
 Syria ; none of the lines of traffic between Europe 
 and the East Indies'traversed its territory, and thus 
 it remained comparatively unknown to the Christian 
 world. 
 
 After the downfall of the Caliphate the tribes re¬ 
 lapsed into their former condition of independent 
 chiefdoms, and the old hostilities, which had been 
 partially suppressed for some centuries, again re¬ 
 vived. In the sixteenth century the Turks obtained 
 possession of Nedjez and Yemen ; the Portuguese 
 held Muscat for a hundred and fifty years, and the 
 Persians made some temporary conquests, but the 
 vast interior region easily maintained its independ¬ 
 ence. The deserts, which everywhere intervene be¬ 
 tween its large and fertile valleys and the seacoast, 
 are the home of wandering Bedouin tribes, whose 
 only occupation is plunder,—whose hand is against 
 every man’s, and every man’s hand against them. 
 Thus they serve as a body-guard even to their own 
 enemies. 
 
 The long repose and seclusion of Central Arabia 
 was first broken during the present century. It may 
 be well to state, very briefly, the circumstances 
 which led to it, since they will explain the great 
 difficulty and danger which all modern explorers 
 must encounter. Early in the last century, an Ara¬ 
 bian named Abd el-Waliab, scandalized at what he 
 believed to be the corruption of the Moslem faith, 
 began preaching a Reformation. He advocated the 
 slaughter or forcible conversion' of heretics, the 
 most rigid forms of fasting and prayer, the disuse of 
 tobacco, and various other changes in the Oriental 
 
6 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 habits of life. Having succeeded in converting the 
 chief of Nedjed, Mohammed Ibu-Savod, he took up 
 his residence in Derreyeli, the capital, which thence¬ 
 forth became the rendezvous for all his followers, 
 who were named Wahabees. They increased to such 
 an extent that their authority became supreme 
 throughout Central Arabia, and the successor of 
 Ibu-Savod was able to call an army of 100,000 men 
 into the field, and defy the Ottoman power. 
 
 In the year 1803 the Wahabees took and plun¬ 
 dered Mecca, and slew great numbers of the pil¬ 
 grims who had gathered there. A second expedi¬ 
 tion against Medina failed, but the annual caravan 
 of pilgrims was robbed and dispersed. Finally, in 
 1809, the Sultan transferred to Mohammed Ali, of 
 Egypt, the duty of suppressing this menacing re¬ 
 ligious and political rebellion. The first campaign 
 in Arabia was a failure ; the second, under Ibrahim 
 Pasha, was successful. He overcame the Wahabees 
 in 1818, captured Derreyeh, and razed it to the 
 ground. In 1828 they began a second war against 
 Turkey, but were again defeated. Since then they 
 have refrained from any further aggressive move¬ 
 ment, but their hostility and bigotry are as active as 
 ever. The Wahabee doctrine flatters the clannish 
 and exclusive spirit of the race, and will probably 
 prevent, for a long time, any easy communication 
 between Arabia and the rest of the world. 
 
 The greater part of our present knowledge of 
 Arabia has been obtained since the opening of this 
 century. The chief seaports and the route from 
 Suez to Mt. Sinai were known during the Middle 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY. 
 
 Ages, but all else was little better than a blank. 
 Within the last fifty or sixty years the mountains of 
 Edom have been explored, the rock-hewn city of 
 Petra discovered, the holy cities of Medina and 
 Mecca visited by intelligent Europeans; Yemen, 
 Hadramaut, and Oman partly traversed ; and, last 
 of all, we have a very clear and satisfactory account 
 of Nedjed and the other central regions of Arabia, 
 by the intrepid English traveller, Mr. Palgrave. 
 
 Thus, only the southern interior of the peninsula 
 remains to be visited. The name given to it by the 
 Arabs, Roba d-Khcdy ,—“ the abode of emptiness,” 
 —no doubt describes its character. It is an im¬ 
 mense, undulating, sandy waste, dotted with scarce 
 and small oases, which give water and shelter to the 
 Bedouins, but without any large tract of habitable 
 land, and consequently without cities, or other than 
 the rudest forms of political organization. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 EARLY EXPLORERS OF ARABIA. 
 
 HEN the habit of travel began to revive in 
 
 the Middle Ages, its character was either 
 
 religious or commercial, either in the form of pil¬ 
 grimages to Rome, Palestine, (whenever possible,) 
 and the shrines of popular saints, or of journeys to 
 the Levant, Persia and the Indies, with the object 
 of acquiring wealth by traffic, the profits of which 
 increased in the same proportion as its hazards. 
 From the time of Trajan’s expedition to Arabia, (in 
 A. D. 117,) down to the sixteenth century, we have 
 no report of the history or condition of the coun¬ 
 try except such as can be drawn from the earlier 
 Jewish and Christian traditions and the later Mo¬ 
 hammedan records. 
 
 The first account of a visit to Arabia which ap¬ 
 pears to be worthy of credence, is that given by 
 Ludovico Bartema, of Rome. After visiting Egypt, 
 he joined the caravan of pilgrims at Damascus, in 
 1503, in the company of a Mameluke captain, him¬ 
 self disguised as a Mameluke renegade. Aftei 
 several attacks from the Bedouins of the desert, 
 
EARLY EXPLORERS OF ARABIA. 
 
 9 
 
 the caravan reached Medina, which he describes as 
 containing three hundred houses. Bartema gives 
 a very correct description of the tomb of the Pro¬ 
 phet, and scoffs at the then prevalent belief that the 
 latter’s coffin is suspended in the air, between foui 
 lodestones. 
 
 He thus describes an adventure which befell his 
 company the same evening after their visit to the 
 mosque. “At almost three of the night, ten or 
 twelve of the elders of the sect of Mohammed en¬ 
 tered into our caravan, which remained not past a 
 stone’s cast from the gate of the city. These ran 
 hither and thither, crying like madmen with these 
 words : ‘ Mohammed, the messenger and apostle of 
 God, shall rise again! O Prophet, O God, Mo¬ 
 hammed shall rise again! Have mercy on us, 
 God!’ Our captain and we, all raised with this cry, 
 took weapon with all expedition, suspecting that 
 the Arabs were come to rob our caravan. We 
 asked what was the cause of that exclamation, and 
 what they cried? For they cried as do the Christ¬ 
 ians when suddenly any marvellous thing chanceth. 
 The elders answered : ‘ Saw you not the lightning 
 
 which shone out of the sepulchre of the Prophet 
 Mohammed?’ Our captain answered that he saw 
 nothing, and we also being demanded, answered in 
 like manner. Then said one of the old men : ‘ Are 
 you slaves?’ This to say bought men, meaning 
 thereby, Mamelukes. Then said our captain : £ Wo 
 are indeed Mamelukes. Then again the old man 
 said : ‘ You, my lords, cannot see heavenly things, 
 
 as being neophiti , that is, newly come to the faith. 
 
10 
 
 TRA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 and not yet confirmed in our religion.* It is there¬ 
 fore to be understood that none other shining came 
 out of the sepulchre than a certain flame, which the 
 priests caused to come out of the open place of the 
 tower, whereby they would have deceived us.” 
 
 Leaving Medina, the caravan travelled for three 
 days over a “ broad plain,” all covered with white 
 sand, in manner as small as flour. Then they 
 passed a mountain, where they heard “ a certain 
 horrible noise and cry,” and after journeying for 
 ten days longer, during which time they twice 
 fought with “ fifty thousand Arabians,” they reached 
 Mecca, of which Bartema says : “ The city is very 
 
 fair, and well inhabited, and containetli in round 
 form six thousand houses as well builded as ours, 
 and some that cost three or four thousand pieces of 
 gold : it hath no walls.” 
 
 Bartema describes the ceremonies performed by 
 the pilgrims, with tolerable correctness. His fel¬ 
 lowship with the Mamelukes seems to have been a 
 complete protection up to the time when the cara¬ 
 van was ready to set out on its return to Damas¬ 
 cus, and the members of the troop were ordered to 
 accompany it, on pain of death. Then he man¬ 
 aged to escape by persuading a Mohammedan that 
 he understood the art of casting cannon, and 
 wished to reach India, in order to assist the na¬ 
 tive monarclis in defending themselves against the 
 Portuguese. Beaching Djidda in safety, Bartema 
 sailed for Persia, visiting Yemen on the way; 
 made his way to India, and after various adven- 
 
EARLY EXPLORERS OF ARABIA. 
 
 11 
 
 fcures, returned to Europe by way of the Cape of 
 Good Hope. 
 
 The second European who made his way to the 
 holy cities was Joseph Pitts, an Englishman, who 
 was captured by an Algerine pirate, as a sailor-boy 
 of sixteen, and forced by his master to become a 
 Mussulman. After some years, when he had ac¬ 
 quired the Arabic and Turkish languages, he ac¬ 
 companied his master for a pilgrimage to Mecca, 
 by way of Cairo, Suez and the Bed Sea. Here he 
 received his freedom ; but continued with the pil¬ 
 grims to Medina, and returned to Egypt by land, 
 through Arabia Petrsea. After fifteen years of ex¬ 
 ile, he succeeded in escaping to Italy, and thence 
 made his way back to England. 
 
 Pitts gives a minute and generally correct ac¬ 
 count of the ceremonies at Mecca. He was not, of 
 course, learned in Moslem theology, and his narra¬ 
 tive, like that of all former visitors to Mecca, has 
 been superseded by the more intelligent description 
 of Burckhardt; yet it coincides with the latter in 
 all essential particulars. His description of the 
 city and surrounding scenery is worth quoting, from 
 the quaint simplicity of its style. 
 
 “ First, as to Mecca. It is a town situated in a 
 barren place, (about one day’s journey from the 
 Bed Sea,) in a valley, or rather in the midst of 
 many little hills. It is a place of no force, wanting 
 both walls and gates. Its buildings are, as I said 
 before, very ordinary, insomuch that it would be a 
 place of no tolerable entertainment, were it not for 
 *Jie anniversary resort of so many thousand Hagges, 
 
12 
 
 TEA VELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 or pilgrims, on whose coming the whole dependence 
 of the town (in a manner) is; for many shops are 
 scarcely open all the year besides. 
 
 The people here, I observed, are a poor sort of 
 people, very thin, lean and swarthy. The town is 
 surrounded for several miles with many thousands 
 of little hills, which are very near one to the other. 
 I have been on the top of some of them near Mec¬ 
 ca, where I could see some miles about, yet was 
 not able to see the farthest of the hills. They are 
 all stony-rock and blackish, and pretty near of a 
 bigness, appearing at a distance like cocks of hay, 
 but all pointing towards Mecca. Some of them 
 are half a mile in circumference, but all near of 
 one height. The people here have an odd and 
 foolish sort of tradition concerning them, viz., 
 That when Abraham went about building the 
 Beat-Allah, God by his wonderful providence did 
 so order it, that every mountain in the world 
 should contribute something to the building thereof; 
 and accordingly every one did send its proportion, 
 though theie is a mountain near Algier which is 
 called Corradog, i.e., Black Mountain, and the rea¬ 
 son of its blackness, they say, is because it did not 
 send any part of itself towards building the temple 
 at Mecca. Between these hills is good and plain 
 travelling, though they stand one to another. 
 
 “ There is upon the top of one of them a cave, 
 which they term Hira, i.e., Blessing, into which, 
 they say, Mahomet did usually retire for his solita¬ 
 ry de\otions, meditations and fastings; and here 
 they believe he had a great part of the Alcoran 
 
EARLY EXPLORERS OF ARABIA. 
 
 13 
 
 brought him by the Angel Gabriel. I have been 
 in this cave, and observed that it is not at all beau¬ 
 tified, at which I admired. 
 
 “ About half a mile out of Mecca is a very steep 
 hill, and there are stairs made to go to the top of it, 
 where is a cupola, under which is a cloven rock; 
 into this, they say. Mahomet when very young, viz., 
 about four years of age, was carried by the Angel 
 Gabriel, who opened his breast and took out his 
 heart, from which he picked some black blood- 
 specks, which was his original corruption ; then put 
 it into its place again, and afterwards closed up 
 the part; and that during this operation Mahomet 
 felt no pain.” 
 
 The next account of the same pilgrimage is given 
 by Giovanni Tinati, an Italian, who deserted from 
 the French service on the coast of Dalmatia, and 
 became an Albanian soldier. Making his way to 
 Egypt, after various adventures, he became at last 
 a corporal in Mohammed Ali’s body-guard, and 
 shared in several campaigns against the Waha- 
 bees. He did not, however, penetrate very far 
 inland from the coast, and his visit to Mecca was 
 the result of his desertion from the Egyptian army 
 after a defeat. His narrative contains nothing 
 which has not been more fully and satisfactorily 
 stated by later travellers. 
 
 By this time, however, the era of careful scienti¬ 
 fic exploration had already commenced, and the de¬ 
 scriptions which have since then been furnished to 
 us are positive contributions to our knowledge of 
 Arabia. With the exception of the journey of Cars- 
 
11 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 ten Niebuhr, which embraces only the Sinaitic Pe¬ 
 ninsula and Yemen, the important explorations—all 
 of which are equally difficult and daring—have 
 been made since the commencement of this century. 
 
CHAPTEK III 
 
 niebuhr’s travels in Yemen. 
 
 I N 1760 the Danish government decided to send 
 an expedition to Arabia and India for the pur¬ 
 pose of geographical exploration. The command 
 was given to Carsten Niebuhr, a native of Hannover, 
 and a civil engineer. Four other gentlemen—an 
 artist, a botanist, a physician, and an astronomer— 
 were associated with him in the undertaking; yet, 
 by a singular fatality, all died during the journey, 
 and Niebuhr returned alone, after an absence of 
 nearly seven years, to publish the first narrative of 
 travel based on scientific observation. 
 
 The party sailed from Copenhagen for Smyrna in 
 January 1761, visited Constantinople, and then pro¬ 
 ceeded to Egypt, where they remained nearly a year. 
 After a journey to Sinai, they finally succeeded in 
 engaging passage on board a vessel carrying pil¬ 
 grims from Suez to Djidda, and sailed from the for¬ 
 mer port in October, 1762. They took the precau¬ 
 tion of adopting the Oriental dress, and conformed, 
 as far as possible, to the customs of the Mussulman 
 passengers; thus the voyage, although very tedious 
 
16 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 and uncomfortable, was not accompanied with any 
 other danger than that from the coral reefs along 
 the Arabian shore. The vessel touched at Yambo, 
 the port of Medina, and finally reached Djidda, 
 after a voyage of nineteen days. 
 
 The travellers entered Djidda under strong appre¬ 
 hensions of ill-treatment from the inhabitants, but 
 were favorably disappointed. The people, it seemed, 
 were already accustomed to the sight of Christian 
 merchants in their town, and took no particular 
 notice of the strangers, who went freely to the 
 coffee-houses and markets, and felt themselves safe 
 so long as they did not attempt to pass through the 
 gate leading to Mecca. The Turkish Pasha of the 
 city received them kindly, and they were allowed to 
 hire a house for their temporary residence. 
 
 After waiting six weeks for the chance of a pas¬ 
 sage to Mocha, they learned that an Arabian vessel 
 was about to sail for Hodeida, one of the ports of 
 Yemen. The craft, when they visited it, proved to 
 be more like a hogshead than a ship; it was only 
 seven fathoms long, by three in breadth. It had 
 no deck; its planks were extremely thin, and 
 seemed to be only nailed together, but not pitched. 
 The captain wore nothing but a linen cloth upon 
 his loins, and his sailors, nine in number, were 
 black slaves from Africa or Malabar. Nevertheless, 
 they engaged passage, taking the entire vessel for 
 themselves alone ; but when they came to embark, 
 it was filled with the merchandise of others. The 
 voyage proved to be safe and pleasant, and in six¬ 
 teen days they landed at Lolieia, in Yemen. 
 
NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS IN YEMEN. 
 
 17 
 
 The governor of this place was a negro, who had 
 formerly been a slave. He received the travellers 
 with the greatest kindness, persuaded them to leave 
 the vessel, and gave them a residence, promising- 
 camels for the further journey by land. Although 
 they were somewhat annoyed by the great curiosity 
 of the inhabitants, their residence was so agreeable, 
 and offered the naturalists so many facilities for 
 making collections, that they remained nearly four 
 months. “We had one opportunitag” says Niebuhr, 
 “ of learning their ideas of the benefits to be derived 
 from medicine. Mr. Cramer had given a scribe an 
 emetic which operated with extreme violence. The 
 Arabs, being struck at its wonderful effects, re¬ 
 solved all to take the same excellent remedy, and 
 the reputation of our friend’s skill thus became very 
 high among them. The Emir of the port sent one 
 day for him ; and, as he did not go immediately, the 
 Emir soon after sent a saddled horse to our gate. 
 Mr. Cramer, supposing that this horse was intended 
 to bear him to the Emir, was going to mount him, 
 when he was told that this was the patient he was 
 to cure. We luckily found another physician in our 
 party; our Swedish servant had been with the 
 hussars in his native country, and had acquired 
 some knowledge of the diseases of horses. He 
 offered to cure the Emir’s horse, and succeeded. 
 The cure rendered him famous, and he was after¬ 
 wards sent for to human patients.” 
 
 Having satisfied themselves, by this time, that 
 there was no danger in travelling in Yemen, they 
 did not wait for the departure of any large caravan, 
 
18 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 bat, on the 20th of February, 1763, set out from 
 Loheia, mounted on asses, and made their way 
 across the Tehama , or low country, towards the 
 large town of Beit el-Takih, which stands near the 
 base of the coffee-bearing hills. They wore dresses 
 somewhat similar to those of the natives,—a long 
 shirt, reaching nearly to the feet, a girdle, and a 
 mantle over the shoulders. The country was bar¬ 
 ren, but there were many large villages, and, at 
 intervals of every few miles, they found coffee¬ 
 houses, or rather huts, for the refreshment of tra¬ 
 vellers. After having suffered no further incon¬ 
 venience than from the brackish water, which is 
 drawn from wells more than a hundred feet deep, 
 they reached Beit el-Fakih in five days. 
 
 Here they were kindly received by one of the 
 native merchants, who hired a stone house for them. 
 The town is seated upon a well-cultivated plain ; it 
 is comparatively modern, but populous, and the tra¬ 
 vellers, now entirely accustomed to the Arabian 
 mode of life, felt themselves safe. The Emir took 
 no particular notice of them,—a neglect with which 
 they were fully satisfied, since it left them free to 
 range the country in all directions. Niebuhr, there¬ 
 fore, determined to make the place the temporary 
 headquarters of the expedition, and to give some 
 time to excursions in that part of Yemen. “ I 
 hired an ass,” says he, “ and its owner agreed to 
 follow me as my servant on foot. A turban, a great 
 coat wanting the sleeves, a shirt, linen drawers, and 
 a pair of slippers, were all the dress that I wore. It 
 being the fashion of the country to carry arms in 
 
NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS IX YEMEN. 
 
 19 
 
 travelling, I liad a sabre and two pistols hung by 
 my girdle. A piece of old carpet was my saddle, 
 and served me likewise for a seat, a table, and va¬ 
 rious other purposes. To cover me at night, I had 
 the linen cloak which the Arabs wrap about their 
 shoulders, to shelter them from the sun and rain. 
 A bucket of water, an article of indispensable ne¬ 
 cessity to a traveller in these arid regions, hung b y 
 my saddle.” 
 
 After a trip to the seaport of Hodcida, Niebuhr 
 visited the old town of Zebid, built on the ruins of 
 an older city, which is said to have once been the 
 capital of all the low country. Zebid is situated in 
 a large and fertile valley, traversed during the rainy 
 season by a considerable stream, by which a large 
 tract of country is irrigated. There are the remains 
 of an aqueduct built by the Turks, but the modern 
 town does not cover half the space of the ancient 
 capital. Zebid, however, is still distinguished for 
 its academy, in which the youth of all that part of 
 Yemen study such sciences as are now cultivated 
 by the Mussulmans. 
 
 Niebuhr’s next trip was to the plantations of the 
 famous Mocha coffee, whither the other members 
 of the party had already gone, during his visit to 
 Zebid. After riding about twenty miles eastward 
 from Beit el-Fakili, he reached the foot of the 
 mountains. He thus describes the region : “ Nei¬ 
 ther asses nor mules can be used here. The hills 
 are to be climbed by steep and narrow paths ; yet, 
 in comparison with the parched plains of the Teha¬ 
 ma, the scenery seemed to me charming, as it was 
 
20 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 covered with gardens and plantations of coffee- 
 trees. 
 
 “ Up to this time I had seen only one small basal¬ 
 tic hill; but here whole mountains were composed 
 chiefly of those columns. Such detached rocks 
 formed grand objects in the landscape, especially 
 where cascades of water were seen to rush from 
 their summits. The cascades, in such instances, 
 had the appearance of being supported by rows of 
 artificial pillars. These basalts are of great utility 
 to the inhabitants ; the columns, which are easily 
 separated, serve as steps where the ascent is most 
 difficult, and as materials for walls to support the 
 plantations of coffee-trees, upon the steep declivities 
 of the mountains. 
 
 “ The tree which affords the coffee is well known 
 in Europe ; so that I need not here describe it par¬ 
 ticularly. The coffee-trees w r ere all in flower at 
 Bulgosa, and exhaled an exquisitely agreeable per¬ 
 fume. They are planted upon terraces, in the form 
 of an amphitheatre. Most of them are only watered 
 by the rains that fall, but some, indeed, from large 
 reservoirs upon the heights, in which spring-water 
 is collected, in order to be sprinkled upon the ter¬ 
 races, where the trees grow so thick together that 
 the rays of the sun can hardly enter among their 
 branches. We were told that those trees, thus arti¬ 
 ficially watered, yielded ripe fruit twice in the year; 
 but the fruit becomes not fully ripe the second time, 
 and the coffee of this crop is always inferior to that 
 of the first. 
 
 “ Stones being more common in this part of the 
 
COFFEE HILLS OF YEMEN. 
 

NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS IX YEMEN. 
 
 21 
 
 country than in the Tehama, the houses—as well oi 
 the villages as those which are scattered solitarily 
 over the hills—are built of this material. Althou h 
 not to be compared to the houses of Europe for 
 commodiousness and elegance, yet they have a good 
 appearance; especially such of them as stand upon 
 the heights, with amphitheatres of beautiful gardens 
 and trees around them. 
 
 “ Even at this village of Bulgosa we were greatly 
 above the level of the plain from which we had 
 ascended; yet we had scarcely climbed half the as¬ 
 cent to Kusma, where the Emir of this district 
 dwells, upon the loftiest peak of the range of moun¬ 
 tains. Enchanting landscapes there meet the eye 
 on all sides. 
 
 “We passed the night at Bulgosa. Several of 
 the men of the village came to see us, and after 
 they retired we had a visit from our hostess, v ith 
 some young women accompanying her, who were all 
 very desirous to see the Europeans. They seemed 
 less shy than the women in the cities; their faces 
 were unveiled, and they talked freely with us. As 
 the air is fresher and cooler upon these hills, the 
 women have a finer and fairer complexion than in 
 the plain. Our artist drew a portrait of a young 
 girl who was going to draw water, and was dressed 
 in a shirt of linen, chequered blue and white. The 
 top and middle of the shirt, as well as the lower 
 part of the drawers, were embroidered with needle¬ 
 work of different colors.” 
 
 Having met with no molestation so far, Niebuhr 
 determined to make a longer excursion into the 
 
22 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 southern interior of Yemen, among the mountains, 
 to the important towns of Udden and Taas. The 
 preparations were easily made. The travellers 
 hired asses, the owners accompanying them on foot 
 as guides and servants. As a further disguise they 
 assumed Arabic names, and their real character 
 was so well concealed that even the guides supposed 
 them to be Oriental Christians,—not Europeans. 
 Entering the mountains by an unfrequented road, 
 they found a barren region at first, but soon reached 
 valleys where coffee was cultivated. The inhabitants, 
 on account of the cooler nights, sleep in linen bags, 
 which they draw over the head, and thus keep them¬ 
 selves warm by their own breathing. 
 
 After reaching Udden, which Niebuhr found to be 
 a town of only three hundred houses, the hill-country 
 became more thickly settled. Beside the roads, 
 which had formerly been paved with stones, there 
 were frequent tanks of water for the use of travellers, 
 and, in exposed places, houses for their shelter in 
 case of storms. The next important place was 
 Djobla, a place of some importance in the annals of 
 Yemen, but with no antiquities, except some ruined 
 mosques. A further march of two days brought the 
 party to the fortified city of Taas, but they did not 
 venture within its walls, not having applied to the 
 Emir for permission. They returned to their quar¬ 
 ters at Beit el-Fakili, by way of Haas, another large 
 town, at the base of the mountains, having made 
 themselves acquainted with a large portion of the 
 hill-country of Arabia Eelix. 
 
 The journey to Mocha lasted three days, over a 
 
NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS IN YEMEN 93 
 
 hot, barren plain, with no inhabitants, except in the 
 wadys, or valleys, which are well watered during 
 
 the rainy season. Their arrival at Mocha was fol- 
 
 •/ 
 
 lowed by a series of annoyances, first from the cus¬ 
 tom-house officials, and then from the Emir, who 
 conceived a sudden prejudice against the travellers, 
 so that they were in danger of being driven out of 
 the city. An English merchant, however, came to 
 their assistance, a present of fifty ducats mollified 
 the Emir, and at the end of a very disagreeable 
 week they received permission to stay in the city. 
 From heat and privation they had all become ill, 
 and in a short time one of the party died, 
 
 Niebuhr now requested permission to proceed 
 to Sana, the capital of Yemen. This the Emir re¬ 
 fused, until he could send word to the Imam; 
 but, after a delay of a month, he allowed the party 
 to go as far as Taas, which they reached in four 
 days, and where they were well received. The re¬ 
 freshing rains every evening purified the air, and 
 all gradually recovered their health, except the 
 botanist, wdio died before reaching Sana. 
 
 Taas stands at the foot of the fertile mountain of 
 Sabber, upon w r hich, the Arabs say, grow all varie¬ 
 ties of plants and trees to be found in the world. 
 Nevertheless they did not allow the travellers to 
 ascend or even approach it. The city is surrounded 
 with a wall, between sixteen and thirty feet high, 
 and flanked with towers. The patron saint of the 
 place is a former king, Ismael Melek, who is buried 
 in a mosque bearing his name. No person is 
 allowed to visit the tomb since the occurrence of a 
 
24 
 
 TRAVELS IN ABABTA. 
 
 miracle, which Niebuhr thus relates : “ Two beggars 
 had asked charity of the Emir of Taas, but only 
 one of them had tasted of his bounty. Upon this 
 the other went to the tomb of Ismael Melek to im¬ 
 plore his aid. The saint, who, when alive, had been 
 very charitable, stretched his hand out of the tomb 
 and gave the beggar a letter containing an order on 
 the Emir to pay him a hundred crowns. Upon ex¬ 
 amining this order with the greatest care it was 
 found that Ismael Melek had written it with his 
 own hand and sealed it with his own seal. The 
 governor could not refuse payment; but to avoid 
 all subsequent trouble from such bills of exchange, 
 he had a wall built, inclosing the tomb.” 
 
 The Emir of Taas so changed in his behavior to¬ 
 wards the travellers, after a few days, that he 
 ordered them to return to Mocha. Finding all 
 their arguments and protests in vain, they were 
 about to comply, when a messenger arrived from 
 Mocha, bringing the permission of the Imam of 
 Yemen for them to continue their journey to Sana. 
 They set out on the 28th of June, and, after cross¬ 
 ing the mountain ranges of Mliarras and Samara, 
 by well paved and graded roads, reached, in a week, 
 the town of Jerim, near the ruins of the ancient 
 Himyaritic city of Taphar, which, however, they 
 were unable to visit on account of the illness of Mr. 
 Forskal, the botanist of the expedition. This gentle¬ 
 man died in a few days; and they were obliged 
 to bury him by night, with the greatest precau¬ 
 tion. 
 
 From Jerim it is a day’s journey to Damar, the 
 
NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS IN YEMEN 
 
 25 
 
 capital of a province. The city, which is seated in 
 the midst of a fertile plain, and is without walls, 
 contains five thousand well-built houses. It has a 
 famous university, which is usually attended by five 
 hundred students. The travellers were here very 
 much annoyed by the curiosity of the people, who 
 threw stones at their windows in order to force 
 them to show themselves. There is a mine of na¬ 
 tive sulphur near the place, and a mountain where 
 cornelians are found, which are highly esteemed 
 throughout the East. 
 
 Beyond Damar the country is hilly, but every vil 
 lage is surrounded with gardens, orchards, and vine¬ 
 yards, which are irrigated from large artificial res¬ 
 ervoirs built at the foot of the hills. On reaching 
 Sana the travellers were not allowed to enter the 
 city, but conducted to an unfurnished house without 
 the walls, where they were ordered to wait two days 
 in entire seclusion, until they could be received by 
 the Imam. During this time they were not allowed 
 to be visited by any one. Niebuhr thus describes 
 their interview, which took place on the third day : 
 
 “ The hall of audience was a spacious square 
 chamber, having an arched roof. In the middle 
 was a large basin, with some jets d’eau , rising four¬ 
 teen feet in height. Behind the basin, and near the 
 throne, were two large benches, each a foot and a 
 half high ; upon the throne was a space covered 
 with silken stuff, on which, as well as on both sides 
 of it, lay large cushions. The Imam sat between 
 the cushions, with his legs crossed in the Eastern 
 fashion ; his gown was of a bright green color, and 
 
26 
 
 TEA VELS L V ARABIA. 
 
 had large sleeves. Upon each side of his breast 
 was a rich filleting of gold lace, and on his head he 
 wore a great "white turban. His sons sat on his 
 right hand, and his brothers on the left. Opposite 
 to" them, on the highest of the two benches, sat the 
 Vizier, and our place was on the lower bench. 
 
 “ We were first led up to the Imam, and were 
 permitted to kiss both the bacK and the palm oi Ins 
 hand, as well as the hem of his robe. It is an ex¬ 
 traordinary favor when the Mohammedan princes 
 permit any person to kiss the palm of the hand. 
 There was a solemn silence through the whole hall. 
 As each of us touched the Imam s hand a herald 
 still proclaimed, ‘ Grod preserve the Imam ! and all 
 who were present repeated these words after him. 
 I was thinking at the time how I should pay my 
 compliments in Arabic, and was not a little disturbed 
 by this noisy ceremony. 
 
 “ We did not think it proper to mention the true 
 reason of our expedition through Arabia; but told 
 the Imam that, wishing to travel by the shortest 
 ways to the Danish colonies, in the East Indies, we 
 had heard so much of the plenty and security which 
 prevailed through his dominions, that we had re¬ 
 solved to see them with our own eyes, so that we 
 might describe them to our countrymen. The Imam 
 told us we were welcome to his dominions, and 
 might stay as long as we pleased. After our return 
 home he sent to each of us a small purse con¬ 
 taining ninety-nine komassis, two and thirty of which 
 make a crown. This piece of civility might, pei- 
 haps, appear no compliment to a traveller’s delicacy. 
 
NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS IN YEMEN. 
 
 27 
 
 But, when it is considered that a stranger, unac¬ 
 quainted with the value of the money of the country, 
 obliged to pay every day for his provisions, is in 
 danger of being imposed upon by the money-chan¬ 
 gers, this care of providing us with small money will 
 appear to have been sufficiently obliging.” 
 
 “The city of Sana,” says Niebuhr, “is situated 
 at the foot of Mount Nikkum, on which are still to 
 be seen the ruins of a castle, which the Arabs sup¬ 
 pose to have been built by Shem. Near this moun¬ 
 tain stands the citadel; a rivulet rises upon the 
 othei side, and near it is the Bostan el-Metwokkel, 
 a spacious garden, which was laid out by the Imam 
 of that nttine, and has been greatly embellished by 
 the reigning Imam. The walls of the city, which 
 are built of bricks, exclude this garden, which is in¬ 
 closed within a wall of its own. The city, properly 
 so called, is not very extensive j one may walk 
 around it in an hour. There are a number of 
 mosques, some of which have been built by Turk¬ 
 ish Pashas. In Sana are only twelve public baths, 
 but many noble palaces, three of the most splendid 
 of which have been built by the reigning Imam. 
 The materials of these palaces are burnt bricks, 
 and sometimes even hewn stones ; but the houses of 
 the common people are of bricks, which have been 
 dried in the sun. 
 
 The suburb of Bir el-Arsab is nearly adjoining 
 the city on the east side. The houses of this village 
 are scattered through the gardens, along the banks 
 of a small river. Fruits are very plenteous ; there 
 aie more than twenty different kinds of grapes, 
 
28 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 which, as they do not all ripen at the same time, 
 continue to afford a delicious refreshment for several 
 months. The Arabs likewise preserve grapes by 
 hanging them up in their cellars, and eat them 
 almost through the whole year. Two leagues north¬ 
 ward from Sana is a plain named Eodda, which is 
 overspread with gardens, and watered by a number 
 of rivulets. This place bears a great resemblance 
 to the neighborhood of Damascus. But Sana, 
 which some ancient authors compare to Damascus, 
 stands on a rising ground, with nothing like florid 
 vegetation about it. After long rains, indeed, a 
 small rivulet runs through the city ; but all t?he 
 ground is dry through the rest of the year. How¬ 
 ever, by aqueducts from Mount Nikkum, the town 
 and castle of Sana are, at all times, supplied with 
 abundance of excellent fresh water. 
 
 After a stay of a week the travellers obtained an 
 audience of leave, fearing that a longer delay might 
 subject them to suspicions and embarrassments. 
 Two days afterwards the Imam sent each of them 
 a complete suit of clothes, with a letter to the Emir 
 of Mocha, ordering him to pay them two hundred 
 crowns as a farewell present. He also furnished 
 them with camels for the journey. Instead of re¬ 
 turning by the same road they determined to de¬ 
 scend from the hill-country to their old headquarters 
 at Beit el-Fakih, and thence cross the lowland to 
 Mocha. 
 
 For two days they travelled over high, rocky 
 mountains, bv the worst roads they found in Yemen. 
 The country was poor and thinly inhabited, and the 
 
NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS IN YEMEN. 
 
 29 
 
 declivities only began to be clothed with trees, and 
 terraced into coffee plantations as they approached 
 the plains. The poorer regions are not considered 
 entirely safe by the Arabs, as the people frequently 
 plunder defenceless travellers ; but the party passed 
 safely through this region, and reached Beit el-Fa- 
 kih after a week’s iournev from Sana. 
 
 Niebuhr and his companions reached Mocha early 
 in August, and, towards the end of that month 
 sailed in an English vessel for Bombay, after a stay 
 of ten months in Yemen. The artist of the expedi¬ 
 tion, and the Swedish servant, died on the Indian 
 Ocean, and the physician in India, a few months 
 afterwards, leaving Niebuhr the sole survivor of the 
 six persons who left Copenhagen three years before. 
 After having sent home the journals and collections 
 of the expedition he continued his travels through 
 the Persian Gulf, Bagdad, Armenia, and Asia Minor, 
 finally reaching Denmark in 1767. The era of in¬ 
 telligent, scientific exploration, which is now rapidly 
 opening all parts of the world to our knowledge, 
 may be said to have been inaugurated by his 
 travels. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BURCKHARDTS JOURNEY TO MECCA AND MEDINA. 
 
 B TJRCKHARDT, to whom we are indebted for 
 the first careful and complete description of 
 the holy cities of Arabia, was a native of Lau¬ 
 sanne, in Switzerland. After having been educated 
 in Germany, he went to London with the intention 
 of entering the English military service, but was 
 persuaded by Sir Joseph Banks to apply to the 
 African Association for an appointment to explore 
 the Sahara, and the then unknown negro kingdoms 
 of Central Africa. His offer was accepted, and 
 after some preparation he went to Aleppo, in Sy¬ 
 ria, where he remained for a year or two, engaged 
 in studying Arabic and familiarizing himself with 
 Oriental habits of life. 
 
 His first journeys in Syria and Palestine,- which 
 were only meant as preparations for the African 
 exploration, led to the most important results. He 
 was the first to visit the country of Hauran—the 
 Bashan of Scripture—lying southeast of Damas¬ 
 cus. After this he passed through Moab, east of 
 the Dead Sea, and under the pretence of making 
 
BUllGK11ARD T'S JO URSEY TO MECCA. 
 
 31 
 
 a pilgrimage to the tomb of Aaron on Mount Hor, 
 discovered the rock-hewn palaces and temples of 
 Petra, which had been for many centuries los; to 
 the world. 
 
 Burckhardt reached Cairo in safety, and after 
 vainly waiting some months for an opportunity of 
 joining a caravan to Fezzan, determined to employ 
 his time in making a visit to Upper Egypt and Nu¬ 
 bia. T ravelling alone, with a single guide, he suc¬ 
 ceeded in reaching the frontiers of Dongola, be¬ 
 yond which it was then impossible to proceed. He 
 therefore returned to Assouan, and joined a small 
 caravan, which Crossed the Nubian Desert to Ethi¬ 
 opia, by very nearly the same route which Bruce 
 had taken in returning from Abyssinia. He re¬ 
 mained some time at Sliendy, the capital of Ethio¬ 
 pia, and then, after a journey of three months 
 across the country of Takka, which had never be¬ 
 fore been visited by a European, reached the port 
 of Sowakin, on the Bed Sea. Here he embarked 
 for Djidda, in Arabia, where he arrived in July, 1814. 
 
 By this time his Moslem character had been so 
 completely acquired that he felt himself free from 
 suspicion. Accordingly he decided to remain and 
 take pari in the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, 
 which was to take place that year, in November, 
 His funds, however, were nearly exhausted, and the 
 Djidda merchants refused to honor an old letter of 
 credit upon Cairo, which he still carried with him. In 
 this emergency he wrote to the Armenian physician 
 of Mohammed Ali, who was at that time with 
 the Pasha at the city of Tayf, (or Tayef,) about 
 
82 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA . 
 
 seventy miles southeast of Mecca. Mohammed 
 Ali happening to hear of this application, immedi¬ 
 ately sent a messenger with two dromedaries, to 
 summon Burckhardt to visit him. It seems most 
 probable that the Pasha suspected the traveller of 
 being an English spy, and wished to examine him 
 personally. The guide had orders to conduct the 
 latter to Tayf by a circuitous route, instead of by 
 
 the direct road through Mecca. 
 
 Burckhardt set out without the least hesitation, 
 taking care to exhibit no suspicion ol the Pasha s 
 object, and no desire to see the iioly city. But t.ie 
 guide himself proposed that they should pass 
 through Mecca in order to save travel, the journey 
 was hurried, however, and only a rapid observation 
 was possible. Pushing eastward, they reacned, on 
 the third night, the Mountain of Kora, which 
 divides the territory of Mecca from that of Tayf. 
 Burckhardt was astonished at the change in the 
 scenery, produced by the greater elevation of the 
 interior of Arabia above the sea. His desciiption 
 is a striking contrast to that of the scenery about 
 Mecca. 
 
 “ This,” he says, “ is the most beautiful spot in 
 the Hedjaz, and more picturesque and delightful 
 than anything I had seen since my departure from 
 Lebanon, in Syria. The top of Djebel Kora is 
 Hat, but large masses of granite lie scattered over 
 it, the surface of which, like that of the granite 
 rocks near the second cataract of the Kile, is 
 blackened by the sun. Several small rivulets no 
 scend from this pea; an i irrigat; the p.ain, which 
 
B UR CKI1A RD T' S JO UE N EY TO MECCA. 
 
 33 
 
 is covered with verdant fields and Large shady trees 
 beside the granite rocks. To those who have only 
 known the dreary and scorching sands of the lower 
 country of the Hedjaz, this scene is as surprising 
 as the keen air wliich blows here is refreshing. 
 Many of the fruit-trees of Europe are found here : 
 figs, apricots, peaches, apples, the Egyptian syca¬ 
 more, almonds, pomegranates; but particularly vines, 
 the produce of which is of the best quality. After 
 having passed through this delightful district for 
 about half an hour, just as the sun was rising 
 ■when every leaf and blade of grass was covered 
 with a balmy dew, and every tree and shrub dif¬ 
 fused a fragrance as delicious to the smell as was 
 the landscape to the eye, I halted near the largest 
 of the rivulets, which, although not more than two 
 paces across, nourishes upon its banks a green alp¬ 
 ine turf, such as the mighty Nile, with all its luxuri¬ 
 ance, can never produce in Egypt.” 
 
 Burckhardt had an interview with Mohammed 
 Ali on the evening of his arrival in Tayf. His sus¬ 
 picions were confirmed: the Kadi (Judge) of Mec¬ 
 ca and two well-informed teachers of the Moslem 
 faith were present, and although the Pasha pro¬ 
 fessed to accept Burckhardt’s protestations of his 
 Moslem character, it was very evident to the latter 
 that he was cunningly tested by the teachers. Ne¬ 
 vertheless, when the interview was over, they pro¬ 
 nounced him to be not only a genuine Moslem, but 
 one of unusual learning and piety. The Pasha 
 was forced to submit to this decision, but he was 
 evidently not entirely convinced, for he gave orders 
 
34 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 that Burckhardt should be the guest^ of his physi- 
 ci;iii, in order that his speech and actions might be 
 more closely observed. Burckhardt took a thor¬ 
 oughly Oriental way to release himself from this 
 surveillance. He gave the physician so much trou¬ 
 ble that the latter was very glad at the end of ten 
 days, to procure from the Pasha permission for 
 him to return to Mecca, in order to get rid of linn. 
 Burckhardt thereupon travelled to the holy city in 
 company with the Kadi himself! 
 
 At the valley of Mohram, nearly a day’s journey 
 from Mecca, Burckhardt changed his garb for the 
 ihrcim , or costume worn by the. pilgrims during 
 their devotional services. It consists of two pieces 
 of either linen, cotton or woolen cloth: one is 
 wrapped around the loins, while the other is 
 thrown over the shoulder in such a manner as to 
 leave the right arm entirely bare. On reacmng 
 Mecca, he obeyed the Moslem injunction of first 
 visiting the great mosque and performing all the 
 requisite ceremonies before transacting any woildly 
 business. When this had been accomplished he 
 made a trip to Djidda for the purpose of procuring 
 supplies, which were necessary for the later pil¬ 
 grimage to Medina, and then established himself 
 comfortably in an unfrequented part of Mecca, to 
 await the arrival of the caravan of pilgrims from 
 Damascus. 
 
 Burckhardt describes the great mosque of Mecca, 
 which is called the Beit Allah, or “ House of God,” 
 as “ a large quadrangular building, in the centre oJ 
 which stands the Kaaba, an oblong, massive struc- 
 
BURIKIIARDT'S JOURNEY TO MECCA. 
 
 85 
 
 ture, eighteen paces in length, fourteen in breadth, 
 and from thirty-five to forty feet in height. It is 
 constructed of gray Mecca stone, in large blocks ot 
 different sizes, joined together in a very rough man¬ 
 ner, and with bad cement. At the northeast corner 
 of the Kaaba, near the door, is the famous Black 
 Stone, which forms part of the sharp angle of the 
 building at four or five feet above the ground. It 
 is an irregular oval of about seven inches in diame¬ 
 ter, with an undulating surface, composed of about 
 a dozen smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, 
 well joined together with a small quantity of ce¬ 
 ment, and perfectly smoothed. It is very difficult to 
 determine accurately the quality of this stone, 
 which has been worn to its present surface by the 
 millions of touches and kisses it has received. It 
 appears to me like a lava, containing several small 
 extraneous particles. Its color is now a deep red¬ 
 dish brown, approaching to black. It is surround¬ 
 ed on all sides by a border, composed of a sub¬ 
 stance which I took to be a close cement of pitch 
 and gravel; this border serves to support its de¬ 
 tached pieces. Both the border and the stone 
 itself are encircled by a silver band.” 
 
 Towards the end of November the caravans from 
 Syria and Egypt arrived, and at the same time Mo¬ 
 hammed Ali, so that the hadj, or pilgrimage, as¬ 
 sumed a character of unusual pomp and parade. 
 The Pasha’s ihram consisted of two of the finest 
 cashmere shawls; the horses and camels belonging 
 to himself and his large retinue, with those of the 
 Pasha of Damascus and other Moslem princes, 
 
36 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 wer© decorated with tlie most biilliant trappings. 
 On arriving, the pilgrims did not halt in Mecca, 
 but continued their march to the Sacred Mountain 
 of Arafat, to the eastward of the city. A camp, 
 several miles in extent, was formed upon the plain, 
 at the foot of the mountain, and here Burckliardt 
 joined the immense crowd, in order to take his 
 share in the ceremonies of the following day. 
 
 In the morning he climbed to the top of Arafat, 
 which is an irregular, isolated mass of granite, ris¬ 
 ing only about two hundred feet above the plain. 
 Overlooking thus the entire camp, he counted more 
 than three thousand tents, and estimated that at 
 least twenty-five thousand camels and seventy thou¬ 
 sand human beings were there collected together. 
 
 “ The scene,” lie says, u was one of the most extra¬ 
 ordinary which the earth affords. Every pilgrim 
 issued from his tent to walk over the plain and take 
 a view of the busy crowds assembled there. Long 
 streets of tents, fitted up as bazaars, furnished 
 them with all kinds of provisions. The Syrian 
 and Egyptian cavalry were exercised by theii 
 chiefs early in the morning, while thousands of ca¬ 
 mels were seen feeding upon the dry shrubs of the 
 plain all around the camp. The Syrian pilgrims 
 were encamped upon the south and southwest sides 
 of the mountain; the Egyptians upon the south¬ 
 east. Mohammed All and Soleyman, Pasha of 
 Damascus, as well as several of their followers, had 
 very handsome tents; but the most magnificent of 
 all was that of the wife of Mohammed Ali, the mo¬ 
 ther of Toossoon Pasha and Ibrahim Pasha, who 
 
BURCEIIARDT'S JOURNEY TO MECCA. 
 
 37 
 
 had lately arrived from Cairo with a truly royal 
 equipage, five hundred camels being necessary to 
 transport her baggage from Djidda to Mecca. Hei 
 tent was in fact an encampment, consisting of a do¬ 
 zen teni?s of different sizes, inhabited by her wom¬ 
 en ; the whole enclosed by a wall of linen cloth, 
 eight hundred paces in circuit, the single entrance 
 to which was guarded by eunuchs in splendid 
 dresses. The beautiful embroidery on the exterior 
 of this linen palace, with the various colors dis¬ 
 played in every part of it, constituted an object 
 which reminded me of some descriptions in the 
 Arabian tales of the Thousand and One Nights.” 
 
 Burckhardt also gives an interesting description 
 of the sermon preached on Mount Arafat, the 
 hearing of which is an indispensable part of the 
 pilgrimage : unless a person is at least present dur¬ 
 ing its delivery, he is not entitled to the name of 
 hadji, or pilgrim. The great encampment broke up 
 at three o’clock in the afternoon, and Mount Ara¬ 
 fat was soon covered from top to bottom. “ The 
 two Pashas, with their whole cavalry drawn up in 
 two squadrons behind them, took their posts in the 
 rear of the deep line of camels of the pilgrims, to 
 which those of the people of Hedjaz were also 
 joined ; and here they waited in solemn and re¬ 
 spectful silence the conclusion of the sermon. 
 Further removed from the preacher was the Scherif 
 of Mecca, with his small body of soldiers, distin¬ 
 guished by several green standards carried before 
 him. The two mahmals , or holy camels, which car¬ 
 ry on their backs the high structure which serves 
 
38 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 as the banner of tlieir respective caravans, made 
 way with difficulty through the ranks of camels 
 that encircled the southern and eastern sides of the 
 hill, opposite to the preacher, and took their station 
 surrounded by their guards, directly under the plat¬ 
 form in front of him. The preacher, who is usu¬ 
 ally the Kadi of Mecca, was mounted upon a 
 finely caparisoned camel which had been led up the 
 steps: it was traditionally said that Mohammed 
 was always seated when he addressed his followers, 
 a practice in which he was imitated by all the Ca¬ 
 liphs who came to the pilgrimage, and who from 
 this place addressed their subjects in person. The 
 Turkish gentleman of Constantinople, however, un¬ 
 used to camel-riding, could not keep his seat so 
 well as the hardy Bedouin prophet, and the camel 
 becoming unruly, he was soon obliged to alight 
 from it. He read his sermon from a book in Ara¬ 
 bic, which he held in his hands. At intervals of 
 every four or five minutes he paused and stretched 
 forth his arms to implore blessings from above, 
 while the assembled multitudes around and before 
 him waved the skirts of their ihrams over their 
 heads and rent the air with shouts of lebeyk, Allah , 
 huma lebeyk !—‘ Here Ave are at Thy bidding, oh 
 God!’ During the Avaving of the ihrams, the sides 
 of the mountain, thickly crowded as it was by the 
 people in their Avliite garments, had the appearance 
 of a cataract of water; Avliiie the green umbrellas, 
 with Avhich se\’eral thousand pilgrims sitting on 
 their camels below were provided, bore some re¬ 
 semblance to a verdant plain. ,: 
 
BURCKHARDT8 JOURNEY TO MECCA. 39 
 
 Burckhardt performed all the remaining ceremo¬ 
 nies required of a pilgrim; but these have been 
 more recently described and with greater minute¬ 
 ness by Captain Burton. He remained in Mecca 
 for another month, unsuspected and unmolested, 
 and completed his observations of a place which 
 the Arabs believed they had safely sealed against 
 all Christian travellers. 
 
 Leaving Mecca with a small caravan of pilgrims 
 on the 15th of January, 1815, he reached Medina 
 after a journey of thirteen days, during which he 
 narrowly escaped being slain by the Bedouins. 
 
 Burckhardt was attacked with fever soon after 
 his arrival at Medina, and remained there three 
 months. The ceremonies prescribed for the pil¬ 
 grims who visit the city are brief and unimportant; 
 but the description ot the tomb of Mohammed is 
 of sufficient interest to quote. “ The mausoleum/' 
 he says, “ stands at the southeastern corner of the 
 principal mosque, and is protected from the too 
 near approach of visitors by an iron railing, paint¬ 
 ed green, about two thirds the height of the pillars 
 of the colonnade which runs around the interior of 
 the mosque. The railing is of good workmanship, 
 in imitation of filigree, and is interwoven with 
 open-worked inscriptions of yellow bronze, sup¬ 
 posed by the vulgar to be of gold, and of so close a 
 texture that no view can be obtained of the interior 
 except by several small windows about six inches 
 square, which are placed in the four sides of the 
 railing, about five feet above the ground. On the 
 south side, where are the two principal windows, 
 
40 
 
 TEA VELS IN AEABIA. 
 
 before which the devout stands when praying the 
 railing is plated with silver, and the common 
 inscription—‘ There is no god but God, the Evi¬ 
 dent Truth!’—is wrought in silver letters around 
 the windows. The tomb itself, as well as those of 
 Abu Bekr and Omar, which stand close to it is 
 concealed from the public gaze by a curtain of rich 
 silk brocade of various colors, interwoven with sil- 
 ver flowers and arabesques, with inscriptions in 
 characters of gold running across the midst of it 
 like that of the covering of the Kaaba. Behind 
 this curtain, which, according to the historian of the 
 city, was formerly changed every six years, and is 
 now renewed by the Porte whenever the old one is 
 decayed, or when a new Sultan ascends the throne 
 none but the chief eunuchs, the attendants of the 
 mosque, are permitted to enter. This holy sanctu¬ 
 ary once served, as the temple of Delphi did 
 among the Greeks, as the public treasury of the 
 nation. Here the money, jewels and other pre¬ 
 cious articles of the people of Hedjaz were kept in 
 ciests, or suspended on silken ropes, Amon» 
 these was a copy of the Koran in Cufic charac- 
 ters; a brill,ant star set in diamonds and pearls, 
 w noli was suspended directly over the Prophet’s 
 tomb; with all sorts of vessels filled with jewels, 
 eai-lings, bracelets, necklaces, and other ornaments 
 sent as presents from all parts of the empire. Most 
 ol these articles were carried away by the Waha- 
 
 bees when they sacked and plundered the sacred 
 cities. 
 
 Burckhardt reached Yambo, (the port of Medi- 
 
VIEW OF EL MEDINA. 
 
BURCKIIARDTS JOURNEY TO MECCA. 
 
 41 
 
 Da,) at the end of April, and, after running great 
 danger from the plague, succeeded in obtaining 
 passage to the Peninsula of Sinai, whence he 
 slowly made his way back to Cairo. Here he wait¬ 
 ed for two years, vainly hoping for the departure of 
 a caravan for Central Africa, and meanwhile assist¬ 
 ing Belzoni in his explorations at Thebes. In Oc¬ 
 tober, 1817, he died, and the people who knew him 
 only as Shekh Abdallah, laid his body in the Mos¬ 
 lem burymg-ground, on the eastern side oi Cairo. 
 
CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 WELISTED’s EXPLORATIONS IN OMAN. 
 
 HE latest and altogether the most satisfactory 
 account of the interior of Oman,—the south¬ 
 
 eastern portion of Arabia, now under the sw ay of the 
 Sultan of Muscat,—has been given by Lieut. Well- 
 sted. While in the Indian Navy he was employed 
 for several years in surveying the southern and 
 eastern coasts of Arabia. Having become somewhat 
 familiar with the language and habits of the people, 
 he conceived the idea of undertaking a journey to 
 Lerreyeh, in Nedjed, the capital of the Waliabees, 
 which no traveller had then reached. The governor 
 of Bombay gave him the necessary leave of absence, 
 and he landed at Muscat in November, 1835. 
 
 The Sultan, Savid Saeed, received the young 
 Englishman with great kindness, promised him all 
 possible aid in his undertaking, and even arranged 
 for him the route to be travelled. He was to sail 
 first to the port of Sur, south of Muscat, thence 
 penetrate to the country inhabited by the Beni-Abu- 
 Ali tribe, and make his way northward to the Jcbel 
 Aklidar, or Green Mountains, which w'ere described 
 
WELLSTED'S EXPLORATIONS IN OMAR. 
 
 43 
 
 to him as lofty, fruitful, and populous. Having 
 thus visited the most interesting portions of Oman, 
 he was then to be at liberty, if the way was open, 
 to take the northern route through the Desert to¬ 
 wards Nedjed. The Sultan presented him with a 
 horse and sword, together with letters to the gov¬ 
 ernors of the districts through which he should 
 pass. 
 
 At Sur, which is a small, insignificant village, with 
 a good harbor, the mountains of the interior ap¬ 
 proach the sea, but they are here divided by a val¬ 
 ley which furnishes easy access to the country be¬ 
 yond them. After a journey of four days Wellsted 
 reached the tents of the tribe of Ben-Abu-Ali, at a 
 point to which the English troops had penetrated in 
 1821, to punish the tribe for acts of piracy. Al¬ 
 though no Englishman had visited them since that 
 time, they received him with every demonstration 
 of friendship. Sheep were killed, a feast prepared, 
 a guard of honor stationed around the tent, and, in 
 the evening, all the men of the encampment, 250 in 
 number, assembled for the purpose of exhibiting 
 their war dance. Wellsted thus describes the scene : 
 “ They formed a circle within which five of their 
 number entered. After walking leisurely around 
 for some time, each challenged one of the specta¬ 
 tors by striking him gently with the flat of his 
 sword. His adversary immediately leaped forth 
 and a feigned combat ensued. They have but two 
 cuts, one directly downward, at the head, the other 
 horizontally, across the legs. They parry neither 
 with the sword nor shield, but avoid the blows by 
 
44 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 leaping or bounding backward. The blade of their 
 sword is three feet in length, thin, double-edged, 
 and as sharp as a razor. As they carry it upright 
 before them, by a peculiar motion of the wrist they 
 cause it to vibrate in a very remarkable manner, 
 which has a singularly striking effect when they are 
 assembled in any considerable number. It was 
 part of the entertainment to lire off their match¬ 
 locks under the legs of some one of the spectators, 
 who appeared too intent on watching the game to 
 observe their approach, and any signs of alarm 
 which incautiously escaped the indiviual, added 
 greatly to their mirth.” 
 
 In the evening a party of the Geneba Bedouins 
 came in from the desert, accompanied by one of 
 their chiefs. The latter readily consented that 
 Wellsted should accompany him on a short journey 
 into his country, and they set out the following 
 morning. It was December, and the morning air 
 was cold and pure; the party swept rapidly across 
 the broad, barren plains, the low hills, dotted with 
 acacia trees, and the stony channels, which carried 
 the floods of the rainy season to the sea. After a 
 day’s journey of forty-four miles they encamped 
 near some brackish wells. “ You wished,” said the 
 chief to Wellsted, “ to see the country of the Be¬ 
 douins ; this,” he continued, striking his spear into 
 the firm sand, “this is the country of the Bedouins.” 
 Neither he nor his companions wore any clothing 
 except a single cloth around the loins. Their hair, 
 which is permitted to grow until it reaches the waist, 
 and is usually well plastered with grease, is the 
 
WELLS TED'S EXPLORATIONS IN OMAN. 
 
 45 
 
 only covering which protects their heads from the 
 sun. 
 
 The second day’s journey brought Wellsted to a 
 small encampment, where the chief’s wives were 
 abiding. They conversed with him, unveiled, gave 
 him coffee, milk, and dates, and treated him with 
 all the hospitality which their scanty means allowed. 
 The Beni Geneba tribe numbers about 3,500.fight¬ 
 ing men ; they are spread over a large extent of 
 Southern Arabia, and are divided into two distinct 
 classes—those who live by fishing, and those who 
 follow pastoral pursuits, A race of fishermen, how¬ 
 ever, is found on all parts of the Arabian coast. In 
 some districts they are considered a separate and 
 degraded people, with whom the genuine Bedouins 
 will neither eat, associate, nor intermarry; but 
 among the Beni Geneba this distinction does not 
 exist. 
 
 Wellsted might have penetrated much further to 
 the westward under the protection of this tribe, and 
 was tempted to do so ; but it seemed more impor¬ 
 tant to move northward, and get upon some one of 
 the caravan tracks leading into Central Arabia. He 
 therefore returned to the camp of the Beni-Abu-Ali, 
 where the friendly people would hardly sutler him 
 to depart, promising to build a house for him if he 
 would remain a month with them. For two days 
 he travelled northwards, over an undulating region 
 of sand, sometimes dotted with stunted acacias, and 
 reached a district called Bediah, consisting of seven 
 villages, each seated in its little oasis of date palms. 
 One striking feature of these towns is their low 
 
46 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 situation. They are erected in artificial hollows 
 which have been excavated to the depth of six or 
 eight feet. Water is then conveyed to them in sub- 
 terranean channels, from wells in the neighboring 
 hills, and the soil is so fertile that irrigation suffices 
 to produce the richest harvest of fruit and vege¬ 
 tables. A single step carries the traveller from the 
 glare and sand of the desert into a spot teeming 
 with the most luxuriant vegetation, and embowered 
 by lofty trees, whose foliage keeps out the sun. 
 “ Some idea,” says Wellsted, “ may be formed of 
 the density of this shade by the effect it produces 
 in lessening the terrestrial radiation. A Fahrenheit 
 thermometer, which, within the house stood at 55°, 
 six inches from the ground fell to 45°. From this 
 cause, and the abundance of water, they are always 
 saturated with damp, and even in the heat of the 
 day possess a clammy coldness.” 
 
 On approaching Ibrah, the next large town to the 
 north, the country became hilly, and the valleys be¬ 
 tween the abrupt limestone ranges increased in fer¬ 
 tility. Wellsted thus describes the place: “ There 
 are some handsome houses in Ibrah ; but the style 
 of building is quite peculiar to this part of Arabia. 
 To avoid the damp and catch an occasional beam 
 of the sun above the trees, they are usually very 
 lofty. A parapet surrounding the upper part is 
 turreted, and on some of the largest houses guns 
 are mounted. The windows and duors have the 
 Saracenic arch, and every part of the building is 
 profusely decorated with ornaments of stucco in bas 
 relief, some in very good taste. The doors are 
 
WELLSTED'S EXPECTATIONS IN OMAN. 47 
 
 also cased with brass, and have rings and other 
 massive ornaments of the same metal. 
 
 “ Ibrali is justly renowned for the beauty and 
 fairness of its females. Those we met on the streets 
 evinced but little shyness, and on my return to the 
 tent I found it filled with them. They were in high 
 glee at all they saw ; every box I had was turned 
 over for their inspection, and whenever I attempted 
 to remonstrate against their proceedings they 
 stopped my mouth with their hands. With such 
 damsels there was nothing left but to laugh and 
 look on.” 
 
 Travelling two days further to the northward, 
 Wellsted reached the town of Semmed, where he 
 found a fine stream of running water. The Shekh’s 
 house was a large fort, the rooms of which were 
 spacious and lofty, but destitute of furniture. Sus¬ 
 pended on pegs, protruding from the walls, were 
 the saddles, cloths, and harness of the horses and 
 camels. The ceilings were painted in various de¬ 
 vices, but the floors were of mud, and only partially 
 covered with mats. Lamps formed of shells, a spe¬ 
 cies of murex, were suspended by lines from the 
 ceiling. On returning to the tent, after this visit, 
 the traveller found, as usual, a great crowd collected 
 there, but kept in order by a boy about twelve years 
 of age. He had taken possession of the tent, as its 
 guardian, and allowed none to enter without his 
 permission. He carried a sword longer than him¬ 
 self, and also a stick, with which he occasionally laid 
 about him. It is a part of the Arab system of edu¬ 
 cation to cease treating boys as children at a very 
 
18 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 early age, and they acquire, therefore, the gravity 
 and demeanor of men. 
 
 Beyond this place Wells ted was accompanied by 
 a guard of seventy armed men, for the country was 
 considered insecure. For two days and a half he 
 passed many small villages, separated by desert 
 tracts, and then reached the town of Minna, near 
 the foot of the Green Mountains. “ Minna,” he 
 s^ys, “ differs from the other towns in having its 
 cultivation in the open fields. As we crossed these, 
 with lofty almond, citron, and orange trees yielding 
 a delicious fragrance on either hand, exclamations 
 of astonishment and admiration burst from us. ‘ Is 
 this Arabia ?’ we said; ‘ this the country we have 
 looked on heretofore as a desert ?’ Verdant fields 
 of grain and sugar-cane stretching along for miles 
 are before us ; streams of water, flowing in all direc¬ 
 tions, intersect our path ; and the happy and con¬ 
 tented appearance of the peasants agreeably helps to 
 fill up the smiling picture. The atmosphere was 
 delightfully clear and pure ; and, as we trotted joy¬ 
 ously along, giving or returning the salutations of 
 peace or welcome, I could almost fancy that we had 
 at last reached that £ Araby the Blessed,’ which I 
 had been accustomed to regard as existing only in 
 the fictions of our poets. 
 
 “ Minna is an old town, said to have been erected 
 at the period of Narhirvan’s invasion ; but it bears, 
 in common with the other towns, no indications of 
 antiquity ; its houses are lofty, but do not differ 
 from those of Ibrah or Semmed. There are two 
 square towers, about one hundred and seventy feet 
 
WELLSTED'S EXPLORATIONS IN OMAN. 49 
 
 in height, nearly in the centre of the town ; at 
 their bases the breadth of the wall is not more than 
 two feet, and neither side exceeds in length eight 
 yards. It is therefore astonishing, considering the 
 rudeness of the materials, (they have nothing but un¬ 
 hewn stones and a coarse but apparently strong 
 cement,) that, with proportions so meagre, they 
 should have been able to carry them to their pre¬ 
 sent elevation. The guards, who are constantly on 
 the lookout, ascend by means of a rude ladder, 
 formed by placing bars of wood in a diagonal direc¬ 
 tion in one of the side angles within the interior of 
 the building.” 
 
 The important town of Neswah, at the western 
 base of the Jebel Akdar, or Green Mountains, is a 
 short day’s journey from Minna. On arriving there 
 Wellsted was received in a friendly manner by the 
 governor, and lodged, for the first time since leaving 
 Muscat, in a substantial house. He was allowed to 
 visit the fortress, which, in that region, is considered 
 impregnable. He was admitted by an iron door of 
 great strength, and, ascending through a vaulted 
 passage, passed through six others equally massive 
 before reaching the summit. The form of the fort 
 is circular, its diameter being nearly one hundred 
 yards, and to the height of ninety feet it has been 
 filled up by a solid mass of earth and stones. Seven 
 or eight wells have been bored through this, from 
 several of which they obtain a plentiful supply of 
 water, while those which are dry serve as magazines 
 for their shot and ammunition. A wall forty feet 
 high surrounds the summit, making the whole 
 
50 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 height of the fortress one hundred and fifty feeh 
 It is a work of extraordinary labor, and from its 
 appearance probably of considerable antiquity ; but 
 no certain intelligence could be obtained on this 
 point. 
 
 On Christmas day, Wellsted left Neswah on an 
 excursion to the celebrated Green Mountains. The 
 Shekh of Tanuf, the first village where he encamped, 
 endeavored in every possible way to dissuade him 
 from undertaking the journey; but his resolute 
 manner and a few gifts overcame the difficulty. 
 Mounted on strong asses, the party commenced 
 ascending a precipitous ridge by a track so narrow 
 that they seemed at times to be suspended over 
 precipices of unknown depth. On the second day 
 they reached the village of Seyk. “ By means of 
 steps/’ he says, “ we descended the steep side of a 
 narrow glen, about four hundred feet in depth, pass¬ 
 ing in our progress several houses perched on crags 
 or other acclivities, their walls built up in some 
 places so as to appear but a continuation of the 
 precipice. These small, snug, compact-looking 
 dwellings have been erected by the natives one 
 above the other, so that their appearance from the 
 bottom of the glen, hanging as it were in mid-air, 
 affords to the spectator a most novel and interesting 
 picture. Here w 7 e found, amid a great variety of 
 fruits and trees, pomegranates, citrons, almonds, 
 nutmegs, and walnuts, with coffee-bushes and vines. 
 In the summer, these together must yield a delicious 
 fragrance; but it was now winter, and they were 
 leafless. Water flows in many places from the upper 
 
WE r LSTED’S EXPLORATIONS IN OMAN. 
 
 p&rfc of the hills, and is received at the lower in 
 small reservoirs, whence it is distributed all over the 
 face of the country. From the narrowness of this 
 glen, and the steepness of its sides, only the lower 
 part of it receives the warmth of the sun’s rays for 
 a short period of the day; and even at the time of 
 our arrival we found it so chilly, that, after a short 
 halt, we were very happy to continue our journey.” 
 
 They halted for the night at a village called Shi- 
 razi, in the heart of the mountains, the highest 
 peaks of which here reach a height of 6,000 feet 
 above the sea. The inhabitants belong to a tribe 
 called the Beni Byam, who are considered infidels 
 by the people of Neswah because they cultivate the 
 grape for the purpose of making wine. The next 
 day the Arabs who formed Wellsted’s escort left 
 him, and he had considerable difficultv in returning 
 to Neswah by another road. From this point he 
 had intended starting for Central Arabia, but the 
 funds which he expected did not arrive from Mus¬ 
 cat, the British Agent there having refused to make 
 the necessary advances. Wells ted thereupon ap¬ 
 plied directly to the Sultan, Sayd Saeed, for a loan, 
 and, while waiting an answer, made an excursion 
 into the desert, fifty miles to the westward of Nes¬ 
 wah. With a view to familiarize himself with the 
 manners and domestic life of the Bedouins, he 
 mixed with them during this trip, living and sleep¬ 
 ing in their huts and tents. On all occasions he 
 was treated with kindness, and often with a degree 
 of hospitality above rather than below the means 
 of those who gave it. 
 
52 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 Although the Sultan of Muscat was willing to 
 furnish the necessary supplies, and arrangements 
 had been made which Wellsted felt sure would have 
 enabled him to penetrate into the interior, he was 
 prevented from going forward by a violent fever, 
 from the effects of which he remained insensible for 
 five days. Recovering sufficiently to travel, his 
 only course was to return at once to the seacoast, 
 and on the 22d of January, 1836, he left Neswah 
 for the little port of Sib, where he arrived after a 
 slow journey of eight days. He relates the follow¬ 
 ing incident, which occurred at Semayel, the half¬ 
 way station : “ Weary and f'aint from the fatigue of 
 the day’s journey, in order to enjoy the freshness of 
 the evening breeze I had my carpet spread beneath 
 a tree. An Arab passing by, paused to gaze upon 
 me, and, touched by my condition and the melan¬ 
 choly which was depicted on my countenance, he 
 proffered the salutation of peace, pointed to the 
 crystal stream which sparkled at my feet, and said: 
 
 ‘ Look, friend, for running water maketh the heart 
 glad!’ With his hands folded over his breast, that 
 mute but most graceful of Eastern salutations, he 
 bowed and passed on. I was in a situation to esti¬ 
 mate sympathy; and so much of that feeling was 
 exhibited in the manner of this son of the desert, 
 that I have never since recurred to the incident, 
 trifling as it is, without emotion.” 
 
 A rest of four weeks at Sib recruited the trav¬ 
 eller’s strength, and he determined to make another 
 effort to reach Central Arabia. He therefore ap¬ 
 plied to the Sultan for an escort to Bireimah, the 
 
WELLSTED'S EXPLORATIONS IX OMAN. 
 
 first town of the Wahabees, beyond the northern 
 frontier of Oman. The Sultan sent a guide, but ob¬ 
 jected to the undertaking, as word had just arrived 
 that the Wahabees were preparing to invade his 
 territory. Wellsted, however, was not willing to 
 give up his design without at least making the at¬ 
 tempt. He followed the coast, north of Muscat, as 
 far as the port of Suweik, where he was most hospi¬ 
 tably received by the wife of the governor, Seyd 
 Hilal, who was absent. “ A huge meal, consisting 
 of a great variety of dishes, sufficient for thirty or 
 forty people, was prepared in his kitchen, and 
 brought to us on large copper dishes, twice a day 
 during the time we remained. On these occasions 
 there w’as a great profusion of blue and gilt China 
 ware, cut glass dishes, and decanters containing 
 sherbet instead of wine.” 
 
 “ The Shekh,” Wellsted continues, “ after his re¬ 
 turn, usually spent the evening with us. On one 
 occasion he was accompanied by a professed story¬ 
 teller, who appeared to be a great favorite with him. 
 
 1 Whenever I feel melancholy or out of order,’ said 
 he, ‘ I send for this man, who very soon restores me 
 to my wonted spirits.’ From the falsetto tone in 
 which the story was chanted, I could not follow the 
 thread of the tale, and, upon my mentioning this 
 to him, the Shekh very kindly sent me the manu¬ 
 script, of which the reciter had availed himself. 
 With little variation I found it to be the identical 
 Sinbad the Sailor, so familiar to the readers of the 
 Arabian Nights. I little thought, when first I pe¬ 
 rused these fascinating tales in my own language, 
 
64 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 that it would ever be my lot to listen to the original 
 in a spot so congenial and so remote.” 
 
 Leaving Suweik on the 4th of March, Wellsted 
 was deserted by his camel-men at the end of the 
 first day’s march, but succeeded in engaging others 
 at a neighboring village. The road, which at first 
 led between low hills, now entered a deep mountain- 
 gorge, inclosed by abrupt mountains of rock, several 
 thousand feet in height. 
 
 For two days the party followed this winding de¬ 
 file, where the precipices frequently towered from 
 three to four thousand feet over their heads. Then, 
 having passed the main chain, the country became 
 more open, and they reached the village ol Muskin, 
 in the territory of the Beni Kalban Arabs. Their 
 progress beyond this point was slow and tedious, on 
 account of the country being divided into separate 
 districts, which are partly independent of each other. 
 At the next town, Makiniyat, the Shekh urged them 
 to go no further, on account of the great risk, but 
 finally consented to furnish an escort to Obri, the 
 last town to the northward, which acknowledges the 
 sway of Muscat. This was distant two days jour¬ 
 ney—the first through a broad valley between pyra¬ 
 midal hills, the second over sandy plains, which 
 indicated their approach to the Desert. 
 
 Obri is one of the largest and most populous 
 towns in Oman. The inhabitants devote themsel\es 
 almost exclusively to agriculture, and export large 
 quantities of indigo, sugar and dates. On arriving, 
 Wellsted went immediately to the residence of the 
 Shekh, whom he found to be a very different char- 
 
% 
 
 A VALLEY IN OMAN. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 »Tr - ■ 
 
 
 •"I'-.*' *,' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ; 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -. 
 
 l • 
 
 
WE r LSTED'S EXPLORATIONS IN OMAN 
 
 55 
 
 acter from the officials whom he had hitherto en¬ 
 countered. “ Upon my producing the Imam’s 
 letters,” says he, “ he read them, and took his leave 
 without returning any answer. About an hour after¬ 
 wards he sent a verbal message to request that I 
 should lose no time in quitting his town, as he 
 oegged to inform me, what he supposed I could not 
 have been aware of, that it was then filled with 
 nearly two thousand Wahabees. This was, indeed, 
 news to us; it was somewhat earlier than we antici¬ 
 pated falling in with them, but we put a good 
 face on the matter, and behaved as coolU as we 
 could.” 
 
 The next morning the S'hekh returned, with a po¬ 
 sitive refusal to allow them to proceed further. 
 Wellsted demanded a written refusal, as evidence 
 which lie could present to the Sultan, and this the 
 Sliekh at once promised to give. His object was 
 evidently to force the traveller away from the place, 
 and such was the threatening appearance of things, 
 that the latter had no wish to remain. The Wa- 
 habees crowded around the party in great numbers, 
 and seemed only waiting for some pretext to com¬ 
 mence an affray. “ When the Sliekh came and pre¬ 
 sented me with the letter for the Sultan,” says 
 Weilsted, “ I knew it would be in vain to make any 
 further effort to shake his resolution, and therefore 
 did not attempt it. In the meantime news had 
 spread far and wide that two Englishmen, with a 
 box of ‘ dollars,’ but in reality containing only the 
 few clothes that we carried with us, had halted in 
 
56 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 the town. The Waliabees and other tribes had met 
 in deliberation, while the lower classes of the towns¬ 
 folk were creating noise and confusion. The Shekh 
 either had not the shadow of any influence, or was 
 afraid to exercise it, and his followers evidently 
 wished to share in the plunder. It was time to act. 
 I called All on one side, told him to make neither 
 noise nor confusion, but to collect the camels without 
 delay. In the meantime we had packed up the 
 tent, the crowd increasing every minute ; the camels 
 were ready, and we mounted on them. A leader, or 
 some trifling incident, was now only wanting to 
 furnish them with a pretext for an onset. They fol¬ 
 lowed us with hisses and various other noises, until 
 we got sufficiently clear to push briskly forward; 
 and, beyond a few stones being thrown, we reached 
 the outskirts of the town without further molesta¬ 
 tion. I had often before heard of the inhospitable 
 character of the inhabitants of this place. The 
 neighboring Arabs observe that to enter Obri, a man 
 must either go armed to the teeth, or as a beggar with 
 a cloth, and that not of decent quality, around his 
 waist. Thus, for a second time, ended my hopes of 
 reaching Derreyeh from this quarter.” 
 
 Wellsted was forced to return to Suweik, narrowly 
 escaping a Bedouin ambush on the way. As a last 
 attempt, he followed the coast as far as Schinas, 
 near the mouth of the Straits of Ormuz, and thence 
 dispatched a messenger to the Waliabees at Birsi- 
 mali. This plan also failed, and he then returned 
 to India. He has given us, however, the only au- 
 
WELLSTED 'S EXPLORATIONS IN 031AN. 57 
 
 thentic account of the scenery and inhabitants of 
 the interior of Oman, and his travels are thus 
 an important contribution to our knowledge of 
 Arabia. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 wellsted’s discovery of an ancient city in 
 
 HADBAMAUT. 
 
 W HILE employed in the survey of the south¬ 
 ern coast of Arabia in the spring of 1835, 
 Lieutenant Wellsted was occupied for a time near 
 the cape called Ras el-Aseida, in Hadramaut, 
 about one hundred miles east of Aden. On this 
 cape there is a watch-tower, with the guardian of 
 which, an officer named Hamed, he became ac¬ 
 quainted ; and on learning from the Bedouins of 
 the neighborhood that extensive ruins, which they 
 described as having been built by infidels, and of 
 great antiquity, were to be found at some distance 
 inland, he prevailed upon the officer to procure him 
 camels and guides. 
 
 One day, having landed with a midshipman in 
 order to visit some inscriptions at a few hours’ dis¬ 
 tance, the Bedouins who brought the camels re¬ 
 fused to go to the place, but expressed their will¬ 
 ingness to convey the two Europeans to the ruined 
 city. Hamed declined to accompany them, on the 
 plea of sickness, and they were unsupplied with 
 orovisions or presents for the Skeklis of the vil- 
 
DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 
 
 59 
 
 I ages on the way. Still the chance was too tempt¬ 
 ing to be lost. Wellsted decided to trust himself to 
 the uncertain protection of the Bedouins, sent his 
 boat to the surveying vessel with a message that it 
 should meet him at a point further to the westward, 
 at the end of three days, and set out for the ruins 
 late in the afternoon. 
 
 Leaving the seashore at sunset, they struck 
 northward into the interior, and travelled until 
 after midnight, passing several villages of the Diya- 
 bi Bedouins, a very fierce and powerful tribe, who 
 are dreaded by all their neighbors. Scraping for 
 themselves beds in the sand, the travellers slept un¬ 
 til daybreak without being disturbed. The path 
 soon after mounted a ledge about four hundred feet 
 in height, from the summit of which they obtained 
 an extensive but dreary view of the surrounding 
 country. Their route lay along a broad valley, 
 skirted on each side by a lofty range of mountains, 
 by eight o’clock the sun became so oppressive that 
 the Bedouins halted under the shade of some 
 stunted tamarisk trees. “ Within these burning 
 hollows,” says Wellsted, “ the sun’s rays are con¬ 
 centrated and thrown off as from a mirror: the 
 herbs around were scorched to a cindery blackness; 
 not a cloud obscured the firmament, and the breeze 
 which moaned past us was of a glowing heat, like 
 that escaping from the mouth of a furnace. Our 
 guides dug hollows in the sand, and thrust their 
 blistered feet within them. Although we were not 
 long in availing ourselves of the practical lesson 
 
60 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 they had taught us, I began to be far from pleased 
 with their churlish demeanor.” 
 
 During the day they travelled over sandy and 
 stony ridges, and late in the afternoon entered the 
 Wady Meifah, where they found wells of good wa¬ 
 ter and scanty vegetation. “ The country now be¬ 
 gan to assume a far different aspect. Numerous 
 hamlets, interspersed amid extensive date groves, 
 verdant fields of grain and herds of sleek cattle, 
 showed themselves in every direction, and we now 
 fell in with parties of inhabitants for the first time 
 since leaving the seashore. Astonishment was de¬ 
 picted on their countenances, but as we did not 
 halt, they had no opportunity of gratifying their 
 curiosity by gazing at us for any length of time.” 
 
 One of the Bedouins, however, in spite of Well- 
 sted’s remonstrances, told the people that the trav¬ 
 ellers were in search of buried treasure. When the 
 latter attempted to encamp near a village, the inha¬ 
 bitants requested them to remove ; the guides proved 
 to be ignorant of the road in the night, and they 
 would have been suffered to wander about without 
 shelter, but for the kindness of an old woman, who 
 conducted them to her house. This proved to be a 
 kind of khan for travellers, and was already so 
 crowded that the travellers were obliged to sleep in 
 an open courtyard. 
 
 They were hardly prepared for the scene which 
 daylight disclosed to them. “ The dark verdure of 
 fields of millet, sorghum, tobacco, etc., extended as 
 far as the eye could reach. Mingled with these we 
 had the soft acacia and the stately but more som- 
 
DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 
 
 61 
 
 bre foliage of the date palm ; while the creaking of 
 numerous wheels with which the grounds were irri¬ 
 gated, and in the distance several rude plows 
 drawn by oxen, the ruddy and lively appearance of 
 the people, who now flocked towards us from all 
 quarters, and the delightful and refreshing coolness 
 of the morning air, combined to form a scene which 
 he who gazes on the barren aspect of the coast 
 could never anticipate.” 
 
 After three hours’ travel through this bright and 
 populous region, they came in sight of the ruins, 
 which the inhabitants call Ncikab el-Hid jar , (mean¬ 
 ing £i The Excavation from the Rock.”) Accord¬ 
 ing to Wellsted’s estimate, they are about fifty 
 miles from the coast. 
 
 The following is Wellsted’s description of the 
 place : “ The hill upon which these ruins are situ¬ 
 
 ated stands out in the centre of the valley, and 
 divides a stream which passes, during floods, on 
 either side of it. It is nearly 800 yards in length, 
 and about 350 yards at its extreme breadth. About 
 a third of the height from its base a massive wall, 
 averaging from thirty to forty feet in height, is car¬ 
 ried completely around the eminence, and flanked 
 by square towers, erected at equal distances. There 
 are but two entrances, north and south; a hol¬ 
 low, square tower, measuring fourteen feet, stands 
 on both sides of these. Their bases extend to 
 the plain below, and are carried out considerably 
 beyond the rest of the building. Between the 
 towers, at an elevation of twenty feet from the 
 plain, there is an oblong platform which projects 
 
62 
 
 TRAVELS IN’ ARABIA . 
 
 about eighteen feet without and within the walls. 
 A-flight of steps was apparently once attached to 
 either extremity of the building. 
 
 “ Within the entrance, at an elevation of ten feet 
 from the platform, we found inscriptions. They 
 are executed with extreme care, in two horizontal 
 lines on the smooth face of the stones, the letters 
 being about eight inches long. Attempts have been 
 made, though without success, to obliterate them. 
 From the conspicuous situation which they occupy, 
 there can be but little doubt but that, when deci¬ 
 phered, they will be found to contain the name of 
 the founder of the building, as well as the date and 
 and purport of its erection.* The whole of the 
 walls and towers, and some of the edifices within, 
 are built of the same material—a compact grayish 
 colored marble, hewn to the required shape with 
 the utmost nicety. The dimensions of the slabs at 
 the base were from five to seven feet in length, two 
 to three in height, and three to four in breadth. 
 
 “ Let us now visit the interior, where the most 
 conspicuous object is an oblong square building, the 
 walls of which face the cardinal points: its dimen¬ 
 sions are twenty-seven by seventeen yards. The 
 walls are fronted with a kind of freestone, each 
 slab being cut of the same size, and the whole so 
 beautifully put together that I endeavored in vain 
 to insert the blade of a small penknife between 
 
 * The inscription, which is copied in Lieutenant Wallsted’s 
 work, appears to be in the Himyaritic character. If any transla¬ 
 tion cf it has ever been made, the compiler is unable to say 
 where it can be found. 
 
RUINS OP NAKAB-EL-IIADJAR, IN HADRAMAUT. 
 
DISCOVERT OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 
 
 63 
 
 them. The outer, unpolished surface is covered 
 with small chisel-marks, which the Bedouins have 
 mistaken for writing. From the extreme care dis¬ 
 played in the construction of this building, I have 
 no doubt that it is a temple, and my disappoint¬ 
 ment at finding the interior filled up with the ruins 
 of the fallen roof was very great. Had it re¬ 
 mained entire, we might have obtained some clue 
 to guide us in our researches respecting the form of 
 religion professed by the earlier Arabs. Above 
 and beyond this building there are several other 
 edifices, with nothing peculiar in their form or 
 appearance. 
 
 “ In no portion of the ruins did we succeed in 
 tracing any remains of arches or columns, nor 
 could we discover on their surface any of those 
 fragments of pottery, colored glass or metals, 
 which are always found in old Egyptian towns, and 
 which I also saw in those we discovered on the 
 northwest coast of Arabia. Except the attempts 
 to deface the inscriptions, there is no other appear¬ 
 ance of the buildings having suffered from any rav¬ 
 ages besides those of time ; and owing to the dry¬ 
 ness of the climate, as well as the hardness of the 
 material, every stone, even to the marking of the 
 chisel, remains as perfect as the day it was hewn. 
 We were anxious to ascertain if the Arabs had 
 preserved any tradition concerning the building, 
 but they refer them, like other Arabs, to their pa¬ 
 gan ancesto/s. £ Do you believe,’ said one of the 
 Bedouins to me upon my telling him that his an¬ 
 cestors were then capable of greater works than 
 
(5 4 
 
 TTwl PEES I2V ARABIA. 
 
 themselves, ‘that these stones were raised by the 
 unassisted hands of the Kafirs ? No! no! They 
 had devils, legions of devils, (God preserve us from 
 them !) to aid them.’ ” 
 
 On his return to the sea, which occupied a day 
 and a half, Wellsted was kindly treated by the na¬ 
 tives, and suffered only from the intense heat. 
 The vessel was fortunately waiting at the appointed 
 place. Since the journey was made, (in 1836,) Ba¬ 
 ron von Wrede, a German traveller, has succeeded 
 in exploring a portion of Hadramant, penetrating 
 as far as Wady Doan, a large and populous valley, 
 more than a hundred miles from the coast. But a 
 thorough exploration of both Yemen and Hadra- 
 m&nt is still wanting, and when made, it will un¬ 
 doubtedly result in many important discoveries. 
 
CHAPTER YH. 
 
 burton’s PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. 
 
 C APT. RICHARD E. BIJRTON, the discoverer 
 of the great lake Tanganyika, in Central Africa, 
 first became known to the world by his daring and 
 entirely successful visit to Medina and Mecca, in the 
 year 1853, in the disguise of a Moslem pilgrim. 
 Although his journey was that of Burckhardt, re¬ 
 versed, and he describes the same ceremonies, his 
 account supplies many deficiencies in the narrative 
 of his predecessor, and has the merit of a livelier 
 and more graphic style. 
 
 Burton’s original design was to cross the Arabian 
 Peninsula from west to east, as Palgrave has since 
 done, and the Royal Geographical Society was dis¬ 
 posed to accept his services. But he failed to ob¬ 
 tain a sufficient leave of absence from the East 
 India Company, which only granted him a furlough 
 of one year,—a period quite insufficient for the 
 undertaking. He therefore determined to prove 
 at least his fitness for the task, by making the pil¬ 
 grimage to the holy cities. He was already familiar 
 with the Arabic and Persian languages, and had 
 the advantage of an Eastern cast of countenance. 
 
66 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 Like Burckhardt, lie assumed an Oriental charac¬ 
 ter at the stay, and during the voyage from South¬ 
 ampton to Alexandria was supposed to be a Per¬ 
 sian prince. For two or three months he laboriously 
 applied himself in Egypt to the necessary religious 
 studies, joined a society of dervishes, under the 
 name of Shekh Abdullah, kept the severe fast of 
 Eamazan, and familiarized himself with all the or¬ 
 thodox forms of ablution, prayer, and prostration. 
 He gave himself out to be an Affghan by birth, but 
 long absent from his native country, a character 
 which was well adapted to secure him against de¬ 
 tection. During his stay in Cairo he made the ac¬ 
 quaintance of a boy named Mohammed el-Basyuni, 
 a native of Mecca, who became his companion for 
 the journey, and who seems not to have suspected 
 his real character until the pilgrimage was over. 
 
 Having purchased a tent and laid in an ample 
 supply of provisions, with about $100 in money, he 
 went to Suez about the 1st of July, with the avowed 
 purpose of proceeding to Mecca by way of Djidda, 
 yet with the secret intention of visiting Medina on 
 the way. Here he became acquainted with a com¬ 
 pany of pilgrims, whose good will he secured by 
 small loans of money, and joined them in taking 
 passage in a large Arab boat, bound for Yembo. 
 The vessel was called the “ Golden Wire.” “ Im¬ 
 mense was the confusion,” says Burton, “ on the 
 eventful day of our departure. Suppose us standing 
 on the beach, on the morning of a fiery July day, 
 carefully watching our hurriedly-packed goods and 
 chattels, surrounded by a mob of idlers who are not 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MELINA AND MECCA. GT 
 
 too proud to pick up waifs and strays, while pilgrims 
 rush about apparently mad, and friends are weeping, 
 acquaintances vociferating adieux, boatmen demand¬ 
 ing fees, shopmen claiming debts, women shrieking 
 and talking with inconceivable power, children cry¬ 
 ing,—in short, for an hour or so we were in the 
 thick of a human storm. To confound confusion, 
 the boatmen have moored their skiff half a dozen 
 yards away from the shore, lest the porters should 
 be unable to make more than double their fare 
 from the pilgrims.” 
 
 They sailed on the 6th of July, and were five 
 days in reaching the mouth of the Gulf of Akaba. 
 While crossing to the Arabian shore, the pilgrims 
 are accustomed to repeat the following prayer, which 
 is a good example of Moslem invocation : “ O Allah 
 O Exalted, O Almighty, O All-pitiful, O All-power¬ 
 ful, thou art my God, and sufficeth to me the know¬ 
 ledge of it! Glorified be the Lord my Lord, and 
 glorified be the faith my faith! Thou givest victory 
 to whom thou pleasest, and thou art the glorious, 
 the merciful! We pray thee for safety in our goings- 
 forth and in our standings-still, in our words and 
 our designs, in our dangers of temptation and 
 doubts, and the secret designs of our hearts. Sub¬ 
 ject unto us this sea, even as thou didst subject the 
 deep to Moses, and as thou didst subject the fire to 
 Abraham, and as thou didst subject the iron to 
 David, and as thou didst subject the wind, and 
 devils, and genii, and mankind to Solomon, and as 
 thou didst subject the moon and El-Burak to Mo¬ 
 hammed, upon whom be Allah’s mercy and His 
 
68 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 blessing! And subject unto us all the seas in earth 
 and heaven, in the visible and in thine invisible 
 worlds, the sea of this life, and the sea of futuiity. 
 O thou who reignest over everything, and unto 
 whom all things return, Khyar ! Khyar !” 
 
 A further voyage of another week, uncomfortable 
 and devoid of incident, brought the vessel to Yembo, 
 As the pilgrims were desirous of pushing on to Me¬ 
 dina, camels were hired on the day of arrival, and, 
 a week’s provisions having been purchased, the little 
 caravan started the next afternoon. Burton, by the 
 advice of his companions, assumed the Arab dress, 
 but travelled in a litter, both because of an injury 
 to his foot, and because he could thus take notes on 
 the way without being observed. On account of 
 the heat the caravan travelled mostly by night; the 
 country, thus dimly seen, was low and barren for 
 the first two days, but on the third day they reached 
 a wilder region, which Burton thus describes : “ We 
 travelled through a country fantastic in its deso¬ 
 lation—a mass of huge hills, barren plains, and 
 desert vales. Even the sturdy acacias here failed, 
 and in some places the camel grass could not find 
 earth enough to take root in. The road wound 
 among mountains, rocks, and hills of granite, over 
 broken ground, Hanked by huge blocks and boulders, 
 piled up as if man’s art had aided nature to dis¬ 
 figure herself. Yast clefts seemed like scars on the 
 hideous face of earth ; here they widened into dark 
 caves, there they were choked up with glistening 
 drift sand. Not a bird or a beast was to be seen or 
 heard ; their presence would have argued the vicinity 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. 
 
 69 
 
 of water, and though my companions opined that 
 Bedouins were lurking among the rocks, I decided 
 that these Bedouins were the creatures of their 
 fears. Above, a sky like polished blue steel, with a 
 tremendous blaze of yellow light glared upon us, 
 without the thinnest veil of mist or cloud. The distant 
 prospect, indeed, was more attractive than the near 
 view, because it borrowed a bright azure tinge from 
 the intervening atmosphere; but the jagged peaks 
 and the perpendicular streaks of shadow down the 
 flanks of the mountainous background showed that 
 no change for the better was yet in store for us.” 
 
 At the little towns of El-Hamra and Bir Abbas 
 the caravan rested a day, suffering much from the 
 intense heat, and with continual quarrels between 
 the pilgrims and the Arabs to whom, the camels 
 belonged. At the latter place they were threatened 
 with a detention of several days, but the difficulty 
 was settled, and they set out upon the most danger¬ 
 ous portion of the road. “We travelled that night,” 
 says Burton, “up a dry river-course in an easterly 
 direction, and at early dawn found ourselves in an 
 ill-famed gorge, called Shuab el-Hadj (the ‘ Pilgrim’s 
 Pass.*) The loudest talkers became silent as we 
 neared it, and their countenances showed appre¬ 
 hension written in legible characters. Presently, 
 from the high, precipitous cliff on our left, thin blue 
 curls of smoke,—somehow or other they caught 
 every eye,—rose in the air, and instantly afterwards 
 rang the loud, sharp cracks of the hill-men’s match¬ 
 locks, echoed by the rocks on the right. My shug- 
 duf had been broken by the camel’s falling during 
 
70 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 the night, so I called out to Mansur that we had 
 better splice the frame-work with a bit of rope ; he 
 looked up, saw me laughing, and with an ejaculation 
 of disgust disappeared. A number of Bedouins 
 were to be seen swarming like hornets over the 
 crests of the rocks, boys as well as men carrying 
 huge weapons, and climbing with the agility of cats. 
 They took up comfortable places in the cut-throat 
 eminence, and began firing upon us with perfect 
 convenience to themselves. The height of the hills 
 and the glare of the rising sun prevented my seeing 
 objects very distinctly, but my companions pointed 
 out to me places where the rock had been scarped, 
 and a kind of breastwork of rough stones—the San- 
 gah of Affghanistan, piled up as a defence, and a 
 rest for the long barrel of the matchlock. It was 
 useless to challenge the Bedouins to come down 
 and fight us upon the plain like men ; and it was 
 equally unprofitable for our escort to fire upon a foe 
 ensconced behind stones. We had, therefore, nothing 
 to do but to blaze away as much powder and to 
 veil ourselves in as much smoke as possible ; the re¬ 
 sult of the affair was that we lost twelve men, be¬ 
 sides camels and other beasts of burden. Though 
 the bandits showed no symptoms of bravery, and 
 confined themselves to slaughtering the enemy from 
 their liill-top, my companions seemed to consider 
 this questionable affair a most gallant exploit.” 
 
 After two more days of severe travel, the pilgrims, 
 at early dawn, came in sight of the holy city of Me¬ 
 dina. Burton thus describes the approach, and the 
 view from the western ridge : “ Half an hour after 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. 71 
 
 leaving the Wady el-Akik, or “ Blessed Valley,” we 
 came to a huge flight of steps, roughly cut in a long, 
 broad line of black, scoriaceous basalt. This is 
 called the Mudarraj , or flight of steps over the 
 western ridge of the so-called El-Harratain; it is 
 holy ground, for the Prophet spoke well of it. 
 Arrived at the top, we passed through a lane of 
 black scoria, with steep banks on both sides, and, 
 after a few minutes, a full view of the city suddenly 
 opened on us. We halted our beasts as if by word 
 of command. All of us descended, in imitation of 
 the pious of old, and sat down, jaded and hungry 
 as we were, to feast our eyes with a view of the 
 Holy City. The prayer was, ‘ 0 Allah ! this is the 
 Haram (sanctuary) of the Prophet; make it to us a 
 protection from hell fire, and a refuge from eternal 
 punishment! 0, open the gates of thy mercy, and 
 let us pass through them to the land of joy P ” 
 
 “ As we looked eastward, the sun arose out of the 
 horizon of low hills, blurred and dotted with small 
 tufted trees, which gained a giant stature from the 
 morning mists, and the earth was stained with gold 
 and purple. Before us lay a spacious plain, 
 bounded in front by the undulating ground of 
 Nedjed ; on the left was a grim barrier of rocks, the 
 celebrated Mount Ohod, with a clump of verdure 
 and a white dome or two nestling at its base. 
 Rightward, broad streaks of lilac-colored mists were 
 thick with gathered dew, there pierced and thinned 
 by the morning rays, stretched over the date groves 
 and the gardens of Kuba, which stood out in 
 emerald green from the dull tawny surface of the 
 
72 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 plain. Below, at the distance of about two miles, 
 lay El Medina; at first sight it appeared a large 
 place, but a closer inspection proved the impression 
 to be an erroneous one.” 
 
 On arriving at Medina, Burton became the guest 
 of one of the company he had met at Suez, 
 and, during his stay of a month in the city, per¬ 
 formed all the religious ceremonies and visitations 
 which are prescribed for the pilgrim. He gives the 
 following description of the Prophet’s mosque : 
 “ Passing through muddy streets—they had been 
 freshly watered before evening time—I came sud¬ 
 denly upon the mosque. Like that at Mecca, the 
 approach is choked up by ignoble buildings, some 
 actually touching the holy ‘ enceinte,’ others sepa¬ 
 rated by a lane compared with which the road 
 around St. Paul’s is a Vatican square. There is 
 no outer front, no general aspect of the Prophet’s 
 mosque; consequently, as a building it has neither 
 beauty nor dignity. And entering the Bab el-Bali- 
 mah—the Gate of Pity—by a diminutive flight of 
 steps, I was astonished at the mean and tawdry ap¬ 
 pearance of a place so universally venerated in the 
 Moslem world. It is not like the Meccan mosque, 
 grand and simple—the expression of a single sub¬ 
 lime idea; the longer I looked at it the more it 
 suggested the resemblance of a musuem of second- 
 rate art, a curiosity-sliop, full of ornaments that 
 are not accessories, and decorated with pauper 
 splendor.” 
 
 We must also quote the traveller’s account of his 
 manner of spending the day, during his residence in 
 
VIEW OF MEDINA FROM THE WEST. 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. 73 
 
 Medina : “ At dawn we arose, washed, prayed and 
 
 broke our fast upon a crust of stale bread, before 
 smoking a pipe, and drinking a cup of coffee. 
 Then it was time to dress, to mount, and to visit 
 the Haram in one of the holy places outside the 
 city. Returning before the sun became intolerable, 
 we sat together, and with conversation, shishas and 
 chibouques, coffee and cold water perfumed with 
 mastich-smoke, we whiled away the time till our 
 ariston , an early dinner which appeared at the pri¬ 
 mitive hour of 11 A. M. The meal was served in 
 the majlis on a large copper tray, sent from the 
 upper apartments. Ejaculating “ Bismillah ”—the 
 Moslem grace—we all sat round it, and dipped equal 
 hands in the dishes set before us. We had usually 
 unleavened bread, different kinds of meat and vege¬ 
 table stews, and at the end of the first course plain 
 boiled rice, eaten with spoons; then came the fruits, 
 fresh dates, grapes, and pomegranates. After 
 dinner I used invariably to find some excuse—such 
 as the habit of a “ Kaylulah,” (mid-day siesta,) or 
 the being a “ Saudawi ” or person of melancholy 
 temperament, to have a rug spread in the dark pas¬ 
 sage, and there to lie reading, dozing, smoking or 
 writing, all through the worst part of the day, from 
 noon to sunset. Then came the hour for receiving 
 and paying visits. The evening prayers ensued, 
 either at home or in the Haram, followed by our 
 supper, another substantial meal like the dinner, 
 but more plentiful, of bread, meat, vegetables, rice 
 and fruits. In the evening, we sometimes dressed 
 in common clothes, and went to the cafe sometimes 
 
74 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 on festive occasions we indulged in a late snppei of 
 sweetmeats, pomegranates and dried fruits. Usually 
 we sat upon mattresses spread upon the ground in 
 the open air at the Shekh’s door, receiving evening 
 visits, chatting, telling stories, and making merry, 
 till each, as he felt the approach of the drowsy god, 
 sank down into his proper place, and fell asleep. 
 
 Burton was charmed with the garden and date- 
 groves about Medina, and enjoyed the excursions, 
 which were enjoined upon him as a pilgrim, to Jebel 
 Oliod, the mosque of Kuba, and other places in the 
 vicinity of the city. On the 28th of August the 
 caravan of pilgrims from Damascus arrived, and, on 
 account of danger from the Bedouins, decided to 
 leave on the fourth day afterwards, taking the 
 Desert road to Mecca, the same travelled by the 
 Caliph Haroun El-Raschid and his wife Zobeida, 
 instead of the longer road nearer the coast, which 
 Burckhardt had followed. When this plan was an¬ 
 nounced, Burton and his companions had but twenty- 
 four hours to make the necessary preparations ; but 
 by hard work they were ready. Leaving Medina, 
 they hastened onward to secure good places in the 
 caravan, which was composed of about 7,000 pil¬ 
 grims, and extended over many miles of the road. 
 
 For the first four days they travelled southward 
 over a wild, desolate country, almost destitute of 
 water and vegetation. On account of heat, as well 
 as for greater security, the journey was made chiefly 
 by night, although the forced marches between tho 
 wells obliged them sometimes to endure the greatest 
 heat of the day. Burton says“ I can scarcely 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. 75 
 
 ¥ 
 
 find words to express the weary horrors of a long 
 night’s march, during which the hapless traveller, 
 fuming, if a European, with disappointment in his 
 hopes of “ seeing the country,” is compelled to sit 
 upon the back of a creeping camel. The day sleep 
 too is a kind of lethargy, and it is all but impossible 
 to preserve an appetite during the hours of heat.” 
 
 After making ninety-nine miles from Medina, they 
 reached the village of El Suwayrkiyah, which is in¬ 
 cluded within the Meccan territory. The town, con- 
 consisting of about 100 houses, is built at the base 
 and on the sides of a basaltic mass, which rises 
 abruptly from the hard clayey plain. The summit 
 is converted into a rude fortalice by a bulwark of 
 uncut stone, piled up so as to make a parapet. The 
 lower part of the town is protected by a mud wall, 
 with the usual semicircular towers. Inside there is a 
 bazaar, well supplied with meat (principally mutton) 
 by the neighboring Bedouins, and wheat, barley, 
 and dates are grown near the town. There is little 
 to describe in the narrow streets and the mud 
 houses, -which are essentially Arab. The fields 
 around are divided into little square plots by earthen 
 ridges and stone walls ; some of the palms are fine 
 grown trees, and the wells appeared numerous. The 
 water is near the surface and plentiful, but it has a 
 brackish taste, highly disagreeable after a few days’ 
 use, and the effects are the reverse of chalybeate. 
 
 Seventeen miles beyond the El Suwayrkiyah is 
 the small village of Sufayuah, beyond which the 
 country becomes again very wild and barren. Bur¬ 
 ton thus describes the scenery, the day after leaving 
 
76 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 Sufayuah: “ This day’s march was peculiarly 
 
 Arabia. It was a desert peopled only with echoes— 
 a place of death for what little there is to die in it 
 —a wilderness, where, to use my companion’s phrase, 
 there is nothing but He (Allah.) Nature, scalped, 
 flayed, discovered her anatomy to the gazer’s eye. 
 The horizon was a sea of mirage ; gigantic sand- 
 columns whirled over the plain ; and on both sides 
 of our road were huge piles of bare rock, standing 
 detached upon the surface of sand and clay. Here 
 they appeared in oval lumps, heaped up with a 
 semblance of symmetry; there a single boulder 
 stood, with its narrow foundation based upon a pe¬ 
 destal of low, dome-shaped rock. All are of a pink 
 coarse-grained granite, which flakes off in large 
 crusts under the influence of the atmosphere,” 
 
 After four more long marches, the caravan reached 
 a station called El Zaribah, where the pilgrims 
 halted a day to assume the ihram , or costume which 
 they wear on approaching Mecca. They were now 
 in the country of the Utaybali Bedouins, the most 
 fierce and hostile of all the tribes on the road. 
 Although only two marches, or fifty miles, from 
 Mecca, the pilgrims were by no means safe, as the 
 night after they left Zaribah testified. While 
 threading a narrow pass between high rocks, in the 
 twilight, there was a sudden discharge of musketry 
 and some camels dropped dead. The Utaybah, 
 hidden behind the rocks crowning the pass, poured 
 down an irregular fire upon the pilgrims, who were 
 panic-stricken and fell into great disorder. The 
 Wahabees, however, commenced scaling the rocks, 
 
PILGFIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. 77 
 
 and very soon drove the robbers from tlieir ambush. 
 The caravan then hurried forward in great disorder, 
 leaving the dead and severely wounded lying on the 
 ground. 
 
 “ At the beginning of the skirmish,” says Burton, 
 “ I had primed my pistols, and sat with them ready 
 for use. But soon seeing that there was nothing to 
 be done, and, wishing to make an impression,—no¬ 
 where does Bobadil now “ go down ” but in the 
 East,—I called aloud for my supper. Shekh Nur, 
 exanimate with fear, could not move. The boy 
 Mohammed ejaculated only an “ Oh, sir ! ” and the 
 people around exclaimed in disgust, “ By Allah ! he 
 eats ! ” Shekh Abdullah, the Meccan, being a man 
 of spirit, was amused by the spectacle. “ Are these 
 Affghan manners, Effendim ? ” he inquired from the 
 sliugduf behind me. “ Yes,” I replied aloud, “ in 
 my country we always dine before an attack of 
 robbers, because that gentry is in the habit of send¬ 
 ing men to bed supperless.” The Shekh laughed 
 aloud, but those around him looked offended.” 
 
 The morning after this adventure, the pilgrims 
 reached the Wady Laymun, or Valley of Limes, a 
 beautiful region of gardens and orchards, only 24 
 miles from Mecca. Here they halted four hours to 
 rest, and enjoy the fruits and fresh water ; then the 
 line of march was resumed towards the Holy City. 
 In the afternoon, the range of Jebel Kora, in the 
 southeast, became visible, and as. evening ap¬ 
 proached all eyes were strained, but in vain, for a 
 sight of Mecca. Night came down, and the pil¬ 
 grims moved slowly onward, in the darkness. An 
 
78 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 hour after midnight, Burton was roused by a gen¬ 
 eral excitement in the caravan. “ Mecca ! Mecca ! ’ 
 cried some voices ; “ The Sanctuary, O the Sanc¬ 
 tuary ! ” exclaimed others, and all burst into loud 
 cries of “ Labeyk! ” not unfrequently broken by 
 sobs. Looking out from his litter, the traveller saw 
 by the light of the southern stars, the dim outlines 
 of a large city. They were passing over the last 
 rocky ridge, by an artificial cut. The winding path 
 was flanked on both sides by high watch-towers ; a 
 short distance further, they entered the northern 
 suburb. 
 
 The Meccan boy Mohammed, who had been Bur¬ 
 ton’s companion during the pilgrimage, conducted 
 the latter to his mother’s house, where he remained 
 during his stay. A meal of vermicelli and sugar 
 was prepared on their arrival in the night, and after 
 an hour or two of sleep they rose at dawn, in order 
 to perform the ceremonies of arrival. After having 
 bathed, they walked in their pilgrim garb to the 
 Beit Allah , or “ House of God.” 
 
 “ There,” says Burton, “ there at last it lay, the 
 bourne of my long and weary pilgrimage, realizing 
 the plans and hopes of many and many a year. 
 The mirage medium of fancy invested the huge cata¬ 
 falque and its gloomy pall with peculiar charms. 
 There were no giant fragments of hoar antiquity as 
 in Egypt, no remains of graceful and harmonious 
 beauty as in Greece and Italy, no barbaric gorgeous¬ 
 ness as in the buildings of India ; yet the view was 
 strange, unique, and how few have looked upon the 
 celebrated shrine ! I may truly say that, of all the 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA ANT MECCA. 
 
 79 
 
 worshippers who clung weeping to the curtain, or 
 who pressed their beating hearts to the stone, none 
 felt for the moment a deeper emotion than did the 
 Hadji from the far north. It was as if the poetical 
 legends of the Arab spoke truth, and that the waving 
 wings of angels, not the sweet breeze of morning, 
 were agitating and swelling the black covering of 
 the shrine. But, to confess humbling truth, theirs 
 was the high feeling of religious enthusiasm, mine 
 was the ecstasy of gratified pride.” 
 
 Burton’s description of the Beit Allah and the 
 Kaaba, is more minute and careful than that of 
 Burckhardt, but does not differ from it in any im¬ 
 portant particular. Neither is it necessary to quote 
 his account of the ceremonies to be performed by 
 each individual pilgrim, with all their mechanical 
 prostrations and repetitions. His account of the 
 visit to the famous Black Stone, however, is both 
 curious and amusing: “For a long time I stood 
 looking in despair at the swarming crowd of Be¬ 
 douin and other pilgrims that besieged it. But the 
 boy Mohammed was equal to the occasion. During 
 our circuit he had displayed a fiery zeal against 
 heresy and schism, by foully abusing every Persian 
 in his path ; and the inopportune introduction of 
 hard words into his prayers made the latter a 
 strange patchwork. He might, for instance, be re¬ 
 peating 4 and I take refuge with thee from ignominy 
 in this world,’ when, 4 O thou rejected one, son of 
 the rejected! ” would be the interpolation ad¬ 
 dressed to some long-bearded Kliorasani, “ and in 
 that to come—0 hog and brother of a hoggess 1 
 
JO 
 
 TRAVELS L V ARABIA. 
 
 And so he continued till I wondered that no one 
 dared to turn and rend him. After vainly address¬ 
 ing the pilgrims, of whom nothing could be seen 
 but a mosaic of occiputs and shoulder-blades, the 
 boy Mohammed collected about half a dozen stal¬ 
 wart Meccans, with whose assistance, by sheer 
 strength, we wedged our way into the thin and 
 light-legged crowd. The Bedouins turned round 
 upon us like wildcats, but they had no daggers. 
 The season being autumn, they had not swelled 
 themselves with milk for six months ; and they had 
 become such living mummies, that I could have 
 managed single-handed half a dozen of them. 
 After thus reaching the stone, despite popular indig¬ 
 nation, testified by impatient shouts, we monopo¬ 
 lized the use of it for at least ten minutes. Whilst 
 kissing it and rubbing hands and forehead upon it 
 I narrowly observed it, and came away persuaded 
 that it is a big aerolite.” 
 
 On the 12th of September, the pilgrims set out 
 for Mount Arafat. Three miles from Mecca there 
 is a large village called Muna, noted for three 
 standing miracles—the pebbles, there thrown at the 
 Devil, return by angelic agency to whence they 
 came; during the three days of drying meat rapa¬ 
 cious birds and beasts cannot prey there, and flies 
 do not settle upon the articles of food exposed in 
 the bazaars. Beyond the place there is a mosque 
 called El Kliayf, where, according to some tradi¬ 
 tions, Adam is buried, his head being at one end of 
 the long wall and his feet at the other, while th 
 the dome is built over his naveL 
 
CAMP AT MOUNT ARAFAT. 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. gl 
 
 “Arafat,” says Burton, “ is about a six hours’ 
 march, or twelve miles, on the Taif road, due east 
 of Mecca. We arrived there in a shorter time, 
 but our weary camels, during the last third of the 
 way, frequently threw themselves upon the ground. 
 Human beings suffered more. Between Muna and 
 Arafat I saw no less than five men fall down and 
 clie upon the highway ; exhausted and moribund, 
 they had dragged themselves out to give up the 
 ghost where it departs to instant beatitude. The 
 spectacle showed how easy it is to die in these lati¬ 
 tudes ; each man suddenly staggered, fell as if shot, 
 and, after a brief convulsion, lay still as marble. 
 The corpses were carefully taken up, and carelessly 
 buried that same evening, in a vacant space amongst 
 the crowds encaimped upon the Arafat plain. 
 
 “ Nothing can be more picturesque than the view 
 the mountain affords of the blue peaks behind, and 
 the vast encampment scattered over the barren 
 yellow plain below. On the north lay the regularly 
 pitched camp of the guards that defend the unarmed 
 pilgrims. To the eastward was the Scherif’s encamp¬ 
 ment with the bright mahmals and the gilt knobs of 
 the grander pavilions; whilst, on the southern and 
 western sides, the tents of the vulgar crowded the 
 ground, disposed in dowars, or circles, for penning 
 cattle. After many calculations, I estimated the 
 number to be not less that 50,000, of all ages and 
 sexes.” 
 
 After the sermon on Arafat, which Burton de¬ 
 scribes in the same manner as Burckhardt, the for¬ 
 mer gives an account of the subsequent ceremony of 
 
82 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 “ stoning the Great Devil ” near the village oI 
 Mima: “The Shaytan el-Kabir” is a dwarf but¬ 
 tress of rude masonry, about eight feet high by two; 
 and a half broad, placed against a rough wall of 
 stones, at the Meccan entrance to Muna. As the 
 ceremony of “ Ramy,” or Lapidation, must be per¬ 
 formed on the first day by all pilgrims between sun¬ 
 rise and sunset, and as the fiend was malicious 
 enough to appear in a rugged pass, the crowd makes 
 the place dangerous. On one side of the road, 
 which is not forty feet broad, stood a row of shops 
 belonging principally to barbers. On the other side 
 is the rugged wall of the pillar, with a chevaux de 
 frise of Bedouins and naked boys. The narrow 
 space was crowded with pilgrims, all struggling like 
 drowning men to approach as near as possible to the 
 Devil ;—it would have been easy to run over the 
 heads of the mass. Amongst them were horsemen 
 with rearing chargers. Bedouins on wild camels, 
 and grandees on mules and asses, with outrunners, 
 were breaking a way by assault and battery. I had 
 read Ali Bey’s self-felicitations upon escaping this 
 place with “ only two wounds in the left leg,” and 
 had duly provided myself with a hidden dagger. 
 The precaution was not useless. Scarcely had my 
 donkey entered the crowd than he was overthrown 
 by a dromedary, and I found myself under the 
 stamping and roaring beast’s stomach. By a judi¬ 
 cious use of the knife, I avoided being trampled 
 upon, and lost no time in escaping from a place so 
 ignobly dangerous. Finding an opening at last, we 
 approached within about five cubits of the place. 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. 83 
 
 and holding each stone between the thumb and fore¬ 
 finger of the ring hand, cast it at the pillar, exclaim¬ 
 ing : £ In the name of Allah, and Allah is Almighty, 
 I do this in hatred of the Fiend and to his shame.’ 
 The seven stones being duly thrown, we retired, and 
 entering the barber’s booth, took our places upon one 
 of the earthern benches around it. This was the 
 time to remove the ihrarn or pilgrim’s garb, and to 
 return to ihlal, the normal state of El Islam. The 
 barber shaved our heads, and, after trimming our 
 beards and cutting our nails, made us repeat these 
 words: “ I purpose loosening my ihrarn according 
 to the practice of the Prophet, whom may Allah 
 bless and preserve ! 0 Allah, make unto me in every 
 hair, a light, a purity, and a generous reward! In 
 the name of Allah, and Allah is Almighty! ” At 
 the conclusion of his labor the barber politely ad¬ 
 dressed to us a u Naiman ”—Pleasure to you ! To 
 which we as ceremoniously replied, “ Allah give 
 thee pleasure ! ” 
 
 We will conclude these quotations from Burton’s 
 narrative with his description of a sermon in the 
 great mosque of Mecca. “After returning to the 
 city from the sacrifice of sheep in the valley of Muna, 
 we bathed, and when noon drew nigh we repaired 
 to the Haram for the purpose of hearing the ser¬ 
 mon. Descending to the cloisters below the Bab el- 
 Ziyadah, I stood wonderstruck by the scene before 
 me. The vast quadrangle was crowded with wor¬ 
 shippers sitting in long rows, and everywhere facing 
 the central black tower: the showy colors of their 
 dresses were not to be surpassed by a garden of the 
 
84 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 most brilliant flowers, and such diversity of detail 
 would probably not be seen massed together in any 
 other building upon earth. The women, a dull and 
 sombre-looking group, sat apart in their peculiar 
 place. The Pasha stood on the roof of Zem Zem, 
 surrounded by guards in Nizam uniform. Where 
 the principal ulema stationed themselves the crowd 
 was thicker ; and in the more auspicious spots naught 
 was to be seen but a pavement of heads and shoul¬ 
 ders. Nothing seemed to move but a few dervishes, 
 who, censer in hand, sidled through the rows and 
 received the unsolicited alms of the faithful. Appa¬ 
 rently in the midst, and raised above the crowd by 
 the tall, pointed pulpit, whose gilt spire flamed in 
 the sun, sat the preacher, an old man with snowy 
 beard. The style of head-dress called “ taylasan ” 
 covered his turban, which was white as his robes, 
 and a short staff supported his left hand. Presently 
 lie arose, took the staff in his right hand, pronounced 
 a few inaudible words, and sat down again on one of 
 the lower steps, whilst a Muezzin, at the foot of the 
 pulpit, recited the call to sermon. Then the old man 
 stood up and began to preach. As the majestic figure 
 began to exert itself there was a deep silence. Pres¬ 
 ently a general “ Amin ” was intoned by the crowd 
 at the conclusion of some long sentence. And at last, 
 towards the end of the sermon, every third or fourth 
 word was followed by the simultaneous rise and fall 
 of thousands of voices. 
 
 “ I have seen the religious ceremonies of many 
 lands, but never—nowhere—aught so solemn, so im¬ 
 pressive as this spectacle.” 
 
COSTUME OF PILGRIMS TO MECCA 
 
PILGRIMAGE TO MEDINA AND MECCA. 85 
 
 Finding that it was impossible for him to under¬ 
 take the journey across Central Arabia, both for 
 lack of time and the menacing attitude of the Desert 
 tribes, Burton left Mecca for Djidda, at the end of 
 September. Starting in the afternoon, the chance 
 caravan of returning pilgrims reached, about mid¬ 
 night, a mass of huts called El Hadda, which is the 
 usual half-way halting place. It is maintained solely 
 for the purpose of supplying travellers with coffee 
 and water. Here the country slopes gradually to¬ 
 wards the sea, the hills recede, and every feature de¬ 
 notes departure from the upland plateau of Mecca. 
 After reaching here, and at- some solitary coffee¬ 
 houses further on the way, the pilgrims reached Djid¬ 
 da safely at eight in the morning. 
 
 From this place Burton took passage on a steamer 
 for Suez, and returned to Cairo, but without the 
 Meccan boy, Mohammed, who began to have a sus¬ 
 picion of his true character, after seeing him in com¬ 
 pany with some English officers, and who left him 
 before embarking. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PALGRAVE’S TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ARABIA I FROM PAL* 
 
 ESTINE TO THE DJOWF. 
 
 M R. WILLIAM GIFFORD PALGRAVE, son 
 of Sir Francis Palgrave, the historian, per¬ 
 formed, in 1862-3, a journey in Arabia, which gives 
 us the first clear and full account of the interior 
 of the country, including the great Wahabee state 
 of Nedjed, the early home of Arabian poetry and 
 also of the famous Arabian breed of horses. Mr. 
 Palgrave’s qualifications for the undertaking were 
 in some respects superior to those of either Burck- 
 liardt or Burton. To a high degree of general 
 culture and a vigorous and picturesque style as a 
 writer, he added a knowledge of the Arabic lan¬ 
 guage and literature equal to that of any native 
 scholar: he spoke the language as well as his 
 mother tongue; his features were sufficiently Ori¬ 
 ental to disarm suspicion, and years of residence 
 in the East had rendered him entirely familiar with 
 the habits of the people and even with all those mi¬ 
 nor forms of etiquette which are so rarely acquired 
 by a stranger. His narrative, therefore, is as admir¬ 
 able and satisfactory in its character as the fields he 
 traversed were new and fascinating. It throws, in¬ 
 deed, so much indirect light upon the experiences of 
 all his predecessors, and is so much richer in its 
 
PALGEA VE'S TEA VELS. 
 
 87 
 
 illustrations of Arab life and character, that no biief 
 summary of its contents can do justice to its impor¬ 
 tance. 
 
 Of the first stage of the journey, from Gaza on the 
 Mediterranean to the little town of Ma’an, which 
 lies on the route of the caravans from Damascus to 
 
 WILLIAM GIFFORD PALGRAVE. 
 
 Mecca, a short distance to the northeast of Petra, 
 
 on the boundary between the coun¬ 
 try of Moab and E lorn, Palgrave gives us no account. 
 Yet, in spite of the comparatively brief distance 
 traversed, it must have been both laborious and dan¬ 
 gerous. His narrative commences as follows, at the 
 moment of his departure from Ma’an : 
 
 and thus nearly 
 
88 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 “ Once for all let us attempt to acquire a fairly 
 correct and comprehensive knowledge of the Arabi¬ 
 an Peninsula. With its coasts we are already in 
 great measure acquainted; several of its maritime 
 provinces have been, if not thoroughly, at least suf¬ 
 ficiently, explored; Yemen and Hejaz, Mecca and 
 Medina, are no longer mysteries to us, nor are we 
 wholly without information on the districts of Ha- 
 dram aut and Oman. But of the interior of the vast 
 region, of its plains and mountains, its tribes and 
 cities, of its governments and institutions, of its in¬ 
 habitants, their ways and customs, of their social 
 condition, how far advanced in civilization or sunk 
 in barbarism, what do we as yet really know, save 
 from accounts necessarily wanting in fullness and 
 precision? It is time to fill up this blank in the 
 map of Asia, and this, at whatever risks, we will now 
 endeavor; either the land before us shall be our 
 tomb, or we will traverse it in its fullest breadth, 
 and know what it contains from shore to shore. 
 Vestigia nulla r dr or sum V 
 
 “ Such were my thoughts, and such, more or less, 
 I should suppose,.those of my companion, when we 
 found ourselves at fall of night without the eastern 
 gate of Ma’an, while the Arabs, our guides and fel¬ 
 low-travellers, filled their water-skins from a gush¬ 
 ing source hard by the town walls, and adjusted the 
 saddles and the burdens of their camels, in prepara¬ 
 tion for the long journey that lay before us and 
 them. It was the evening of the 16th of June, 1862 ; 
 the largest stars were already visible in the deep blue 
 depths of a cloudless sky, while the crescent moon, 
 
PALGRA VE'S TRAVELS. 
 
 89 
 
 high to the west, shone as she shines in those heav¬ 
 ens, and promised us assistance for some hours of 
 onr night march. We were soon mounted on onr 
 meagre long-necked beasts, ‘ as if,’ according to the 
 expression of an Arab poet, ‘ we and onr men were at 
 mast-heads,’ and now we set our faces to the east. 
 Behind us lay, in a mass of dark outline, the walls 
 and castle of Ma’an, its houses and gardens, and far¬ 
 ther back in the distance the high and barren range 
 of the Sheraa’ mountains, merging into the coast 
 chain of Hejaz. Before and around us extended a 
 wide and level plain, blackened over with countless 
 pebbles of basalt and flint, except where the moon¬ 
 beams gleamed white on little intervening patches of 
 clear sand, or on yellowish streaks of withered grass, 
 the scanty product of the winter rains, and dried now 
 into hay. Over all a deep silence, which even our 
 Arab companions seemed fearful of breaking ; when 
 they spoke it was in a half whisper and in a few 
 words, wdiile the noiseless tread of our camels sped 
 stealthily but rapidly through the gloom, without dis¬ 
 turbing its stillness. 
 
 “ Some precaution was not indeed wholly out of 
 place, for that stage of the journey on which we were 
 now entering was anything but safe. We were 
 bound for the Djowf, the nearest inhabited district 
 of Central Arabia, its outlying station, in fact. Now 
 the intervening tract offered for the most part the 
 double danger of robbers and of thirst, of marauding 
 bands and of the summer season. The distance it¬ 
 self to be traversed was near two hundred miles in a 
 
90 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 straight line, and unavoidable circumstances were 
 likely to render it much longer.” 
 
 Palgrave’s companion was a native Syrian, named 
 Barakat,—a man on whom he could fully rely. 
 Hardy, young, and enterprising, he belonged to a 
 locality whose inhabitants are accustomed to danger 
 But the Bedouins who furnished the camels, and 
 acted as guides, were of another class. They were 
 three in number, Salim, their leader, a member of a 
 powerful family of the Howeytat tribe, but outlawed 
 for pillage and murder, and two men, Alee and 
 Djordee, utter barbarians in appearance no less 
 than in character. Even Salim advised the trav¬ 
 ellers to avoid all familiarities with the latter. 
 
 “ Myself and my companion,” says Palgrave, 
 “ were dressed like ordinary class travellers of inner 
 Syria ; an equipment in which we had already made 
 our way from Gaza on the sea-coast to Ma’an with¬ 
 out much remark or unseasonable questioning from 
 those whom we fell in with, while we traversed a 
 country so often described already by Pococke, 
 Laborde, and downwards, under the name of Arabia 
 Petrse, that it would be superfluous for me to enter 
 into any new account of it in the present work. 
 Our dress then consisted partly of a long stout 
 blouse of Egyptian hemp, under which, unlike our 
 Bedouin fellow-travellers, we indulged in the luxury 
 of the loose cotton drawers common in the East, 
 while our colored head-kerchiefs, though simple 
 enough, were girt by ’akkals or head-bands of some 
 pretension to elegance ; the loose-red leather boots 
 of the country completed our toilet. 
 
PALGRAVE'S TRAVELS 
 
 91 
 
 “ But in the large travelling-sacks at our camels’ 
 sides were contained suits of a more elegant ap¬ 
 pearance, carefully concealed from Bedouin gaze, 
 but destined for appearance when we should reach 
 better inhabited and more civilized districts. This 
 reserve toilet numbered articles like the following: 
 colored overdresses, the Syrian combaz, handker¬ 
 chiefs whose silk stripes relieved the plebeian cotton, 
 and girdles of good material and tasteful coloring; 
 such clothes being absolutely requisite to maintain 
 our assumed character. Mine was that of a native 
 travelling doctor, a quack if you will; and accord¬ 
 ingly a tolerable dress was indispensable for the 
 credit of my medical practice. My comrade, who in 
 a general way passed for my brother-in-law, ap¬ 
 peared sometimes as a retail merchaut, such as not 
 unfrequently visit these countries, and sometimes as 
 pupil or associate in my assumed profession. 
 
 “ Our pharmacopoeia consisted of a few but well 
 selected and efficacious drugs, inclosed in small 
 tight-fitting tin boxes, stowed away for the present in 
 the ample recesses of our travelling bags ; about fifty 
 of these little cases contained wherewithal to kill or 
 cure half the sick men of Arabia. Medicines of a 
 liquid form had been as much as possible omitted, 
 not only from the difficulty of ensuring them a safe 
 transport amid so rough a mode of journeying, but 
 also on account of the rapid evaporation unavoid¬ 
 able in this dry and burning climate. In fact two 
 or three small bottles, whose contents had seemed 
 to me of absolute necessity, soon retained nothing 
 save their labels to indicate what they had held, in 
 
92 
 
 :RAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 spite of air-tight stoppers and double coverings. I 
 record this, because the hint may be useful to any 
 one who should be inclined to embark in similar 
 guise on the same adventures. 
 
 “ Some other objects requisite in medical practice, 
 two or three European books for my own private 
 use, and kept carefully secret from Arab curiosity, 
 with a couple of Esculapian treatises in good Arabic, 
 intended for professional ostentation, completed this 
 part of our fitting-out. But besides these, an ample 
 provision of cloth handkerchiefs, glass necklaces, 
 pipe-bowls, and the like, for sale in whatever locali¬ 
 ties might not offer sufficient facility for the healing 
 art, filled up our saddle-bags well nigh to bursting. 
 Last, but not least, two large sacks of coffee, the 
 sheet-anchor and main hope of our commerce, 
 formed alone a sufficient load for a vigorous camel.” 
 
 The first days of travel were a monotony of heat 
 and desolation. The deceptive lakes of the mirage 
 covered the tawny plain, and every dark basaltic 
 block, lying here and there at random, was magni¬ 
 fied into a mountain in the heated atmosphere. 
 “ Dreary land of death, in which even the face of 
 an enemy were almost a relief amid such utter soli¬ 
 tude. But for five whole days the little dried-up 
 lizard of the plain, that looks as if he had never a 
 drop of moisture in his ugly body, and the jerboaa,’ 
 or field-rat of Arabia, were the only living creatures 
 to console our view. 
 
 “ It was a march during which we might have 
 almost repented of our enterprise, had such a sen-, 
 tirnent been any longer possible or availing. Day 
 
PAL GRAVE'S TRAVELS. 
 
 93 
 
 after day found us urging our camels to tlieir utmost 
 pace, for fifteen or sixteen hours together out of the 
 twenty-four, under a well-nigh vertical sun, which 
 the Ethiopians of Herodotus might reasonably be 
 excused for cursing, with nothing either in the land¬ 
 scape around or in the companions of our way to 
 relieve for a moment the eye or the mind. Then an 
 insufficient halt for rest or sleep, at most of two or 
 three hours, soon interrupted by the oft-repeated 
 admonition, ‘ if we linger here we all die of thirst,’ 
 sounding in our ears ; and then to remount our 
 jaded beasts and push them on through the dark 
 night, amid the constant probability of attack and 
 plunder from roving marauders. For myself, I was, 
 to mend matters, under the depressing influence of 
 a tertian fever contracted at Ma’an, and what be¬ 
 tween weariness and low spirits, began to imagine 
 seriously that no waters remained before us except 
 the waters of death for us and of oblivion for our 
 friends. The days wore by like a delirious dream, 
 till we were often almost unconscious of the ground 
 we travelled over and of the journey on which we 
 were engaged. One only herb appeared at our feet 
 to give some appearance of variety and life ; it was 
 the bitter and poisonous colocyntli of the desert. 
 
 “ Our order of road was this. Long before dawn 
 we were on our way, and paced it till the sun, hav¬ 
 ing attained about half-way between the horizon 
 and the zenith, assigned the moment of alighting for 
 our morning meal. This our Bedouins always took 
 good care should be in some hollow or low ground, 
 for concealment’s sake ; in every other respect we 
 
94 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 had ample liberty of choice, for one patch of black 
 pebbles with a little sand and withered grass be¬ 
 tween was just like another ; shade or shelter, 01 
 anything like them, was wholly out of the question 
 in such “ nakedness of the land.” We then alighted, 
 and my companion and myself would pile up the 
 baggage into a sort of wall, to afford a half-screen 
 from the scorching sun-rays, and here recline awhile. 
 Next came the culinary preparations, in perfect ac¬ 
 cordance with our provisions, which were simple 
 enough; namely, a bag of coarse flour mixed with 
 salt, and a few dried dates; there was no third item 
 on the bill of fare. We now took a few handfuls 
 of flour, and one of the Bedouins kneaded it with 
 his unwashed hands or dirty bit of leather, pouring 
 over it a little of the dingy water contained in the 
 skins, and then patted out this exquisite paste into 
 a large round cake, about an inch thick, and five or 
 six inches across. Meanwhile another had lighted a 
 fire of dry grass, colocynth roots, and dried camel’s 
 dung, till he had prepared a bed of glowing embers ; 
 among these the cake was now cast, and immedi¬ 
 ately covered up with hot ashes, and so left for a 
 few minutes, then taken out, turned, and covered 
 again, till at last half-kneaded, half-raw, half-roasted, 
 and burnt all round, it was taken out to be broken 
 up between the hungry band, and eaten scalding 
 hot, before it should cool into an indescribable 
 leathery substance, capable of defying the keenest 
 appetite. A draught of dingy water was its sole but 
 suitable accompaniment. 
 
 “ The meal ended, we had again without loss of 
 
PALO RAVE'S TRAVELS. 
 
 95 
 
 time to resume our way from mirage to mirage, till 
 ‘ slowly flaming over all, from heat to heat, the day 
 decreased,’ and about an hour before sunset we 
 would stagger off our camels as best we might, to 
 prepare an evening feast of precisely the same de¬ 
 scription as that of the forenoon, or more often, for 
 fear lest the smoke of our fire should give notice 
 to some distant rover, to content ourselves with dry 
 dates, and half an hour’s rest on the sand. At last 
 our dates, like Esop’s bread-sack, or that of Beyhas, 
 his Arab prototype, came to an end ; and then our 
 supper was a soldier’s one ; what that is my military 
 friends will know ; but grit and pebbles excepted, 
 there was no bed in our case. After which, to re¬ 
 mount, and travel on by moon or starlight, till a 
 little before midnight we would like down for just 
 enough sleep to tantalize, not refresh. 
 
 “ It was now the 22d of June, and the fifth day 
 since our departure from the wells of Wokba. The 
 water in the skins had little more to offer to our 
 thirst than muddy dregs, and as yet no sign ap¬ 
 peared of a fresh supply. At last about noon we 
 drew near some hillocks of loose gravel and sand¬ 
 stone a little on our right; our Bedouins conversed 
 together awhile, and then turned their course and 
 ours in that direction. “ Hold fast on your camels, 
 for they are going to be startled and jump about,’* 
 said Salim to us. Why the camels should be startled 
 I could not understand; when on crossing the 
 mounds just mentioned, we suddenly came on five 
 or six black tents, of the very poorest description, 
 pitched near some wells excavated in the gravelly 
 
96 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 hollow below. The reason of Salim’s precautionary 
 hint now became evident, for our silly beasts started 
 at first sight of the tents, as though they had never 
 seen the like before, and then scampered about, 
 bounding friskily here and there, till what between 
 their jolting (for a camel’s run much resembles that 
 of a cow) and our own laughing, we could hardly 
 keep on their backs. However, thirst soon prevailed 
 over timidity, and they left off their pranks to ap¬ 
 proach the well’s edge, and sniff at the water be¬ 
 low.” 
 
 The inhabitants of the tents showed the ordinary 
 curiosity, but were not unfriendly, and the little 
 caravan rested there for the remainder of the day. 
 A further journey of two days over a region of 
 sand-hills, with an occasional well, still intervened 
 before they could reach Wady Sirhan—a long valley, 
 running directly to the populated region of the 
 Djouf. While passing over this intermediate re¬ 
 gion, an incident occurred which had well nigh put 
 a premature end to the travels and the travellers to¬ 
 gether. “ My readers, no less than myself,” says 
 Palgrave, “ must have heard or read many a story 
 of the simoom, or deadly wind of the desert, but 
 for me I had never yet met it in full force; and its 
 modified form, or shelook, to use the Arab phrase, 
 that is, the sirocco of the Syrian waste, though dis¬ 
 agreeable enough, can hardly ever be termed dan¬ 
 gerous. Hence I had been almost inclined to set 
 down the tales told of the strange phenomena and 
 fatal effects of this ‘ poisoned gale,’ in the same ca 
 tegory with the moving pillars of sand, recorded in 
 
PALGR AYE'S TRAVELS. 
 
 97 
 
 many works of higher historical pretensions than 
 “ Thalaba.” At those perambulatory columns and 
 sand-smothered caravans the Bedouins, whenever I 
 interrogated them on the subject, laughed outright, 
 and declared that bevond an occasional dust storm, 
 similar to those which any one who has passed a 
 summer in Scinde can hardly fail to have experi¬ 
 enced, nothing of the romantic kind just alluded to 
 occurred in Arabia. But when questioned about the 
 simoom, they always treated it as a much more 
 serious matter, and such in real earnest we now 
 found it. 
 
 “It was about noon, the noon of a summer sol¬ 
 stice in the unclouded Arabian sky over a scorched 
 desert, when abrupt and burning gusts of wind be¬ 
 gan to blow by fits from the south, while the op¬ 
 pressiveness of the air increased every moment, 
 till my companion and myself mutually asked each 
 other what this could mean, and what was to be its 
 result. We turned to inquire of Salim, but he had 
 already wrapped up his face in his mantle, and, 
 bowed down and crouching on the neck of his ca¬ 
 mel, replied not a word. His comrades, the two 
 Sherarat Bedouins, had adopted a similar position, 
 and were equally silent. At last, after repeated 
 interrogations, Salim, instead of replying directly 
 to our questioning, pointed to a small black tent, 
 providentially at no great distance in front, and 
 said: ‘ try to reach that, if we can get there we are 
 saved. 5 He added : 4 take care that your camels do 
 not stop and lie downand then, giving his own 
 several vigorous blows, relapsed into muffled silence. 
 
98 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 “ We looked anxiously towards the tent; it was 
 yet a hundred yards off, or more. Meanwhile the 
 gusts grew hotter and more violent, and it was only 
 by repeated efforts that we could urge our beasts 
 forward. The horizon rapidly darkened to a deep 
 violet hue, and seemed to draw in like a curtain on 
 every side, while at the same time a stifling blast, 
 as though from some enormous oven opening right 
 on our path, blew steadily under the gloom; our 
 camels too, began, in spite of all we could do, to 
 turn round and round and bend their knees, prepar¬ 
 ing to lie down. The simoom was fairly upon us. 
 
 “Of course we had followed our Arabs’ example 
 by muffling our faces, and now with blows and 
 kicks we forced the staggering animals onwards to 
 the only asylum within reach. So dark was the 
 atmosphere, and so burning the heat, that it 
 seemed that hell had risen from the earth, or de¬ 
 scended from above. But we were yet in time, and 
 at the moment when the worst of the concentrated 
 poison-blast was coming around, we were already 
 prostrate, one and all, within the tent, with our 
 heads well wrapped up, almost suffocated, indeed, 
 but safe; while our camels lay without like dead, 
 their long necks stretched out on the sand, await¬ 
 ing the passing of the gale. 
 
 “ On our first arrival the tent contained a solitary 
 Bedouin woman, whose husband was away with his 
 camels in the Wady Sirhan. When she saw five 
 handsome men like us, rush thus suddenly into her 
 dwelling without a word of leave or salutation, she 
 very properly set up a scream to the tune of the 
 
PALGRAVE'S TRAVELS . 
 
 99 
 
 Four crown pleas, murder, arson, robbery, and I 
 know not wliat else. Salim hastened to reassure 
 her by calling out, ‘ friends,’ and without more 
 words threw himself Hat on the ground. All fol¬ 
 lowed his example in silence. 
 
 “We remained thus for about ten minutes, dur¬ 
 ing which a still heat like that of red-hot iron 
 slowly passing over us was alone to be felt. Then 
 the tent walls began again to flap in the returning 
 gusts, and announced that the worst of the simoorn 
 had gone by. We got up, half dead with exhaus¬ 
 tion, and unmufiled our faces. My comrades ap¬ 
 peared more like corpses than living men, and so, I 
 suppose, did I. However, I could not forbear, in 
 spite of warnings, to step out and look at the cam¬ 
 els; they were still lying flat as though they had 
 been shot. The air was yet darkish, but before 
 long it brightened up to its usual dazzling clear¬ 
 ness. During the whole time that the simoom last¬ 
 ed, the atmosphere was entirely free from sand or 
 dust, so that I hardly know how to account for its 
 singular obscurity.” 
 
 Late in the evening we continued our way, and 
 next day early entered Wady Sirhan, where the 
 character of our journey underwent a considerable 
 modification. For the northerly Arabian Desert, 
 which we are now traversing, offers, in spite of all 
 its dreariness, some spots of comparatively better 
 cast, where water is less scanty and vegetation less 
 niggard. These spots are the favorite resorts of 
 Bedouins, and serve, too, to direct the ordinary 
 routes of whatever travellers, trade led or from 
 
100 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 other motives, may venture on this wilderness. 
 These oases, if indeed they deserve the name, are 
 formed by a slight depression in the sui rounding 
 desert surface, and take at times the form of a long 
 valley, or of an oblong patch, where rock and peb¬ 
 ble give place to a light soil more or less intei mixed 
 with sand, and concealing under its surface a toler¬ 
 able supply of moisture at no great distance below 
 ground. Here, in consequence, bushes and lieibs 
 spring up, and grass, if not green all the ^ear 
 round, is at least of somewhat longer duration than 
 elsewhere; certain fruit-bearing plants of a nature 
 to suffice for meagre Bedouin existence, grow here 
 spontaneously; in a word, man and beast find not 
 exactly comfortable accommodation, but the abso¬ 
 lutely needful supply. Such a spot is Wady Sir- 
 han, literally, 4 the Yalley of the Wolf. 
 
 They entered Wady Sirhan on the 21st of June. 
 “ Passing tent after tent, and leaving behind us ma¬ 
 ny a tattered Bedouin and grazing camel, Salim at 
 last indicated to us a group of habitations, two or 
 three of which seemed of somewhat more ample di¬ 
 mensions than the rest, and informed us that our 
 supper that night (for the afternoon was already on 
 the decline) would be at the cost of these dwellings. 
 * Ajaweed,’ i. e., ‘ generous fellows,’ he subjoined, to 
 encourage us by the prospect of a handsome recep¬ 
 tion. Of course we could only defer to his better 
 judgment; and in a few minutes were alongside of 
 the black goat’s hair coverings where lodged our in¬ 
 tended hosts. 
 
 “ The chief or cliiefiet, for such he was, came out, 
 
PALGEAVE’S TRAVE'S. 
 
 101 
 
 and interchanged a few words of masonic laconism 
 with Salim. The latter then came up to ns, where 
 we remained halted in expectation, led our camels 
 to a little distance from the tents, made them kneel 
 down, helped us to disburden them, and while we 
 installed ourselves on a sandy slope opposite to the 
 abodes of the tribe, recommended us to keep a sharp 
 lookout after our baggage, since there might be 
 pickers and stealers among our hosts, for all * Aja- 
 weed ’ as they were. Disagreeable news ; for c Aja- 
 weed 5 in an Arab mouth corresponds the nearest 
 possible to our English ‘ gentlemen.’ Now, if the 
 gentlemen were thieves, what must the blackguards 
 be ? We put a good face on it, and then seated our¬ 
 selves in dignified gravity on the sand awaiting the 
 further results of our guide’s negotiations. 
 
 “ For some time we remained undisturbed, though 
 not unnoticed; a group of Arabs had collected round 
 our companions at the tent door, and were engaged 
 in getting from them all possible information, espe¬ 
 cially about us and our baggage, which last was an 
 object of much curiosity, not to say cupidity. Next 
 came our turn. The chief, his family, (women ex¬ 
 cepted,) his intimate followers, and some twenty 
 others, young and old, boys and men, came up, and 
 after a brief salutation, Bedouinwise, seated them¬ 
 selves in a semicircle before us. Every man held a 
 short crooked stick for camel-driving in his hand, to 
 gesticulate with when speaking, or to play with in 
 the intervals of conversation, while the younger mem¬ 
 bers of society, less prompt in discourse, politely 
 employed their leisure in staring at us, or in picking 
 
102 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 up dried pellets of dirt from the sand and tossing 
 them about.” 
 
 “‘What are you? what is your business?’ so 
 runs the ordinary and unprefaced opening of the dis¬ 
 course. To which we answer, ‘ Physicians from Da¬ 
 mascus, and our business is whatsoever God may 
 put in our way.’ The next question will be about 
 the baggage; some one pokes it with a stick, to 
 draw attention to it, and says, ‘ What is this ? have 
 you any little object to sell us ? ’ ” 
 
 W e fight shy of selling : to open out our wares 
 and chattels in full air, on the sand, and amid a 
 crowd whose appearance and circumstances offer 
 but a poor guarantee for the exact observance of the 
 eighth commandment, would be hardly prudent or 
 worth our while. After several fruitless trials they 
 desist from their request. Another, who is troubled 
 by some bodily infirmity, for which all the united 
 faculties of London and Paris might prescribe in 
 vain, a withered hand, for instance, or stone-blind 
 of an eye, asks for medicine, which no sooner ap¬ 
 plied shall, in his expectation, suddenly restore him 
 to perfect health and corporal integrity. But I had 
 been already forewarned that to doctor a Bedouin, 
 even under the most favorable circumstances, or a 
 camel, is pretty much the same thing, and with 
 about an equal chance of success or advantage. I 
 politely decline. He insists; I turn him off with a 
 joke. 
 
 “ So you laugh at us, O you inhabitants of towns. 
 We are Bedouins, we do not know your customs,” 
 replies he, in a whining tone; while the boys grin 
 
PALGRAVE'S TRAVELS. 
 
 103 
 
 unconscionably at the discomfiture of their tribes¬ 
 man. 
 
 “ 1 Ya woleyd,’ or young fellow, (for so they style 
 every human male from eight to eighty without dis¬ 
 tinction,) £ will you not fill my pipe ?’ says one, who 
 has observed that mine was not idle, and who, though 
 well provided with a good stock of dry tobacco tied 
 up in a rag at his greasy waist-belt, thinks the mo¬ 
 ment a fair opportunity for a little begging, since 
 neither medicine nor merchandise is to be had. 
 
 “ But Salim, seated amid the circle, makes me a 
 sign not to comply. Accordingly I evade the de¬ 
 mand. However, my petitioner goes on begging, 
 and is imitated by two or three others, each of whom 
 thrusts forward (a true Irish hint) a bit of marrow¬ 
 bone with a hole drilled in one side to act for a pipe, 
 or a porous stone, not uncommon throughout the 
 desert, clumsily fashioned into a smoking apparatus, 
 a sort of primitive meerschaum. 
 
 “ As they grow rude, I pretend to become angry, 
 thus to cut the matter short. ‘ We are your guests, 
 O you Bedouins ; are you not ashamed to beg of us T 
 6 Never mind, excuse us ; those are ignorant fellows, 
 ill-bred clowns,’ etc., interposes one close by the 
 chief’s side ; and whose dress is in somewhat better 
 condition than that of the other half and three-quar¬ 
 ter naked individuals who complete the assembly. 
 
 “ £ Will you not people the pipe for your little bro¬ 
 ther!’ subjoins the chief himself,producing an empty 
 one with a modest air. Bedouin language, like that 
 of most Orientals, abounds with not ungraceful im¬ 
 agery, and accordingly ‘ people ’ here means ‘ fill.’ 
 
104 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 Salim gives me a wink of compliance ; I take out a 
 handful of tobacco, and put it on his long shirt¬ 
 sleeve, which he knots over it, and looks uncommon¬ 
 ly well pleased. At any rate they are easily satisfied, 
 these Bedouins. 
 
 “ The night air in these wilds is life and health it¬ 
 self. We sleep soundly, unliarassed by the antici¬ 
 pation of an early summons to march next morning, 
 for both men and beasts have alike need of a full 
 day’s repose. When the sun has risen we are invited 
 to enter the chief’s tent and to bring our baggage 
 under its shelter. A main object of our entertainer, 
 in proposing this move, is to try whether he cannot 
 render our visit someway profitable to himself, by 
 present or purchase. Whatever politeness he can 
 muster is accordingly brought into play, and a large 
 bowl of fresh camel’s milk, an excellent beverage, 
 now appears on the stage. I leave to chemical ana¬ 
 lysis to decide why this milk will not furnish butter, 
 for such is the fact, and content myself with bearing 
 witness to its very nutritious and agreeable qualities. 
 
 “ The day passes on. About noon our host natu¬ 
 rally enough supposes us hungry, and accordingly a 
 new dish is brought in : it looks much like a bowl full 
 of coarse red paste, or bran mixed with ochre. This 
 is Samh, a main article of subsistence to the Bedou¬ 
 ins of Northern Arabia. Throughout this part of 
 the desert grows a small herbaceous and tufted 
 plant, with juicy stalks and a little ovate yellow-tint¬ 
 ed leaf; the flowers are of a brighter yellow, with 
 many stamens and pistils. When the blossoms fall 
 off, there remains in place of each a four-leaved cap- 
 
PALO HAVE'S TRAVELS. 
 
 105 
 
 Buie about the size of an ordinary pea, and this, 
 when ripe, opens to show a mass of minute reddish 
 seeds, resembling grit in feel and appearance, but 
 farinaceous in substance. The ripening season is in 
 July, when old and young, men and women, all are out 
 to collect the unsown and untoiled-for harvest. 
 
 “ On the 27th of the month we passed with some 
 difficulty a series of abrupt sand-hills that close in 
 the direct course of Wady Sirhan. Here, for the first 
 time, we saw the ghada, a shrub almost character¬ 
 istic, from its very frequency, of the Arabian Penin¬ 
 sula, and often alluded to by its poets. It is of the 
 genus Euphorbia , with a woody stem, often five or 
 six feet in height, and innumerable round green 
 twigs, very slender and flexible, forming a large 
 feathery tuft, not ungraceful to the eye, while it 
 affords some kind of shelter to the traveller and 
 food to his camels. These last are passionately fond 
 of ghada, and will continually turn right out of their 
 way, in spite of blows and kicks, to crop a mouthful 
 of it, and then swing back their long necks into the 
 former direction, ready to repeat the same manoeuvre 
 at the next bush, as though they had never received 
 a beating for their past voracity. 
 
 “ I have, while in England, heard and read more 
 than once of the ‘ docile camel.’ If ‘ docile ’ means 
 stupid, well and good ; in such a case the camel is 
 the very model of docility. But if the epithet is 
 ' intended to designate an animal that takes an 
 interest in its rider so far as a beast can, that in 
 some wav understands his intentions or shares them 
 in a subordinate fashion, that obeys from a sort Oj 
 
106 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 
 submissive or half fellow-feeling with his master, 
 like the horse and elephant, then I say that the 
 camel is by no means docile, very much the con¬ 
 trary ; he takes no heed of his rider, pays no atten¬ 
 tion whether he be on his back or not, walks straight 
 on when once set a-going, merely because he is too 
 stupid to turn aside ; and then, should some tempt¬ 
 ing thorn or green branch allure him out of the 
 path, continues to walk on in this new direction 
 simply because he is too dull to turn back into the 
 right road. His only care is to cross as much pas¬ 
 ture as he conveniently can while pacing mechanic¬ 
 ally onwards; and for effecting this, his long, flex¬ 
 ible neck sets him at great advantage, and a hard 
 blow or a downright kick alone has any influence on 
 him whether to direct or impel. He will never at¬ 
 tempt to throw you off his back, such a trick being 
 far beyond his limited comprehension ; but if you 
 fall off, he will never dream of stopping for you, and 
 walks on just the same, grazing while he goes, with¬ 
 out knowing or caring an atom what has become of 
 you. If turned loose, it is a thousand to one that 
 he will never find his way back to his accustomed 
 home or pasture, and the first comer who picks him 
 up will have no particular shyness to get over ; Jack 
 or Tom is all the same to him, and the loss of his 
 old master, and of his own kith and kin, gives him 
 no regret, and occasions no endeavor to find them 
 again.” 
 
 On coming in sight of the mountains of Djowf, 
 the travellers were obliged to halt for two days at 
 an encampment of the Sherarat Arabs, because 
 
PALGRAVE’S TRAVELS. 
 
 107 
 
 Salim could not enter the Djowf with them in per¬ 
 son, on account of a murder which he had com¬ 
 mitted there. He was therefore obliged to procure 
 them another guide, capable of conducting them 
 safely the remainder of the journey. After much 
 search and discussion, Salim ended by finding a 
 good-natured, but somewhat timid, individual, who 
 undertook their guidance to the Djowf. 
 
 Journeying one whole day and night over an open 
 plateau, where they saw a large troop of ostriches, 
 they mounted again on the 30th, by the light of 
 the morning star, anxious to enter the Djowf before 
 the intense heat of noon should come on ; “ but we 
 had yet a long way to go, and our track followed 
 endless windings among low hills and stony ledges, 
 without any symptom of approach to cultivated re¬ 
 gions. At last the slopes grew greener, and a small 
 knot of houses, with traces of tillage close by, ap¬ 
 peared. It was the little village of Djoon, the most 
 westerly appendage of Djowf itself. I counted be¬ 
 tween twenty and thirty houses. We next entered 
 a long and narrow pass, whose precipitous banks 
 shut in the view on either side. Suddenly several 
 horsemen appeared on the opposite cliff, and one of 
 them, a handsome youth, with long, curling hair, 
 well armed and well mounted, (we shall make hi 4 
 more special acquaintance in the next chapter,) 
 called out to our guide to halt, and answer in his 
 own behalf and ours. This Suleyman did, not with¬ 
 out those marks of timidity in his voice and gesture 
 which a Bedouin seldom fails to show on his ap¬ 
 proach to a town, for, when once in it, he is apt to 
 
108 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 sneak about much like a dog who has just received 
 a beating for theft. On his answer, delivered in a 
 most submissive tone, the horsemen held a brief 
 consultation, and we then saw two of them turn 
 their horses’ heads, and gallop off in the direction 
 of the Djowf, while our original interlocutor called 
 out to Suleyman, * All right, go on, and fear no¬ 
 thing,’ and then disappeared after the rest of the 
 band behind the verge of the upland. 
 
 “ We had yet to drag on for an hour of tedious 
 march; my camel fairly broke down, and fell again 
 and again; his bad example was followed by the 
 coffee-laden beast; the heat was terrible in these 
 gorges, and noon was approaching. At last we 
 cleared the pass, but found the onward prospect 
 still shut out by an intervening mass of rocks. The 
 water in our skins was spent, and we had eaten no¬ 
 thing that morning. When shall we get in sight of 
 the Djowf? or has it flown away from before us? 
 While thus wearily laboring on our way we turned 
 a huge pile of crags, and a new and beautiful scene 
 burst upon our view. 
 
 “A broad, deep valley, descending ledge after 
 ledge till its innermost depths are hidden from sight 
 amid far-reaching shelves of reddish rock, below 
 everywhere studded with tufts of palm groves and 
 clustering fruit trees, in dark green patches, down 
 to the furthest end of its windings ; a large brown 
 mass of irregular masonry crowning a central hill; 
 beyond, a tall and solitary tower overlooking the 
 opposite bank of the hollow, and further down 
 small round turrets and flat house-tops, half buried 
 
AN ARAB CHIEF 
 
PALGRAVE'S TRAVELS. 
 
 109 
 
 amid the garden foliage, the whole plunged in a 
 perpendicular flood of light and heat; such was the 
 first aspect of the Djowf as we now approached it 
 from the west. It was a lovely scene, and seemed 
 yet more so to our eyes, weary of the long desolation 
 through which we had, with hardly an exception, 
 journeyed day after day, since our last farewell 
 glimpse of Gaza and Palestine, up to the first 
 entrance on inhabited Arabia. ‘ Like the Paradise 
 of eternity, none can enter it till after having pre¬ 
 viously passed over hell-bridge,’ says an Arab poet, 
 describing some similar locality in Algerian lands. 
 
 “ Re-animated by the view, we pushed on our 
 jaded beasts, and were already descending the first 
 craggy slope of the valley when two horsemen, well 
 dressed and fully armed after the fashion of these 
 parts, came up toward us from the town, and at 
 once saluted us with a loud and hearty ‘ Marimba,’ 
 or ‘ welcomeand without further preface they 
 added, ‘ alight and eat,’ giving themselves the ex¬ 
 ample of the former by descending briskly from 
 their light-limbed horses, and untying a large lea¬ 
 ther bag, full of excellent dates, and a water-skin, 
 filled from the running spring; then, spreading out 
 these most opportune refreshments on the rock, and 
 adding, ‘ we were sure that you must be hungry and 
 thirst}', so we have come ready provided,' they in¬ 
 vited us once more to sit down and begin.’ 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PALGEAVE’s TRAVELS.—RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 HE elder of the two cavaliers who welcomed 
 
 A. the travellers proved to be Ghafil-el-Haboob, 
 the chief of the most important family of the 
 Djowf, former rulers of the place, but now subject 
 to Hamood, the vicegerent of Telal, the prince of 
 Djebel Shorner, with whom Palgrave afterwards be¬ 
 came acquainted. Ghafil, and also his companion, 
 Dafee, invited the travellers to be his guests, and 
 the former, it afterwards appeared, had intended 
 that they should reside in his house, hoping to 
 make some profit from the merchandise which they 
 might have brought. They felt bound, at least, to 
 accompany him to his house and partake of coffee, 
 before going elsewhere. Palgrave thus describes the 
 manner of their reception : 
 
 “ The k’hawah was a large, oblong hall, about 
 twenty feet in height, fifty in length, and sixteen, or 
 thereabouts, in breadth ; the walls were colored in a 
 rudely decorative manner, with brown and white 
 wash, and sunk here and there into small triangular 
 recesses, destined to the reception of books—though 
 
RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 Ill 
 
 of these Ghafil at least had no over-abundance— 
 lamps, and other such like objects. The roof of 
 timber, and fiat; the floor was strewed with fine 
 clean sand, and garnished all round alongside of the 
 w r alls with long strips of carpet, upon which cush¬ 
 ions, covered with faded silk, were disposed at suit¬ 
 able intervals. In poorer houses felt rugs usually 
 take the place of carpets. In one corner, namely, 
 that furthest removed from the door, stood a small 
 fireplace, or, to speak more exactly, furnace, form id 
 of a large, square block of granite, or some other 
 hard stone, about twenty inches each way ; this is 
 hollowed inwardly into a deep funnel, open above, 
 and communicating below with a small horizontal 
 tube or pipe-hole, through which the air passes, 
 bellows-driven, to the lighted charcoal piled upon a 
 grating about half-way inside the cone. In this 
 manner the fuel is soon brought to a white heat, 
 and the water in the coffee pot placed upon the fun¬ 
 nel’s mouth, is readily brought to boil. The system 
 of coffee furnaces is universal in Djowf and Djebel 
 Shomer, but in Nedjed itself, and, indeed, in what¬ 
 ever other yet more distant regions of Arabia I 
 visited to the south and east, the furnace is rer 
 placed by an open fireplace, hollowed in the ground 
 floor, with a raised stone border, and dog-irons for 
 the fuel, and so forth, like what may be yet seen in 
 Spain.” 
 
 “We enter. On passing the threshold it is pro¬ 
 per to say, ‘ Bismillali ,’ i. e., ‘ in the name of God 
 not to do so w r ould be looked on as a bad augury, 
 alike for him who enters and for those within. The 
 
112 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 visitor next advances in silence, till, on coming about 
 half way across the room, he gives to all present, 
 but looking specially at the master of the house, the 
 customary ‘ E*-salamiLaleykum’ or £ Peace be with 
 you,’ literally, £ on you.’ All this while every one 
 else in the room has kept his place, motionless, and 
 without saying a word. But on receiving the sa¬ 
 laam of etiquette, the master of the house rises, and 
 if a strict Wahabee, or at any rate desirous of 
 seeming such, replies with the full-length tradition¬ 
 ary formula : ‘ And with (or, on) you be peace, and 
 the mercy of God, and his blessings.’ But should 
 he happen to be of anti-Wahabee tendencies, the 
 odds are that he will say ‘ Marhaba,’ or ‘ Ahlan 
 w’ sahlan,’ i. e., ‘ welcome,’ or £ worthy and pleasurable,’ 
 or the like ; for of such phrases there is an infinite 
 but elegant variety. All present follow the example 
 thus given by rising and saluting. The guest then 
 goes up to the master of the house, who has also 
 made a step or two forwards, and places his open 
 hand in the palm of his host’s, but without grasping 
 or shaking, which would hardly pass for decorous, 
 and, at the same time, each repeats once more his 
 greeting, followed by the set phrases of polite in- 
 quiry, £ How are you ?’ £ How goes the world with 
 
 you?’ and so forth, all in a tone of great interest, 
 and to be gone over three or four times, till one or 
 other has the discretion to say £ El liamdu l’illah,’ 
 
 ‘ Praise be to God,’ or, in equivalent value, £ all 
 right,’ and this is a signal for a seasonable diversion 
 to the ceremonious interrogatory. 
 
 “ Meantime we have become engaged in active 
 
RESIDENCE IN TEE DJOWF. 
 
 113 
 
 conversation with our host and his friends. But 
 our Sherarat guide, Suleyman, like a true Bedouin, 
 feels too awkward when among towns-folk, to ven¬ 
 ture on the upper places, though repeatedly invited, 
 and accordingly has squatted down on the sand 
 near the entrance. Many of Ghafil’s relations are 
 present; their silver-decorated swords proclaim the 
 importance of the family. Others, too, have come 
 to receive us, for our arrival, announced beforehand 
 by those we had met at the entrance pass, is a sort 
 of event in the town; the dress of some betokens 
 poverty, others are better clad, but all have a very 
 polite and decorous manner. Many a question is 
 asked about our native land and town, that is to say, 
 Syria and Damascus, conformably to the disguise 
 already adopted, and which it was highly important 
 to keep well up; then follow inquiries regarding our 
 journey, our business, what we have brought with 
 us, about our medicines, our goods and wares, etc., 
 etc. From the very first it is easy for us to per¬ 
 ceive that patients and purchasers are likely to 
 abound. Yery few travelling merchants, if any, 
 visit the Djowf at this time of year, for one must be 
 mad, or next door to it, to rush into the vast desert 
 around during the heats of June and July ; I for 
 one have certainly no intention of doing it again. 
 Hence we had small danger of competitors, and 
 found the market almost at our absolute disposal. 
 
 “ But before a quarter of an hour has passed, and 
 while blacky is still roasting or pounding his coffee, 
 a tall, thin lad, Ghafil’s eldest son, appears, cnarged 
 with a large circular dish, grass-platted like the 
 
114 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 rest, and throws it with a graceful jerk on the sandy 
 door close before us. He then produces a large 
 wooden bowl full of dates, bearing in the midst of 
 the heap a cup full of melted butter; all this he 
 places on the circular mat, and says, 4 SemmooJ' 
 literally, ‘pronounce the Name,’ of God, under¬ 
 stood ; this means, ‘ set to work at it.’ Hereon the 
 master of the house quits his place by the fireside, 
 and seats himself on the sand opposite to us ; we 
 draw nearer to the dish, and four or five others, 
 after some respectful coyness, join the circle. Every 
 one then picks out a date or two from the juicy, 
 half-amalgamated mass, dips them into the butter, 
 and thus goes on eating till he has had enough, 
 when he rises and washes his hands/' 
 
 During the conversation, coffee was served three 
 or four times, in small cups, half-filled, one of which 
 the coffee-maker himself first drank, as a test. 
 Ghafil again urged the travellers to set up their 
 coffee and medicine shop in his own house ; but 
 Palgrave had had no opportunity of writing since 
 leaving Ma’an, and desired, moreover, to have fre¬ 
 quent chances of consulting alone with his com¬ 
 panion. It was not easy to decline the offer, but 
 his knowledge of the Arab character furnished him 
 with several plausible pretexts, which Glialil was 
 obliged to accept, insisting, however, that he should 
 himself select them a convenient dwelling the next 
 day. “ The rest of the afternoon,” says Palgrave, 
 
 “ was devoted to repose, and it was near sun et 
 when our host invited us to visit his gardens in the 
 cool of the evening. I will take the opportunity of 
 
RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 115 
 
 leading my readers over the whole of the Djowf as 
 
 a general view will help better to understand what 
 
 follows in the narrative, besides offering much that 
 
 will be in part new, I should fancy, to the greater 
 number. 
 
 “ This Province is a sort of oasis, a large oval de¬ 
 pression of sixty or seventy miles long, by ten or 
 twelve broad, lying between the northern desert that 
 separates it from Syria and the Euphrates, and the 
 southern Nefood, or sandy waste, and interposed 
 between it and the nearest mountains of the central 
 Arabian plateau. However, from its comparative 
 proximity to the latter, no less than from the char- 
 actei of its climate and productions, it belongs 
 hardly so much to Northern as to Central Arabia, 
 of which it is a kind of porch or vestibule. If an 
 equilaterial triangle were to be drawn, having its 
 base from Damascus to Bagdad, the vertex would 
 hnd itself pretty exactly as the Djowf, which is thus 
 at a nearly equal distance, southeast and south¬ 
 west, from the two localities just mentioned, while 
 the same cross-line, if continued, will give at about 
 the same intervals of space in the opposite direc¬ 
 tion, Medina on the one hand, and Zulphah, the 
 great commercial door of Eastern Nedjed, on the 
 otier. Djebel Shomer lies almost due south, and 
 much nearer than any other of the places above 
 sjDecined. Partly to this central position, and partly 
 to its own excavated form, the province owes its ap¬ 
 propriate name of Djowf, or ‘belly.’ 
 
 Ihe principal, or rather the only town of the 
 district, all the rest being mere hamlets, bears the 
 
116 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 name of the entire region. It is composed of eight 
 villages, once distinct, but which have in process of 
 time coalesced into one, and exchanged their sepa¬ 
 rate existence and name for that of Sook, or 
 ‘ quarter,’ of the common borough. Of these 
 Sooks, the principal is that belonging to the family 
 Ilaboob, and in which we were now lodged. It in¬ 
 cludes the central castle already mentioned, and 
 numbers about four hundred houses. The other 
 quarters, some larger, others smaller, stretch up and 
 down the valley, but are connected together by their 
 extensive gardens. The entire length of the town 
 thus formed, with the cultivation immediately an¬ 
 nexed, is full four miles, but the average breadth 
 does not exceed half a mile, and sometimes falls 
 short of it. 
 
 “ The size of the domicils varies with the condi¬ 
 tion of their occupants, and the poor are contented 
 with narrow lodgings, though always separate ; for 
 I doubt if throughout the whole of Arabia two fa¬ 
 milies, however needy, inhabit the same dwelling. 
 Ghafil’s abode, already described, may give a fair 
 idea of the better kind; in such we have an 
 outer court, for unlading camels and the like, an 
 inner court, a large reception room, and several 
 other smaller apartments, to which entrance is given 
 by a private door, and where the family itself is 
 lodged. 
 
 “ But another and a very characteristic feature 
 of domestic architecture is the frequent addition, 
 throughout the Djowf, of a round tower, from thirty 
 to forty feet in height and twelve or more in 
 
RESIDENCE IN T1IE DJOWF. 
 
 117 
 
 breadth, with a narrow entrance and loop-holes 
 above. This construction is sometimes contiguous 
 to the dwelling-place, and sometimes isolated in a 
 neighboring garden belonging to the same master. 
 These towers once answered exactly the same pur¬ 
 poses as the ‘ torri,’ well known to travellers in 
 many cities of Italy, at Bologna, Siena, Borne, and 
 elsewhere, and denoted a somewhat analogous 
 state of society to what formerly prevailed there. 
 Hither, in time of the ever-recurring feuds between 
 rival chiefs and factions, the leaders and their par¬ 
 tisans used to retire for refuge and defence, and 
 hence they would make their sallies to burn and 
 destroy. These towers, like all the modern edifices 
 of the Djowf, are of unbaked bricks ; their great 
 thickness and solidity of make, along with the ex¬ 
 treme tenacity of the soil, joined to a very dry 
 climate, renders the material a rival almost of stone¬ 
 work in strength and endurance. Since the final 
 occupation of this region by the forces of Telal, 
 all these towers have, without exception, been ren¬ 
 dered unfit for defence, and some are even hall 
 ruined. Here again the phenomena of Europe have 
 repeated themselves in Arabia. 
 
 “ The houses are not unfrequently isolated each 
 from the other by their gardens and plantations ; and 
 this is especially the case with the dwellings of chiefs 
 and their families. What has just been said about 
 the towers renders the reasons of this isolation suffi¬ 
 ciently obvious. But the dwellings of the com¬ 
 moner sort are general clustered together, though 
 without symmetry or method. 
 
118 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 “ The gardens of the Djowf are much celebrated 
 in this part of the East, and justly so. They are of 
 a productiveness and variety superior to those of 
 Djebel Shomer or of Upper Nedjed, and far beyond 
 whatever the Hedjaz and its neighborhood can offer. 
 Here, for the first time in our southward course, we 
 found the date-palm a main object of cultivation ; 
 and if its produce be inferior to that of the same 
 tree in Nedjed and Hasa, it is far, very far, above 
 whatever Egypt, Africa, or the valley of the Tigris 
 from Bagdad to Bassora can show. However, the 
 palm is by no means alone here. The apricot and 
 the peach, the fig-tree and the vine, abound through¬ 
 out these orchards, and their fruit surpasses in co¬ 
 piousness and flavor, that supplied by the gardens 
 of Damascus or the hills of Syria and Palestine. 
 In the intervals between the trees or in the fields 
 beyond, corn, leguminous plants, gourds, melons, 
 etc., etc., are widely cultivated. Here, too, for the 
 last time, the traveller bound for the interior sees 
 the irrigation indispensable to all growth and tillage 
 in this droughty climate kept up by running streams 
 of clear water, whereas in the Nedjed and its neigh¬ 
 borhood it has to be laboriously procured from wells 
 and cisterns. 
 
 “ Besides the Djowf itself, or capital, there exist 
 several other villages belonging to the same ho¬ 
 monymous province, and all subject to the same 
 central governor. Of these the largest is Sekakali ; 
 it lies at about twelve miles distant to the northeast, 
 and though inferior to the principal town in import¬ 
 ance and fertility of soil, almost equals it in the 
 
RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 119 
 
 number of its inhabitants. I should reckon the 
 united population of these two localities—men, wo¬ 
 men, and children—at about thirty-three or thirty- 
 four thousand souls. This calculation, like many 
 others before us in the course of the work, rests 
 partly on an approximate survey of the number of 
 dwellings, partly on the military muster, and partly 
 on what I heard on the subject from the natives 
 themselves. A census is here unknown, and no 
 register records birth, marriage, or death. Yet, by 
 aid of the war list, which generally represents about 
 one tenth of the entire population, a fair though not 
 absolute idea may be obtained on this point. 
 
 “Lastly, around and at no great distance from 
 these main centres, are several small villages or 
 hamlets, eight or ten in number, as I was told, and 
 containing each of them from twenty to fifty or 
 sixty houses. But I had neither time nor opportu¬ 
 nity to visit each separately. They cluster round 
 lesser water springs, and offer in miniature features 
 much resembling those of the capital. The entire 
 population of the province cannot exceed forty or 
 forty-two thousand, but it is a brave one, and very 
 liberally provided with the physical endowments of 
 which it has been acutely said that they are seldom 
 despised save by those who do not themselves 
 possess them. Tall, well-proportioned, of a toler¬ 
 ably fair complexion, set off by long curling locks of 
 jet-black hair, with features for the most part 
 regular and intelligent, and a dignified carriage, the 
 Ljowfites are eminently good specimens of what 
 may be called the pure northern or Ishmaelitish Arab 
 
120 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA.- 
 
 type, and in all these respects they yield the palm 
 to the inhabitants of Djebel Shomer alone. Their 
 large-developed forms and open countenance con¬ 
 trast strongly with the somewhat dwarfish stature 
 and suspicious under-glance of the Bedouin. They 
 are, besides, a very healthy people, and keep up 
 their strength and activity even to an advanced age. 
 It is no uncommon occurrence here, to see an old 
 man of seventy set out full-armed among a band of 
 youths; though, by the way, such “green old age” 
 is often to be met with also in the central province 
 further south, as I have had frequent opportunity of 
 witnessing. The climate, too, is good and dry, and 
 habits of out-door life contribute not a little to the 
 maintenance of health and vigor. 
 
 “ In manners, as in locality, the worthies of Djowf 
 occupy a sort of half-way position between Be¬ 
 douins and the inhabitants of the cultivated dis¬ 
 tricts. Thus they partake largely in the nomad’s 
 aversion to mechanical occupations, in his indiffer¬ 
 ence to literary acquirements, in his aimless fickle¬ 
 ness too, and even in his treacherous ways. I have 
 said in the preceding chapter, that while we were 
 yet threading the narrow gorge near the first en¬ 
 trance of the valley, several horsemen appeared on 
 the upper margin of the pass, and one of them ques¬ 
 tioned our guide, and then, after a short consulta¬ 
 tion with his companions, called out to us to go on 
 and fear nothing. Now the name of this individual 
 was Sulman-ebn-Dahir, a very adventurous and fairly 
 intelligent young fellow, with whom next-door 
 neighborhood and frequent intercourse rendered us 
 
RESIDENCE • IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 121 
 
 intimate during our stay at the Djowf. One day, 
 while we were engaged in friendly conversation, 
 he said, half laughing, ‘ Do you know what we were 
 consulting about while you were in the pass below 
 on the morning of your arrival? It was whether 
 we should make you a good reception, and thus pro¬ 
 cure ourselves the advantage of having you resi¬ 
 dents amongst us, or whether we should not do 
 better to kill you all three, and take our gain from 
 the booty to be found in your baggage.’ I replied 
 with equal coolness, ‘It might have proved an awk¬ 
 ward affair for yourself and your friends, since 
 Hamood your governor could hardly have failed to 
 get wind of the matter, and would have taken it 
 out of you.’ ‘ Pooh ! ’ replied our friend, ‘ never a 
 bit; as if a present out of the plunder would not 
 have tied Hamood’s tongue.’ ‘ Bedouins that you 
 are,’ said I, laughing. ‘ Of course we are,’ 
 answered Sulman, ‘ for such we all w ere till quite 
 lately, and the present system is too recent to have 
 much changed us.’ However, he admitted that 
 they all had, on second thoughts, congratulated 
 themselves on not having preferred bloodshed to 
 hospitality, though perhaps the better resolution 
 was rather owing to interested than to moral mo¬ 
 tives. 
 
 “ The most distinctive good feature of the inhabi¬ 
 tants of Djowf is their liberality. Nowhere else, 
 even in Arabia, is the guest, so at least he be not 
 murdered before admittance, better treated, or moie 
 cordially invited to become in every way one of 
 themselves. Courage, too, no one denies them, and 
 
122 
 
 TRAVELS IN. ARABIA. 
 
 they are equally lavish of their own lives and prop¬ 
 erty as of their neighbors.’ 
 
 “ Let us now resume the narrative. On the morn¬ 
 ing after our arrival—it was now the 1st of July— 
 Ghafil caused a small house in the neighborhood, 
 belonging to one of his dependents, to be put at our 
 entire disposal, according to our previous request. 
 This, our new abode, consisted of a small court with 
 two rooms, one on each side, for warehouse and ha¬ 
 bitation, the whole being surrounded with an outer 
 wall, whose door was closed by lock and bolt. Of a 
 kitchen-room there was small need, so constant and 
 hospitable are the invitations of the good folks here 
 to strangers; and if our house was not over capa¬ 
 cious, it afforded at least what we most desired, 
 namely, seclusion and privacy at will; it was, more¬ 
 over, at our host’s cost, rent and reparations. 
 
 “ Hither, accordingly, we transferred baggage and 
 chattels, and arranged everything as comfortably as^ 
 we best could. And as we had already concluded 
 from the style and conversation of those around us, 
 that their state of society was hardly far enough ad¬ 
 vanced to offer a sufficiently good prospect for me¬ 
 dical art, whose exercise, to be generally advanta¬ 
 geous, requires a certain amount of culture and 
 aptitude in the patient, no less than of skill in the 
 physician, we resolved to make commerce our main 
 affair here, trusting that by so doing we should gain 
 a second advantage, that of lightening our more 
 bulky goods, such as coffee and cloth, whose trans¬ 
 port had already annoyed us not a little. 
 
 “ But in fact we were not more desirous to sell 
 
RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 123 
 
 than the men, women, and children of the Djowf 
 were to buy. From the very outset our little court¬ 
 yard was crowded with customers, and the most 
 amusing scenes of Arab haggling, in all its mixed 
 shrewdness and simplicity, diverted us through the 
 week. Handkerchief after handkerchief, yard after 
 yard of cloth, beads for the women, knives, combs, 
 looking-glasses, and what not ? (for our stock was a 
 thorough miscellany,) were soon sold off, some foi 
 ready money, others on credit; and it is but justice 
 to say that all debts so contracted were soon paid 
 in very honestly ; Oxford High Street tradesmen, 
 at least in former times, were not always equally 
 fortunate. 
 
 <£ Meanwhile we had the very best opportunity of 
 becoming acquainted with and appreciating all 
 classes, nay, almost all individuals of the place. 
 Peasants too from various hamlets arrived, led by 
 rumor, whose trumpet, prone to exaggerate under 
 every sky, had proclaimed us throughout the valley 
 of Djowf for much more important characters, and 
 possessed of a much larger stock in hand than was 
 really the case. All crowded in, and befoie long 
 there were more customers than wares assembled in 
 the store-room. 
 
 u Our manner of passing the time was as follows. 
 We used to rise at early dawn, lock up the house, 
 and go out in the pure cool air of the morning to 
 some quiet spot among the neighboring palm- 
 groves, or scale the wall of some garden, 01 pass 
 right on through the by-lanes to where cultivation 
 merges in the adjoining sands of the valley , in 
 
124 
 
 TRAVELS L V ARABIA . 
 
 short, to any convenient place where we might hope 
 to pass an hour of quiet, undisturbed by Arab so¬ 
 ciability, and have leisure to plan our work for tho 
 dav. We would then return home about sunrise, 
 and find outside the door some tall lad sent sent by 
 his father, generally one of the wealthier and more 
 influential inhabitants of the quarter yet unvisited 
 by us, waiting our return, to invite us to an early 
 breakfast. We would now accompany our Mer¬ 
 cury to his domicil, where a hearty reception, and 
 some neighors collected for the occasion, or at¬ 
 tracted by a cup of good coffee, were sure to be in 
 attendance. Here an hour or so would wear away, 
 and some medical or mercantile transaction be 
 sketched out. We, of course, would bring the con¬ 
 versation, whenever it was possible, on local topics, 
 according as those present seemed likely to afford 
 us exact knowledge and insight into the real state 
 and circumstances of the land. We would then re¬ 
 turn to our own quarters, where a crowd of custom¬ 
 ers, awaiting us, would allow us neither rest nor 
 pause till noon. Then a short interval for date or 
 pumpkin eating in some neighbor’s house would 
 occur, and after that business be again resumed for 
 three or four hours. A walk among the gardens, 
 rarely alone, more often in company with friends 
 and acquaintances, would follow; and meanwhile an 
 invitation to supper somewhere had unfailingly been 
 given and accepted.” 
 
 “ After supper all rise, wash their hands, and 
 then go out into the open air to sit and smoke a 
 quiet pipe under the still transparent sky of the sum- 
 
RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 125 
 
 mer evening. Neither mist nor vapor, much less a 
 cloud, appears ; the moon dips down in silvery white¬ 
 ness to the very verge of the palm-tree tops, and the 
 last rays of daylight are almost as sharp and clear 
 as the dawn itself. Chat and society continue for 
 an hour or two, and then every one goes home, most 
 to sleep, I fancy, for few Penseroso lamps are here 
 to be seen at midnight hour, nor does the spirit of 
 Plato stand much risk of unsphering from the noc¬ 
 turnal studies of the Djowf; we, to write our jour¬ 
 nal, or to compare observations and estimate char¬ 
 acters. 
 
 “ Sometimes a comfortable landed proprietor 
 would invite us to pass an extemporary holiday 
 morning in his garden, or rather orchard, there 
 to eat grapes and enjoy ourselves at will, seated 
 under clustering vine-trellises, with palm-trees above 
 and running streams around. How pleasant it was 
 after the desert! At other times visits of patients, 
 prescriptions, and similar duties would take up a 
 part of the day ; or some young fellow, particularly 
 desirous of information about Syria or Egypt, or 
 perhaps curious after history and moral science, 
 would hold us for a couple of hours in serious and 
 sensible talk, at any rate to our advantage.” 
 
 It was necessary that the travellers should not 
 delay in paying their official visit to Hamood, the 
 vicegerent of Telal. His residence is in the centre 
 of the garden region, near a solitary round tower, 
 whose massive stone walls are mentioned in Arabi¬ 
 an poetry. Hamood’s residence is an irregular 
 structure, of more recent date, with no distinguishing 
 
126 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 feature except a tower about fifty feet in height. 
 Palgrave and his companion were accompanied by a 
 large number of their newly-found friends. After 
 passing through an outer court, filled with armed 
 guards, they found the ruler, seated in his large 
 reception hall: 
 
 “ There, in the place of distinction, which he never 
 yields to any individual of Djowf, whatever be his 
 birth or wealth, appeared the governor, a strong, 
 broad-shouldered, dark-browed, dark-eyed man, 
 clad in the long white shirt of the country, and over 
 it a handsome black cloak, embroidered with crim¬ 
 son silk; on his august head a silken handkerchief 
 or keffeeyeh, girt by a white band of finely woven 
 camel’s hair ; and in his fingers a grass fan. He 
 rose graciously on our approach, extended to us the 
 palm of his hand, and made us sit down near his 
 side, keeping, however, Gliafil, as an old acquain¬ 
 tance, between himself and us, perhaps as a precau¬ 
 tionary arrangement against any sudden assault or 
 treasonable intention on our part, for an Arab, be 
 he who he may, is never off his guard when new 
 faces are in presence. In other respects he showed 
 us much courtesy and good will, made many civil 
 inquiries about our health after so fatiguing a jour¬ 
 ney, praised Damascus and the Damascenes, by 
 way of an indirect compliment, and offered us a 
 lodging in the castle. But here Ghafil availed him¬ 
 self of the privileges conceded by Arab custom to 
 priority of liostsliip to put in his negative on our 
 behalf ; nor were we anxious to press the matter. A 
 pound or so of our choicest coffee, with which we on 
 
RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 127 
 
 this occasion presented his excellency, both as a mute 
 witness to tlie object of our journey, and the better to 
 secure his good will, was accepted very readily by 
 the great man, who in due return offered us his best 
 services. We replied that we stood in need of noth¬ 
 ing save his long life, this being the Arab formula 
 for rejoinder to such fair speeches ; and, next in 
 order, of means to get safe on to Ha yel so soon as 
 our business at the Djowf should permit, being de¬ 
 sirous to establish ourselves under the immediate 
 patronage of Telal. In this he promised to aid us, 
 and kept his word.” 
 
 Hamood afterwards politely returned their visit, 
 and they frequently went to his castle for the pur¬ 
 pose of studying the many interesting scenes pre¬ 
 sented by the exercise of the very primitive Arab 
 system of justice. Palgrave gives the following case 
 as a specimen : 
 
 “ One day my comrade and myself were on a visit 
 of mere politeness at the castle; the customary cere¬ 
 monies had been gone through, and business, at first 
 interrupted by our entrance, had resumed its course. 
 A Bedouin of the Ma’az tribe waspleading his cause 
 before Hamood, and accusing some one of having 
 forcibly taken away his camel. The governor was 
 seated with an air of intense gravity in his corner, 
 half leaning on a cushion, while the Bedouin, cross- 
 legged on the ground before him, and within six feet 
 of his person, flourished in his hand a large reaping 
 hook, identically that which is here used for cutting 
 grass. Energetically gesticulating with this grace¬ 
 ful implement, he thus challenged his judge s atten- 
 
128 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 tion: ‘ You, Hamood, do you hear ?’ (stretching 
 out at the same time the hook towards the gover¬ 
 nor, so as almost to reach his body, as though he 
 meant to rip him open ;) ‘ he has taken from me 
 my came] ; have you called God to mind ?’ (again 
 putting his weapon close to the unflinching magis¬ 
 trate ;) ‘ the camel is my camel; do you hear ?’ (with 
 another reminder from the reaping hook ;) ‘he is 
 mine, by God’s award and yours too ; do you hear, 
 child ?’ and so on, while Hamood sat without mov¬ 
 ing a muscle of face or limb, imperturbable and im¬ 
 passible, till some one of the counsellors quieted the 
 plaintiff, with ‘ Bemember God, child ; it is of no 
 consequence, you shall not be wronged.’ Then the 
 judge called on the witnesses, men of the Djowf, to 
 say their say, and on their confirmation of the Be¬ 
 douin’s statement, gave orders to two of his satel¬ 
 lites to search for and bring before him the accused 
 party ; while he added to the Ma’azee, ‘ All right, 
 daddy, you shall have your own ; put your confi¬ 
 dence in God,’ and composedly motioned him back 
 to his place. 
 
 “ A fortnight and more went by, and found us still 
 in the Djowf, ‘ honored guests ’ in Arab phrase, and 
 well rested from the bygone fatigues of the desert. 
 Ghafil’s dwelling was still, so to speak, our official 
 home; but there were two other houses where we 
 were still more at our ease ; that of Dafee, the 
 same who along with Ghafilcame to meet us on our 
 first arrival; and that of Salim, a respectable and, 
 m his way, a literary old man, our near neighbor, and 
 surrounded by a large family of fine strapping youths, 
 
RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 129 
 
 all of them brought up more or less in the fear of 
 Allah and in good example. Hither we used to 
 retire when wearied of Ghafil and his like, and pass 
 a quiet hour in their K’hawah, reciting or hearing 
 Arab poetry, talking over the condition of the coun¬ 
 try and its future prospects, discussing points of mo¬ 
 rality, or commenting on the ways and fashions of 
 the day.” 
 
 The important question for the travellers was 
 how they should get to Hjebel Shomer, the great 
 fertile oasis to the south, under the rule of the fa¬ 
 mous Prince Telal? The terrible Nefood , or sand- 
 passes, which the Arabs themselves look upon with 
 dread, must be crossed, and it was now the middle 
 of summer. The hospitable people of the Hjowf 
 begged Palgrave and his friends to remain until 
 September, and they probably would have been de¬ 
 layed for some time, but for a lucky chance. The 
 Azzam tribe of Bedouins, which had been attacked 
 by Prince Telal, submitted, and a dozen of their 
 chiefs arrived at the Hjowf, on their way to Djebel 
 Shomer, where they purposed to win Telal’s good 
 graces by tendering him their allegiance in his very 
 capital. Hamood received them, and lodged them 
 for several days, while they rested from their past 
 fatigues, and prepared themselves for what yet lay 
 before them. Some inhabitants of the Djowf, 
 whose business required their presence at Ha’yel, 
 were to join the party. “Hamood sent for us,” 
 Palgrave continues, “ and gave us notice of this ex¬ 
 pedition, and on our declaring that we desired tc 
 profit by it, he handed us a scrap of paper, ad- 
 
130 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 dressed to Telal himself, wherein he certified that 
 we had duly paid the entrance fee exacted from 
 strangers on their coming within the limits of Sho- 
 mer rule, and that we were indeed respectable indi¬ 
 viduals, worthy of all good treatment. We then, 
 in presence of Hamood, struck our bargain with 
 one of the band for a couple of camels, whose 
 price, including all the services of their master as 
 guide and companion for ten days of July travel¬ 
 ling, was not extravagant either; it came up to just 
 a hundred and ten piastres, equivalent to eighteen 
 or nineteen shillings of English money. 
 
 “ Many delays occurred, and it was not till the 
 18th of July, when the figs were fully ripe—a cir¬ 
 cumstance which furnished the natives of Djowf 
 with new cause of wonder at our rushing away, in 
 lieu of waiting like rational beings to enjoy the 
 good things of the land—that we received our final 
 ‘ Son of Hodeirah, depart.’ This was intimated to 
 us, not by a locust, but by a creature almost as 
 queer, namely, our new conductor, a half cracked 
 Arab, neither peasant nor Bedouin, but something 
 anomalous between the two, liight Djedey’, and a 
 native of the outskirts of Djebel Shomer, who dar¬ 
 kened our door in the forenoon, and warned us to 
 make our final packing up, and get ready for start¬ 
 ing the same day. 
 
 “ When once clear of the houses and gardens, 
 Djedey’ led us by a road skirting the southern side 
 of the valley, till we arrived, before sunset, at the 
 other, or eastern extremity of the town. Here was 
 the rendezvous agreed on by our companions; but 
 
RESIDENCE IN THE DJOWF. 
 
 131 
 
 they did not appear, and reason good, for they had 
 right to a supper more under Hamood’s roof, and 
 were loth to lose it. So we halted and alighted 
 alone. The chief of this quarter, which is above 
 two miles distant from the castle, invited us to sup¬ 
 per, and thence we returned to our baggage, there 
 to sleep. To pass a summer’s night in the open air 
 on a soft sand bed, implies no great privation in 
 these countries, nor is any one looked on as a hero 
 for so doing. 
 
 “Early next morning, while Yenus yet shone like 
 a drop of melted silver on the slaty blue, three of 
 our party arrived and announced that the rest of 
 our companions would soon come up. Encouraged 
 by the news, we determined to march on without 
 further tarrying, and ere sunrise we climbed the 
 steep ascent of the southerly bank, whence we had 
 a magnificent view of the whole length of the 
 Djowf, its castle and towers, and groves and gar¬ 
 dens, in the ruddy light of morning, and beyond 
 the drear northern deserts stretching far away. 
 We then dipped down the other side of the border¬ 
 ing hill, not again to see the Djowf till—who 
 knows when?” 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 PALGRAVE’s TRAVELS—CROSSING THE NEFOOD. 
 
 UR way was now to the southeast, across a 
 
 large plain varied with sand-mounds and cov¬ 
 ered with the ghada bush, already described, so that 
 our camels were much more inclined to crop pasture 
 than to do their business in journeying ahead. 
 About noon we halted near a large tuft of this 
 shrub, at least ten feet high. We constructed a sort 
 of cabin with boughs broken off the neighboring 
 plants and suitably arranged shedwise, and thus 
 passed the noon hours of intolerable heat till the 
 whole band came in sight. 
 
 “ They were barbarous, nay, almost savage fel¬ 
 lows, like most Sherarat, whether chiefs or people j 
 but they had been somewhat awed by the grandeurs 
 of Hamood, and yet more so by the prospect of com¬ 
 ing so soon before the terrible majesty of Telal him¬ 
 self. All w r ere duly armed, and had put on their best 
 suits of apparel, an equipment worthy of a scare¬ 
 crow or of an Irishman at a wake. Tattered red 
 overalls ; cloaks with more patches than original 
 substance, or, worse yet, which opened large mouths 
 
CROSSING T1IE NEFOOD. 
 
 133 
 
 to cry for patching, but had not got it; little broken 
 tobacco pipes, and no trousers soever (by the way, 
 all genuine Arabs are sans-culottes;) faces meagre 
 with habitual hunger, and black with dirt and 
 weather stains;—such were the high-born chiefs of 
 Azzam, on their way to the king’s levee. Along 
 with them were two Bedouins of the Shomer tribe, a 
 degree better in guise and person than the Shera- 
 rat; and lastly, three men of Djowf, who looked 
 almost like gentlemen among such ragamuffins. As 
 to my comrade and myself, I trust that the reader 
 will charitably suppose us the exquisites of the par¬ 
 ty. So we rode on together. 
 
 “ Next morning, a little after sunrise, we arrived 
 at a white calcareous valley, girt round with low 
 hills of marl and sand. Here was the famous Be’er 
 Shekeek, or “ well of Shekeek,” whence we were to 
 fill our water-skins, and that thoroughly, since no 
 other source lay before us for four days’ march amid 
 the sand passes, up to the very verge of Djebel Sho¬ 
 mer. 
 
 • “ Daughters of the Great Desert, to use an Arab 
 phrase, the * Nefood,’ or sand passes, bear but too 
 strong a family resemblance to their unamiable mo¬ 
 ther. What has been said elsewhere about their 
 origin, their extent, their bearings, and their con¬ 
 nection with the D’hana, or main sand waste of the 
 south, may exempt me from here entering on a 
 minute enarration of all their geographical details ; 
 let it suffice for the present that they are offshoots 
 —inlets, one might not unsuitably call them—of the 
 great ocean of sand that covers about one third of 
 
134 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 the peninsula, into whose central and comparatively 
 fertile plateau they make deep inroads, nay, in some 
 places almost intersect it. Their general character, 
 of which file following pages will, I trust, give a 
 tolerably correct idea, is also that of Dahna, or 
 ‘red desert,’ itself. The Arabs, always prone to 
 localize rather than generalize, count these sand- 
 streams by scores, but they may all be referred to 
 four principal courses, and he who would traverse 
 the centre must necessarily cross two of them, per¬ 
 haps even three, as we did. 
 
 “ The general type of Arabia is that of a central 
 table-land, surrounded by a desert ring, sandy to 
 the south, west, and east, and stony to the north. 
 This outlying circle is in its turn girt by a line of 
 mountains, low and sterile for the most, but attain¬ 
 ing in Yemen and Oman considerable height, 
 breadth, and fertility, while beyond these a narrow 
 rim of coast is bordered by the sea. The surface 
 of the midmost table-land equals somewhat less 
 than one half of the entire peninsula, and its spe¬ 
 cial demarcations are much affected, nay, often ab¬ 
 solutely fixed, by the windings and in-runnings of 
 the Nefood. If to these cen'ral highlands, or Ned- 
 jed, taking that word in its wider sense, we add the 
 Djowf, the Ta’yif, Djebel ’Aaseer, Yemen, Oman, 
 and Hasa, in short, whatever spots of fertility 
 belong to the outer circles, we shall find that Arabia 
 contains about two thirds of cultivated, or at least 
 of cultivable land, with a remaining third of irre¬ 
 claimable desert, chiefly to the south. In most 
 other directions the great blank spaces often left in 
 
CAPTAIN BURTON AS A PILGRIM 
 

 
 
 
CROSSING THE NEFOOD . 
 
 135 
 
 maps of this country are quite as frequently indi¬ 
 cations of non-information as of real non-inliabita- 
 tion. However, we have just now a strip, though 
 fortunately only a strip, of pure, unmitigated desert 
 before us, after which better lands await us; and 
 in this hope let us take courage, and boldly enter 
 the Nefood. 
 
 “ Much had we heard of them from Bedouins 
 and countrymen, so that we had made up our minds 
 to something very terrible and very impracticable. 
 But the reality, especially in these dog days, proved 
 worse than aught heard or imagined. 
 
 “ We were now traversing an immense ocean of 
 loose reddish sand, unlimited to the eye, and 
 heaped up in enormous ridges, running parallel to 
 each other from north to south, undulation after un¬ 
 dulation, each swell two or three hundred feet in 
 average height, with slant sides and rounded crests 
 furrowed in every direction by the capricious gales 
 of the desert. In the depths between the traveller 
 finds himself as it were imprisoned in a suffocating 
 sand-pit, hemmed in by burning walls on every side ; 
 while at other times, while laboring up the slope, he 
 overlooks what seems a vast sea of fire, swelling 
 under a heavy monsoon wind, and ruffled by a cross 
 blast into little red-hot waves. Neither shelter nor 
 rest for eye or limb amid torrents of light and heat 
 poured from above on an answering glare reflected 
 below. Add to this the weariness of long summer 
 days of toiling—I might better say wading—through 
 the loose and scorching soil, on drooping, half- 
 stupefied beasts, with few and interrupted hours of 
 
136 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 sleep at night, and no rest by day because no shel¬ 
 ter, little to eat and less to drink, while the tepid 
 and discolored water in the skins rap rlly diminishes, 
 even more by evaporation than by use, and a ver¬ 
 tical sun, such a sun, strikes blazing down till clothes, 
 baggage, and housings all take the smell of burning, 
 and scarce permit the touch. The boisterous gaiety 
 of the Bedouins was soon expended, and scattered, 
 one to front, another behind, each pursued his way 
 in silence only broken by the angry snarl of the 
 camels when struck, as they often were, to improve 
 their pace. 
 
 “ It was on the 20tli of July, a little after noon, 
 that we had left Be’er Shekeek. The rest of that 
 day and almost all night we journeyed on, for here 
 three or four hours of repose at a time, supper 
 included, was all that could be taken, since, if we 
 did not reach the other side of the Nefood before 
 our store of water was exhausted, we were lost 
 for certain. Indeed, during the last twenty-four 
 hours of these passes, to call them by their Arab 
 name, we had only one hour of halt. Monday, 
 the 21st of July, wore slowly away, most slowly it 
 seemed, in the same labor, and amid the same un¬ 
 varying scene. The loose sand hardly admits of 
 any vegetation ; even the ghada, which, like many 
 other Euphorbias, seems hardly to require either 
 earth or moisture for its sustenance, is here scant 
 and miserably stunted ; none can afford either shel¬ 
 ter or pasture. Sometimes a sort of track appears, 
 more often none ; the moving surface has long since 
 lost the traces of those who last crossed it. 
 
CROSSING THE NEFOOD . 
 
 137 
 
 “ About this time we noticed in the manner of 
 our Sherarat companions, especially the younger 
 ones, a certain insolent familiarity which put us 
 much on our guard; for it is the custom of the 
 Bedouin, when meditating plunder or treachery, to 
 try the ground first in this fashion, and if he sees 
 any signs of timidity or yielding in his intended 
 victim, he takes it as a signal for proceeding further. 
 The best plan in such cases is to put on a sour face 
 and keep silence, with now and then a sharp repri¬ 
 mand by way of intimidation, and this often cows 
 the savage, just as a barking dog will shrink back 
 under a steady look. Such was accordingly our 
 conduct on the present occasion. We kept apart 
 for hours at a time, and when alongside of the 
 brigands, said little, and that little anything but 
 friendly. Before long the more impudent appeared 
 abashed or embarrassed, and fell back, while an old 
 Azzam chief, with a dry face like a withered crab- 
 apple, pushed his dromedary up alongside of mine, 
 under pretext of seeking medical advice, but in 
 reality to make thus a proffer of friendliness and re¬ 
 spect. Of course I met his advances with cold and 
 sullen reserve ; and hereon he began to apologize 
 for the ‘ Ghushm,’ ‘ ill-bred clowns ’ of his party, as¬ 
 suring us that they had, however, no bad intention ; 
 that it was merely want of good education ; that all 
 were our brothers, our servants, etc., etc. 
 
 “ X afterwards learned from the Shomer Bedouins 
 and from the men of Djowf, that the worthy She¬ 
 rarat, supposing us to have amassed great wealth 
 under Ha mood’s patronage, had seriously proposed 
 
138 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 to take the opportunity of this desert solitude to 
 pillage us, and then leave us without water or 
 camels to find our way out of the Nefood as best 
 we might, that is, never. This little scheme they 
 had communicated to the Shomer, hoping for their 
 compliance and aid. But these last, more accus¬ 
 tomed to the restraints of neighboring rule, were 
 afraid of the consequences ; knowing, too, that Telal, 
 if anyhow informed of such proceedings, might 
 very possibly constitute himself our sole legatee, 
 executor, and something more. Accordingly they 
 refused to join, and the conspirators, who perceived 
 from our manner that we already had some suspicion 
 about their intentions, hastened to plaster matters 
 over before we should be in a way to compromise 
 their position at Ha’yel, by complaints of their 
 meditated treachery, 
 
 “ Near sunset of the second day we came in sight 
 of two lonely pyramidal peaks of dark granite, ris¬ 
 ing amid the sand-waves full in our way. * ’Aalam- 
 es-Sa’ad,’ the people call them, that is, 4 the signs 
 of good luck,’ because they indicate that about one- 
 tliird of the distance from Be’er-Shekeek to Djebel 
 Shomer has been here passed. They stand out like 
 islands, or rather like the rocks that start from the 
 sea near the mouth of the Tagus, or like the Mal- 
 dive group in the midst of the deep Indian Ocean. 
 Their roots must be in the rocky base over which 
 this upper layer of sand is strewn like the sea-water 
 over its bed; we shall afterwards meet with similar 
 phenomena in other desert spots. Here the under 
 stratum is evidently of granite, sometimes it is cal- 
 
CROSSING THE NEFOOD. 
 
 139 
 
 careous. As to the average depth of the sand, I 
 should estimate it at about four hundred feet, but it 
 may not unfrequently be much more ; at least I have 
 met with hollows of full six hundred feet in perpen¬ 
 dicular descent. 
 
 “ On we journeyed with the ’Aalam-es-Sa’ad 
 looming dark before us, till when near midnight, so 
 far as I could calculate by the stars, our only time¬ 
 piece, (and not a bad one in these clear skies,) we 
 passed close under the huge black masses of rock. 
 Vainly had I flattered myself with a halt, were it 
 but of half an hour, on the occasion. 4 On we 
 swept,’ and not till the morning star rose close be¬ 
 neath the Pleiades was the word given to dismount. 
 We tumbled rather than lay down on the ground; 
 and before sunrise were once more on our way. 
 
 “ Soon we reached the summit of a gigantic 
 sand ridge. ‘ Look there,’ said Djedey’ to us, and 
 pointed forwards. Far off on the extreme horizon a 
 blue cloud-like peak appeared, and another some¬ 
 what lower at its side. ‘ Those are the mountains 
 of Djobbah, and the nearest limits of Djebel 
 Shomer,’ said our guide. Considering how loose 
 the water-skins now flapped at the camel’s side, my 
 first thought was, ‘ how are we to reach them ? ’ 
 All the band seemed much of the same mind, for 
 they pushed on harder than before.” 
 
 “ But the further we advanced the worse did the 
 desert grow, more desolate, more hopeless in its 
 barren waves ; and at noon our band broke up into 
 a thorough ‘ sauve qui peut; ’ some had already 
 exhausted their provisions, solid or liquid, and 
 
140 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA . 
 
 others were scarcely better furnished; every one 
 goaded on his beast to reach the land of rest and 
 safety. Djedey’, my comrade, and myself, kept 
 naturally together. On a sudden my attention was 
 called to two or three sparrows, twittering under a 
 shrub by the wayside. They were the first birds we 
 had met with in this desert, and indicated our ap¬ 
 proach to cultivation and life. I bethought me ol 
 tales heard in childhood, at a comfortable fireside, 
 how some far-wandering sailors, Columbus and his 
 crew, if my memory serves me right, after days and 
 months of dreary ocean, welcomed a bird that, 
 borne from a yet undiscovered coast, first settled on 
 their mast. My comrade fell a-crying for very joy, 
 
 “ However we had yet a long course before us, 
 and we ploughed on all that evening with scarce an 
 hour’s halt for a most scanty supper, and then all 
 night up and down the undulating labyrinth, like 
 men in an enchanter s circle, fated always to journey 
 and never to advance.*’ 
 
 “ Tii e morning broke on us still toiling amid the 
 sands. By daylight we saw our straggling com¬ 
 panions like black specks here and there, one far 
 ahead on a yet vigorous dromedary, another in the 
 rear dismounted, and urging his fallen beast to rise 
 by plunging a knife a good inch deep into its 
 haunces, a third lagging in the extreme distance. 
 Every one for himself and God for us all!—so we 
 quickened our pace, looking anxiously before us for 
 the hills of Djobbah, which could not now be distant. 
 At noon we came in sight of them all at once, close 
 on our right, wild and fantastic cliffs, rising sheer on 
 
CROSSING THE NEFOOD. 
 
 141 
 
 the margin of the sand sea. We coasted them 
 awhile, till at a turn the whole plain of Djobbah and 
 its landscape opened on our view. 
 
 “ Here we had before us a cluster of black granite 
 rock, streaked with red, and about seven hundred 
 feet, at a rough guess, in height; beyond them a 
 large barren plain, partly white and encrusted with 
 salt, partly green with tillage, and studded with 
 palm groves, amongst which we could discern, not 
 far off, the village of Djobbah, much resembling 
 that of Djowf in arrangement and general appear¬ 
 ance, only smaller, and without castle or tower. 
 Beyond the valley glistened a second line of sand¬ 
 hills, but less wild and desolate looking than those 
 behind us, and far in the distance the main range of 
 Djebel Shomer, a long purple sierra of most pictur¬ 
 esque outline. Had we there and then mounted, 
 as we afterwards did, the heights on our right, we 
 should have also seen in the extreme southwest a 
 green patch near the horizon, where cluster the 
 palm plantations of Teymah, a place famed in Arab 
 history, and by some supposed identical with the 
 Teman of Holy Writ. 
 
 “But for the moment a drop of fresh water and 
 a shelter from the July sun was much more in 
 our thoughts than all the Teymahs or Temans that 
 ever existed. My camel, too, was not at the end of 
 his wits, for he never had any, but of his legs, and 
 hardly capable of advance, while I was myself too 
 tired to urge him vigorously, and we took a fair hour 
 to cross a narrow white strip of mingled salt and 
 sand that vet intervened between us and the village. 
 
 1/ o 
 
142 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 “ Without its garden walls was pitched the very 
 identical tent of our noble guide, and here his wife 
 and family were anxiously awaiting their lord. 
 Djedey’ invited us—indeed he could not conform¬ 
 ably with Shomer customs do less—to partake of 
 his board and lodging, and we had no better course 
 than to accept of both. So we let our camels fling 
 themselves out like dead or dying alongside of the 
 tabernacle, and entered to drink water mixed with 
 sour milk.” Here the caravan rested for a day. 
 
 “ About sunrise on the 25th of July we left Djob- 
 bah, crossed the valley to the southeast, and entered 
 once more on a sandy desert, but a desert, as I have 
 before hinted, of a milder and less inhospitable 
 character than the dreary Nefood of two days back. 
 Here the sand is thickly sprinkled with shrubs, and 
 not altogether devoid of herbs and grass; while the 
 undulations of the surface, running invariably from 
 north to south, according to the general rule of that 
 phenomenon, are much less deeply traced, though 
 never wholly absent. We paced on all day ; at 
 nightfall we found ourselves on the edge of a vast 
 funnel-like depression, where the sand recedes on 
 all sides to leave bare the chalky bottom-strata be¬ 
 low ; here lights glimmering amid Bedouin tents in 
 the depths of the valley invited us to try our chance 
 of a preliminary supper before the repose of the 
 night. We had, however, much ado to descend the 
 cavity, so steep was the sandy slope ; while its cir¬ 
 cular form and spiral marking reminded me of Edgar 
 Poe’s imaginative ‘ Maelstrom.’ The Arabs to 
 whom the watch-fires belonged were shepherds of 
 
CROSSING THE NEFOOD. 
 
 143 
 
 the numerous Shomer tribe, whence the district, 
 plain and mountain, takes* it name. They wel¬ 
 comed us to a share of their supper; and a good 
 dish of rice, instead of insipid samh or pasty, au¬ 
 gured a certain approach to civilization. 
 
 At bieak of day we resumed our march, and 
 met with camels and camel-drivers in abundance, 
 besides a few sheep and goats. Before noon wo 
 had got clear of the sandy patch, and entered in its 
 stead on a firm gravelly soil. Here we enjoyed an 
 hour of midday halt and shade in a natural cavern, 
 hollowed out in a high granite rock, itself an ad¬ 
 vanced guard of the main body of Djebel Shomer. 
 This mountain range now rose before us, wholly un¬ 
 like any other that I had ever seen ; a huge mass of 
 crag and stone, piled up in fastastic disorder, with 
 green valleys and habitations intervening. The sun 
 had not yet set when we reached the pretty village 
 of Ken ah, amid groves and waters—no more, how¬ 
 ever, running streams like those of Djowf, but an 
 artificial irrigation by means of wells and buckets. 
 At some distance from the houses stood a cluster of 
 three or four large over-shadowing trees, objects of 
 peasant veneration here, as once in Palestine. The 
 welcome of the inhabitants, when we dismounted at 
 their doois, was hearty and hospitable, nay, even 
 polite and considerate ; and a good meal, with a dish 
 of iiesli grapes for dessert, was soon set before us 
 in the veranda of a pleasant little house, much re¬ 
 minding me ol an English farm-cottage, whither the 
 good man of the dwelling had invited us for the 
 e\ ening All expressed great desire to profit by 
 
144 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 oui medical skill; and on our reply that we could 
 not conveniently open shop except at the capital 
 Ha’yel, several announced their resolution to visit 
 us there; and subsequently kept their word, thou h 
 at the cost of about twenty-four miles of journey. 
 
 “ We rose very early. Our path, well tracked 
 and trodden, now lay between ridges of precipitous 
 rock, rising abruptly from a level and grassy plain ; 
 sometimes the road was sunk in deep gorges, some¬ 
 times it o ned ou on wider spaces, where trees 
 and villagers appeared, while the number of wayfar¬ 
 ers, on foot or mounted, single or in bands, still in¬ 
 creased as we drew nearer to the capital. There was 
 an air of newness and security about the dwellings 
 and plantations hardly to be found now-a-dajs in 
 any other part of Arabia, Oman alone excepted. I 
 may add also the great frequency of young trees 
 and ground newly enclosed, a cheerful sight, yet 
 further enhanced by the total absence of ruins, so 
 common in the East; hence the general eftect pro¬ 
 duced by Djebel Sliomer, when contrasted with 
 most other provinces or kingdoms around, near and 
 far, is that of a newly coined piece, in all its sharp¬ 
 ness and shine, amid a dingy heap of defaced cur¬ 
 rency. It is a fresh creation, and shows what 
 Arabia might be under better rule than it enjoys 
 lor the most part: an inference rendered the more 
 conclusive by the fact that in natural and unaided 
 fertility Djebel Sliomer is perhaps the least favored 
 district in the entire central peninsula. 
 
 “ We were here close under the backbone of 
 Djebel Shomer, whose reddish crags rose in the 
 
CROSSING THE NEFOOD. 
 
 145 
 
 Btrangest forms on our right and left, while a narrow 
 cleft down to the plain-level below gave opening to 
 the capital. Very hard to bring an army through 
 this against the will of the inhabitants, thought I; 
 fifty resolute men could, in fact, hold the pass 
 against thousands ; nor is there any other approach 
 to Ha’yel from the northern direction. The town is 
 situated near the very centre of the mountains; it 
 was as yet entirely concealed from our view by the 
 windings of the road amid huge piles of rock. 
 Meanwhile from Djobbah to Ha’yel, the whole plain 
 gradually rises, running up between the sierras, 
 whose course from northeast to southwest crosses 
 two-thirds of the upper peninsula, and forms the 
 outwork of the central high country. Hence the 
 name of Nedjed, literally * highland,’ in contradis¬ 
 tinction to the coast and the outlying provinces of 
 lesser elevation. 
 
 “ The sun was yet two hours’ distance above the 
 western horizon, when we threaded the narrow and 
 winding defile, till we arrived at its further end. 
 Here we found ourselves on the verge of a large 
 plain, many miles in length and breadth, and girt 
 on every side by a high mountain rampart, while 
 right in front of us, at scarce a quarter of an 
 hour’s march, lay the town of Ha’yel, surrounded 
 by fortifications of about twenty feet in height, 
 with bastion towers, some round, some square, and 
 large folding gates at intervals ; it offered the same 
 show of freshness, and even of something like 
 irregular elegance that had before struck us in the 
 villages on our way. This, however, was a full- 
 
146 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 grown town, and its area might readily hold three 
 bundled thousand inhabitants or more, were its» 
 streets and houses close packed like those of Brus¬ 
 sels or Paris. But the number of citizens does not, 
 in fact, exceed twenty or twenty-two thousand,' 
 thanks to the many large gardens, open spaces, and 
 even plantations, included within the outer walls, 
 while the immense palace of the monarch alone, 
 with its pleasure grounds annexed, occupies about 
 one tenth of the entire city. Our attention waa 
 attracted by a lofty tower, some seventy feet in 
 height, of recent construction, and oval form, be¬ 
 longing to the royal residence. The plain all 
 ai ound the town is studded with isolated houses 
 and gardens, the property of wealthy citizens, or of 
 members of the kingly family, and on the far off 
 skiits of the plain appear the groves belonging to 
 Kafar, ’Adwah, and other villages, placed at the 
 openings of the mountain gorges that conduct to 
 the capital. The town walls and buildings shone 
 yellow in the evening sun, and the whole prospect 
 was one of thriving security, delightful to view, 
 though wanting in the peculiar luxuriance of vege¬ 
 tation offered by the valley of Djowf. A few Be¬ 
 douin tents lay clustered close by the ramparts, and 
 the great number of horsemen, footmen, camels, 
 asses, peasants, townsmen, boys, women and other 
 like, all passing to and fro on their various avoca¬ 
 tions, gave cheerfulness and animation to the scene. 
 
 ‘e crossed the plain and made for the town 
 gate, opposite the castle ; next, with no little diffi¬ 
 culty, prevailed on our camels to pace the high- 
 
CROSSING THE NEFOOD. 
 
 147 
 
 walled street, and at last arrived at the open space 
 in front of the palace. It was yet an hour before 
 sunset, or rather more; the business of the day 
 was over in Ha’yel, and the outer courtyard where 
 we now stood was crowded with loiterers of all 
 shapes and sizes. We made our camels kneel 
 down close by the palace gate, alongside of some 
 forty or fifty others, and then stepped back to re¬ 
 pose our very weary limbs on a stone bench oppo¬ 
 site the portal, and waited what might next occur.” 
 
OHAPTEK XI. 
 
 PALGRAVE’s TRAVELS.—LIFE IN Ha’yEL. 
 
 A T our first appearance a slight stir takes place. 
 
 The customary salutations are given and re¬ 
 turned by those nearest at hand; and a small knot 
 of inquisitive idlers, come up to see what and 
 whence we are, soon thickens into a dense circle. 
 Many questions are asked, first of our conductor, 
 Djedey’, and next of ourselves; our answers are 
 tolerably laconic. Meanwhile a thin, middle-sized 
 individual, whose countenance bears the type of 
 smiling urbanity and precise etiquette, befitting his 
 office at court, approaches us. His neat and simple 
 dress, the long silver-circled staff in his hand, his 
 respectful salutation, his politely important manner, 
 all denote him one of the palace retinue. It is 
 Seyf, the court chamberlain, whose special duty is 
 the reception and presentation of strangers. We 
 rise to receive him, and are greeted with a decorous, 
 4 Peace be with you, brothers,’ in the fullness of 
 every inflection and accent that the most scrupulous 
 grammarian could desire. We return an equally 
 Priscianic salutation. ‘ Whence have you come ? 
 
LIFE IN HA' TEL. 
 
 149 
 
 may good attend you!’ is the first question. Of 
 course we declare ourselves physicians from Syria, 
 for our bulkier wares had been disposed of in the 
 Djowf, and we were now resolved to depend on 
 medical practice alone. 1 And what do you desire 
 here in our town ? may God grant you success !’ 
 ^ays Seyf. ‘ We desire the favor of God most high, 
 and, secondly, that of Telal,’ is our answer, con¬ 
 forming our style to the correctest formulas of the 
 country, which we had already begun to pick up. 
 Whereupon Seyf, looking very sweet the while, be¬ 
 gins, as in duty bound, a little encomium on his 
 master’s generosity and other excellent qualities, 
 and assures us that we have exactly reached right 
 quarters. 
 
 “ But alas! while my comrade and myself were 
 exchanging side-glances of mutual felicitation at 
 such fair beginnings, Nemesis suddenly awoke to 
 claim her due, and the serenity of our horizon was 
 at once overcast by an unexpected and most unwel¬ 
 come cloud. My readers are doubtless already 
 aware that nothing was of higher importance for us 
 than the most absolute incognito, above all in what¬ 
 ever regarded European origin and character. In 
 fact, once known for Europeans, all intimate access 
 and sincerity of intercourse with the people of the 
 land would have been irretrievably lost, and our on¬ 
 ward progress to Nedjed rendered totally impossible. 
 These were the very least inconveniences that could 
 follow such a detection ; others much more disagree¬ 
 able might also be well apprehended. Now thus 
 far nothing had occurred capable of exciting serious 
 
150 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA . 
 
 suspicion ; no one had recognized us, or pretended 
 to recognize. We, too, on our part, liad thought 
 that Gaza, Ma’an, and perhaps the Djowf, were the 
 only localities where this kind of recognition had to 
 be feared. But we had reckoned without our host; 
 the first real danger was reserved for Ha’yel, within 
 the very limits of Nedjed, and with all the desert- 
 belt between us and our old acquaintances. 
 
 “For while Seyf was running through the pre¬ 
 liminaries of his politeness, I saw to my horror 
 amid the circle of bystanders a figure, a face well 
 known to me scarce six months before in Damascus, 
 and well known to many others also, now merchant, 
 now trader, now post-contractor, shrewd, enter¬ 
 prising and active, though nigh fifty years of age, 
 and intimate with many Europeans of considerable 
 standing in Syria and Bagdad—one, in short, ac¬ 
 customed to all kinds of men, and not to be easily 
 imposed on by any. 
 
 “ While I involuntarily stared dismay on my 
 friend, and yet doubted if it could possibly be he, 
 all incertitude was dispelled by his cheerful salu¬ 
 tation, in the confidential tone of an old acquaint¬ 
 ance, followed by wondering inquiries as to what 
 wind had blown me hither, and what I meant to do 
 here in Ha’yel. 
 
 “ Wishing him most heartily—somewhere else, I 
 had nothing for it but to ‘ fix a vacant stare,’ to give 
 a formal return of greeting, and then silence. 
 
 “But misfortunes never come single. While I 
 was thus on my defensive against so dangerous an 
 antagonist in the person of my free and easy friend, 
 
LIFE IN HA'YEL . 
 
 151 
 
 io! a tall, sinister-featured individual comes up, 
 clad in the dress of an inhabitant of Kaseem, and 
 abruptly breaks in with, ‘ And I too have seen him 
 at Damascus,’ naming at the same time the place 
 and date of the meeting, and specifying exactly the 
 circumstances most calculated to set me down for a 
 genuine European. 
 
 “ Had he really met me as he said ? I cannot 
 precisely say; the place he mentioned was one 
 whither men, half spies, half travellers, and whole 
 intriguers from the interior districts, nay, even from 
 Nedjed itself, not un frequently resort; and, as I my¬ 
 self was conscious of having paid more than one 
 visit there, my officious interlocutor might very 
 possibly have been one of those present on some 
 such occasion. So that although I did not now re¬ 
 cognize him in particular, there was a strong in¬ 
 trinsic probability in favor of his ill-timed veracity; 
 and his thus coming in to support the first witness 
 in his assertions, rendered my predicament, already 
 unsafe, yet worse. 
 
 “ But ere I could frame an answer or resolve what 
 course to hold, up came a third, who, by overshoot¬ 
 ing the mark, put the game into our hands. He too 
 salaams me as an old friend, and then, turning to 
 those around, now worked up to a most extraor¬ 
 dinary pitch of amazed curiosity, says, 4 And I also 
 know’ him perfectly w r ell; I have often met him at 
 Cairo, where he lives in great wealth in a large 
 house near the Kasr-el-’Eynee; his name is ’Abd- 
 es-Saleeb ; he is married, and has a very beautiful 
 daughter, wdio rides an expensive horse,’ etc. 
 
152 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 ‘ 5 Here at last was a pure invention or mistake 
 (for I know not which it was) that admitted of a 
 flat denial. £ Aslahek Allah,’ ‘ May Heaven set you 
 right,’ said I; £ never did I live at Cairo, nor have I 
 the blessing of any horse-riding young ladies for 
 daughters. Then, looking very hard at my second 
 detector, towards whom I had all the right of doubt, 
 ‘ I do not remember having ever seen you ; think 
 well as to what you say ; many a man besides my¬ 
 self has a reddish beard and straw-colored mus¬ 
 taches,’ taking pains however not to seem particu¬ 
 larly ‘ careful to answer him in this matter,’ but as 
 if merely questioning the precise identity. But for 
 the first of the trio I knew not what to do or to re¬ 
 ply, so I continued to look at him with a killing air 
 of inquisitive stupidity, as though not fully under¬ 
 standing his meaning. 
 
 “But Seyf, though himself at first somewhat 
 staggered by this sudden downpour of recognition, 
 was now reassured by the discomfiture of the third 
 witness, and came to the convenient conclusion that 
 the two others were no better worthy of credit. 
 Never mind them,’ exclaimed he, addressing him¬ 
 self to us, they are talkative liars, mere gossipers j 
 let them alone, they do not deserve attention ; come 
 along with me to the k’hawah in the palace, and 
 rest yourselves.’ Then turning to my poor Damas¬ 
 cene friend, whose only wrong was to have been 
 over-much in the right, he sharply chid him, and 
 next the rest, and led us off, most glad to follow the 
 leader, through the narrow and dark portal into tin 
 royal residence. 
 
LIFE IX HA'YEL. 
 
 153 
 
 “ Here we remained whilst coffee was, as wont, 
 prepared and served. Seyf, who had left ns awhile, 
 now came back to say that Telal would soon return 
 from his afternoon w T alk in a garden where he had 
 been taking the air, and that if we would pass into 
 the outer court we should then and there have the 
 opportunity of paying him our introductory respects. 
 He added that we should afterwards find our supper 
 ready, and be pro\ ided also with good lodgings for 
 the night; finally, that the k’hawah and what it 
 contained were always at our disposition so loug as 
 we should honor Ha’yel by our preseuce. 
 
 “We rose accordingly and returned with Seyf to 
 the outside area. It was fuller than ever, on account 
 of the expected appearance of the monarch. A 
 few minutes later we saw a crowd approach from 
 the upper extremity of the place, namely, that 
 towards the market. When the new-comers drew 
 near, we saw' them to be almost exclusively armed 
 men, with some of the more important-looking citi¬ 
 zens, but all on foot. In the midst of this circle, 
 though detached from those around them, slowly 
 advanced three personages, whose dress and de¬ 
 portment, together with the respectful distance ob¬ 
 served by the rest, announced superior rank. ‘ Here 
 comes Telal,’ said Seyf, i* an undertone. 
 
 “ The midmost figure was in fact that of the 
 prince himself. Short of stature, broad-shouldered, 
 aud. strongly built, of a very dusky complexion, 
 with long black hair, dark and piercing eyes, and a 
 ^ounten mce rather severe than open, Telal might 
 lead'b, ’--e supposed above forty years in age, though 
 
154 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 he is in fact thirty-seven or thirty-eight at most. 
 His step was measured, his demeanor grave and 
 somewhat haughty. His dress, a long robe of 
 Cachemire shawl, covered the white Arab shirt, and 
 over all he wore a delicately worked cloak of camel’s 
 hair from Oman, a great rarity, and highly valued 
 in this part of Arabia. His head was adorned by 
 a broidered handkerchief, in which silk and gold 
 thread had not been spared, and girt by a broad 
 band of camel’s hair entwined with red silk, the 
 manufacture of Meshid ’Alee. A gold-mounted 
 sword hung by his side, and his dress was perfumed 
 with musk, in a degree better adapted to Arab than 
 to European nostrils. His glance never rested for 
 a moment; sometimes it turned on his nearer com¬ 
 panions, sometimes on the crowd; I have seldom 
 seen so truly an 4 eagle eye,’ in rapidity and in bril¬ 
 liancy. 
 
 “By his side walked a tall, thin individual, clad in 
 garments of somewhat less costly material, but of 
 gayer colors and embroidery than those of the king 
 himself. His face announced unusual intelligence 
 and courtly politeness; his sword was not, however, 
 adorned with gold, the exclusive privilege of the 
 royal family, but with silver only. 
 
 This was ZamiJ, the treasurer and prime minister 
 —sole minister, indeed, of the autocrat. [Raised 
 from beggary by Abdallah, the late king, who had 
 seen in the ragged orphan signs of rare capacity, he 
 continued to merit the uninterrupted favor of his 
 patron, and after his death had become equally, or 
 yet more dear to Telal, who raised him from post- 
 
LIFE IE HAY EL. 
 
 155 
 
 to post till lie at last occupied the highest position 
 in the kingdom after the monarch himself. Of the 
 demurely smiling Abd-el-Mahsin, the second com¬ 
 panion of the king’s evening walk, I will say nothing 
 for the moment; we shall have him before long for 
 a very intimate acquaintance and a steady friend. 
 
 “ Every one stood up as Telal drew nigh. Seyf 
 gave us a sign to follow him, made way through the 
 crowd, and saluted his sovereign with the authorized 
 formula of ‘ Peace be with you, O the Protected of 
 God!’ Telal at once cast on us a penetrating 
 glance, and addressed a question in a low voice to 
 Seyf, whose answer was in the same tone. The 
 prince then looked again towards us, but with a 
 friendlier expression of face. We approached and 
 touched his open hand, repeating the same saluta¬ 
 tion as that used by Seyf. No bow, hand-kissing, 
 or other ceremony is customary on these occasions. 
 Telal returned our greeting, and then, without a 
 word more to us, whispered a moment to Seyf, and 
 passed on through the palace gate. 
 
 “ ‘ He will give you a private audience to-morrow,’ 
 said Seyf, £ and I will take care that you have notice 
 of it in due time; meanwhile come to supper.’ The 
 sun had already set when we re-entered the palace. 
 This time, after passing the arsenal, we turned aside 
 into a large square court, distinct from the former, 
 and surrounded by an open veranda, spread with 
 mats. Two large ostriches, presents offered to Telal 
 by some chiefs of the Solibali tribe, strutted about 
 the enclosure, and afforded much amusement to the 
 negro boys and scullions of the establishment. Seyf 
 
156 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 conducted us to the further side of the court, where 
 we seated ourselves under the portico. 
 
 “ Hither some black slaves immediately brought 
 the supper; the ‘ piece de resistance ’ was, as usual, a 
 huge dish of rice and boiled meat, with some thin 
 cakes of unleavened bread and dates, and small 
 onions with chopped gourds intermixed. The 
 cookery was better than what we had heretofore 
 ta-sted, though it would, perhaps, have hardly passed 
 muster with a Yatel. We made a hearty meal, took 
 coffee in the k’hawah, and then returned to sit 
 awhile and smoke our pipes in the open air. Needs 
 not say how lovely are the summer evenings, how 
 cool the breeze, how pure the sky, in these moun¬ 
 tainous districts.” 
 
 Palgrave gives a historical sketch of the rise of 
 Prince Telal to a position of power and importance 
 in Central Arabia, scarcely secondary to that of the 
 Wahabee ruler of Nedjed, The region of Djebel 
 Shomer was subjected to the Wahabee rule during 
 the last century, and the severe discipline of the new 
 creed was forced upon its inhabitants. But, after 
 the taking of Derreyeh by Ibrahim Pasha, the peo¬ 
 ple regained a partial independence, and a rivalry 
 for the chieftainship ensued between the two noble 
 houses of Djaaper and Beyt Alee. The leader of the 
 former was a young man named Abdallah, of more 
 than ordinary character and intelligence, wealthy 
 and popular. But he was defeated in the struggle, 
 and about the year 1820 was driven into exile. 
 
 With a small band of followers he reached the 
 Wady Sirhan, (traversed by Palgrave on his way to 
 
LIIE IN HA'YEL . 
 
 157 
 
 the Djowf,) where they were attacked by the Aney- 
 zeh Bedouins, all the rest slain, and Abdallah left 
 for dead on the sands. The Arab story is that the 
 locusts came around them, scattered the sand with 
 their wings and feet upon his wounds and thus 
 stopped the flow of blood, while a flock of partridges 
 hung above him to screen him from the burning sun. 
 A merchant of Damascus, passing by with his cara¬ 
 van, beheld the miracle, took the youth, bound up 
 his wounds, and restored him to health by the most 
 tender care. When he had recovered his vigor in 
 Damascus, the generous merchant sent him back to 
 Arabia. 
 
 He went first to the Nedjed, entered the service of 
 the Waliabee chief, rose to high military rank, and 
 finally, by his own personal bravery, secured the 
 sovereignty to Feysul, the present ruler. The latter 
 then gave him an army to recover his heritage of 
 Djebel Shomer, and about the year 1830, his sway 
 was secured in his native country. The rival clan 
 of Beyt Alee was extirpated, only one child being 
 left, whom Telal* afterwards, with a rare but politic 
 generosity, restored to wealth and honors. 
 
 Abdallah took every means to strengthen his pow¬ 
 er. He found it necessary,,through his dependence 
 on Feysul, to establish the Wahabee creed ; he used 
 the Bedouins as allies, in order to repress the rival¬ 
 ry of the nobles, and thus gained power at the ex¬ 
 pense of popularity. Many plots were formed 
 against him, many attempts made to assassinate 
 him, but they all failed : his lucky star attended 
 him throughout. Up to this time he had dwelt 
 
158 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 in a quarter of the capital which the old chief¬ 
 tains and the nobility had mainly chosen for their 
 domicile, and where tire new monarch was surround¬ 
 ed by men his equals in birth and of even more an¬ 
 cient title to command. But now he added a new' 
 quarter to the town, and there laid the foundations 
 of a vast palace destined for the future abode of the 
 king and the display of all his grandeur, amid 
 streets and nobles of his own creation. The walls of 
 the projected edifice were fast rising when he died, 
 almost suddenly, in 1844 or 1845, leaving three sons, 
 Telal, Meta’ab, and Mohammed, the eldest scarce 
 twenty years of age, besides his only surviving bro¬ 
 ther ’Obeyd, who could not then have been much 
 under fifty. 
 
 “ Telal was already highly popular,” says Pal- 
 grave, “ much more so than his father, and had giv¬ 
 en early tokens of those superior qualities which 
 accompanied him to the throne. All parties united 
 to proclaim him sole heir to the kingdom and lawful 
 successor to the regal power, and thus the rival pre¬ 
 tensions of ’Obeyd, hated by many and feared by 
 all, were smothered at the outset and put aside with¬ 
 out a contest. 
 
 “ The young sovereign possessed, in fact, all that 
 Arab ideas require to ensure good government and 
 lasting popularity. Affable tow r ards the common 
 people, reserved and haughty with the aristocracy, 
 courageous and skillful in war, a lover of commerce 
 and building in time of peace, liberal even to profu¬ 
 sion, yet always careful to maintain and augment 
 the state revenue, neither over-strict nor yet scan- 
 
LIFE IN IIA' YEL. 
 
 159 
 
 dalously lax in religion, secret in liis designs, but 
 never known to break a promise once given, or vio¬ 
 late a plighted faith ; severe in administration, yet 
 averse to bloodshed, he offered the very type of what 
 an Arab prince should be. I might add, that among 
 all rulers or governors, European or Asiatic, with 
 whose acquaintance I have ever chanced to be hon¬ 
 ored, I know few equal in the true art of govern¬ 
 ment to Telal, son of ’Abdallah-ebn-Raslieed. 
 
 “ His first cares were directed to adorn and civi¬ 
 lize the capital. Under his orders, enforced by per¬ 
 sonal superintendence, the palace commenced by his 
 father was soon brought to completion. But he 
 added, what probably his father would hardly have 
 thought of, a long row of warehouses, the dependen¬ 
 cies and property of the same palace ; next he built 
 a market-place consisting of about eighty shops or 
 magazines, destined for public commerce and trade, 
 and lastly constructed a large mosque for the official 
 prayers of Friday. Round the palace, and in many 
 other parts of the town, he opened streets, dug 
 wells, and laid out extensive gardens, besides 
 strengthening the old fortifications all round and 
 adding new ones. At the same time he managed to 
 secure at once the fidelity and the absence of his 
 dangerous uncle by giving him charge of those mil¬ 
 itary expeditions which best satisfied the restless 
 energy of ’Obeyd. The first of these wars was 
 directed, I know not on what pretext, against Khey- 
 bar. But as Telal intended rather to enforce sub¬ 
 mission than to inflict ruin, he associated with 
 Obeyd in the militaiy command his own brothei 
 
1G0 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 Meta’ab, to put a check on the ferocity of the for¬ 
 mer. Kheybar was conquered, and Telal sent thith¬ 
 er, as governor in his name, a young man of Ha’yel, 
 prudent and gentle, whom I subsequently met when 
 he was on a visit at the capital. 
 
 u Not long after, the inhabitants of Kaseem, 
 weary of Wahabee tyranny, turned their eyes 
 towards Telal, who had already given a generous 
 and inviolable asylum to the numerous political ex¬ 
 iles of that district. Secret negotiations took place, 
 and at a favorable moment the entire uplands of that 
 province—after a fashion not indeed peculiar to 
 Arabia—annexed themselves to the kingdom of Sho- 
 mer by universal and unanimous suffrage. Telal 
 made suitable apologies to the Nedjean monarch, 
 the original sovereign of the annexed district; he 
 could not resist the popular wish ; it had been forced 
 on him, etc.,—but Western Europe is familiar with 
 the style. Feysulfelt the inopportuneness of a quar¬ 
 rel with the rapidly growing power to which he him¬ 
 self had given origin only a few years before, and, 
 after a wry face or two, swallowed the pill. Meanwhile 
 Telal knowing the necessity of a high military repu¬ 
 tation, both at home and abroad, undertook in per¬ 
 son a series of operations against Teyma’ and its 
 neighborhood, and at last against the Djowf itself. 
 Everywhere his arms were successful, and his mod¬ 
 eration in victory secured the attachment of the van¬ 
 quished themselves. 
 
 “Towards his own subjects his conduct is uni¬ 
 formly of a nature to merit their obedience and at¬ 
 tachment, and few sovereigns have here met with 
 
LIFE IN HA' TEL. 
 
 161 
 
 better success. Once a day, often twice, he gives 
 public audience, hears patiently, and decides in per¬ 
 son, the minutest causes with great good sense. To 
 the Bedouins, no insignificant portion of his rule, he 
 makes up for the restraint he imposes, and the trib¬ 
 ute he levies from them, by a profusion of hospital¬ 
 ity not to be found elsewhere in the whole of Arabia 
 from Akabah to Aden. His guests at the midday 
 and evening meal are never less than fifty or sixty, 
 and I have often counted up to two hundred at a 
 banquet, while presents of dress and arms are of fre¬ 
 quent if not daily occurrence. It is hard for Europe¬ 
 ans to estimate how much popularity such conduct 
 brings an Asiatic prince. Meanwhile the townsfolk 
 and villagers love him for the more solid advantages 
 of undisturbed peace at home, of flourishing com¬ 
 merce, of extended dominion, and military glory. 
 
 “ To capital punishment he is decidedly adverse, 
 and the severest penalty with which he has hitherto 
 chastised political offences is banishment or prison. 
 Indeed, even in cases of homicide or murder, he has 
 been known not unfrequently to avail himself of the 
 option allowed by Arab custom between a fine and 
 retaliation, and to buy off the offender, by bestowing 
 on the family of the deceased the allotted price of 
 blood from his own private treasury, and that from 
 a pure motive of humanity. When execution does 
 take place, it is always by beheading; nor is indeed 
 any other mode of putting to death customary in 
 Arabia. Stripes however are not uncommon, though 
 administered on the broad back, not on the sole of 
 the foot. They are the common chastisement for 
 
162 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 minor offences, like stealing, cursing, or quarreling ; 
 in this last case both parties usually come in for 
 theii share. 
 
 “ With his numerous retainers he is almost over- 
 indulgent, and readily pardons a mistake or a negli¬ 
 gence ; falsehood alone he never forgives ; and it is 
 notorious that whoever has once lied to Telal must 
 give up all hopes of future favor.” 
 
 After describing the public audience which is 
 daily given by this excellent prince, Palgrave des¬ 
 cribes the more private reception which was accord¬ 
 ed to himself and his companion : 
 
 “ Telal, once free from the mixed crowd, pauses a 
 moment till we rejoin him. The simple and cus¬ 
 tomary salutations are given and returned. I then 
 present him with our only available testimonial, the 
 scrap written by Hamood from the Djowf. He 
 opens it, and hands it over to Zamil, better skilled 
 in reading than his master. Then laying aside all 
 his wonted gravity, and assuming a good-humored 
 smile, he takes my hand in his right and my com¬ 
 panion’s in his left, and thus walks on with us 
 through the court, past the mosque, and down the 
 market-place, while his attendants form a moving 
 wall behind and on either side. 
 
 “ He was in his own mind thoroughly persuaded 
 that we were, as we appeared, Syrians; but imag¬ 
 ined, nor was he entirely in the wrong thus far, that 
 we had other objects in view than mere medical 
 practice. But if he was right in so much, he was 
 less fortunate in the interpretation he chose to put 
 on our riddle, having imagined that our real scope 
 
363 
 
 LIFE IN HA'TEL. 
 
 \ 
 
 must be to buy horses for some government, of 
 which we must be the agents; a conjecture which 
 had certainly the merit of plausibility. However, 
 Telal had, I believe, no doubt on the matter, and 
 had already determined to treat us well in the horse 
 business, and to let us have a good bargain, as it 
 shortly appeared. 
 
 “ Accordingly he began a series of questions and 
 cross-questions, all in a jocose way, but so that the 
 very drift of his inquiries soon allowed us to per¬ 
 ceive what he really esteemed us. We, following 
 our previous resolution, stuck to medicine, a family 
 in want, hopes of good success under the royal pa¬ 
 tronage, and much of the same tenor. But Telal 
 was not so easily to be blinkered, and kept to his 
 first judgment. Meanwhile we passed down the 
 stieet, lined with starers at the king and us, and at 
 last arrived at the outer door of a large house near 
 the farther end of the Sook or market-place ; it 
 
 belonged to Hasan, the merchant from Meshid 
 ’Alee. 
 
 Three of the retinue stationed themselves by 
 way of guard at the street door, sword in hand. 
 The rest entered with the king and ourselves; we 
 traversed the courtyard, where the remainder of the 
 armed men took position, while we went on to the 
 k liawah. It was small, but well furnished and 
 carpeted. Here Telal placed us amicably by his 
 side in the highest place; his brother Mohammed 
 and five or six others were admitted, and seated 
 themselves each according to his rank, while Hasan, 
 being master oi the house, did the honors. 
 
164 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 “ Coffee was brought and pipes lighted. Mean 
 time Ebn-Rasheed renewed his interrogatory, skill¬ 
 fully throwing out side remarks, now on the govern¬ 
 ment of Syria, now on that of Egypt, then on the 
 Bedouins to the north of Djowf, or on the tribes of 
 Hedjaz or on the banks of the Euphrates, thus to 
 gain light whence and to what end we had in fact 
 come. Next he questioned us on medicine, perhaps 
 to discover whether we had the right professional 
 tone; then on horses, about which same noble ani¬ 
 mals we affected an ignorance unnatural and very 
 unpardonable in an Englishman ; but for which I 
 hope afterwards to make amends to my readers. 
 All was in vain ; and after a full hour our noble 
 friend had only managed by his cleverness to get 
 himself farther off the right track than he had been 
 at the outset. He felt it, and determined to let 
 matters have their own course, and to await the re¬ 
 sult of time. So he ended by assuring us of his 
 entire confidence and protection, offering us to boot 
 a lodging on the palace grounds. But this we de¬ 
 clined, being desirous of studying the country as it 
 was in itself, not through the medium of a court at¬ 
 mosphere ; so we begged that an abode might be 
 assigned us as near the market-place as possible; 
 and this he promised, though evidently rather put 
 uut by our independent ways. 
 
 “ Excellent water-melons, ready peeled and cut 
 «*p, with peaches hardly ripe, for it was the be¬ 
 ginning of the season, were now brought in, and 
 we all partook in common. This was the signal for 
 breaking up ; Telal renewed his proffers of favor 
 
LIFE IN IIA' YEL. 
 
 165 
 
 and patronage ; and we were at last reconducted to 
 our lodgings by one of the royal guard. 
 
 “ Seyf now went in search of a permanent dwell¬ 
 ing-place wherein to install us ; and before evening 
 succeeded in finding one situated in a street leading 
 at right angles to the market, and at no unreason¬ 
 able distance from the palace. The house itself 
 consisted of two apartments, separated by an un¬ 
 roofed court, with an outer door opening on the 
 road ; over the rooms was a flat roof surrounded 
 by a very high parapet, thus making an excellent 
 sleeping-place for summer. The locality had been 
 occupied by one of the palace retinue, Koseyn-el- 
 Misree, who at Seyfs bidding evacuated the pre¬ 
 mises in our favor, and moved off to take up his 
 quarters in the neighborhood. We examined the 
 dwelling-place, and found it tolerably convenient; 
 the rooms w~ere each about sixteen feet in length by 
 tight or nine in breadth, and of corresponding 
 height; one of them might officiate as a store-room 
 and kitchen, while the other should be fitted up for 
 a dwelling apartment. It was the zenith of the dog- 
 days, and a bed-chamber would have been a mere 
 superfluity; the roof and open air were every way 
 preferable, nor had we to fear intrusion, the court- 
 walls being sixteen feet high or more. Every door 
 was provided with its own distinct lock ; the keys 
 here are made of iron, and in this respect Ha’yel 
 has the better of any other Arab town it was my 
 chance to visit, where the keys were invariably 
 wooden, and thus very liable to break and get out 
 of order. 
 
166 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 “ The courtyard was soon thronged with visitors, 
 some from the palace, others from the town. One 
 had a sick relation, whom he begged us to come and 
 see, another some personal ailment, a third had 
 called out of mere politeness or curiosity ; in short 
 men of all conditions and of all ages, but for 
 the most part open and friendly in manner, so that 
 we could already anticipate a very speedy acquaint¬ 
 ance with the town and whatever it contained. 
 
 “ The nature of our occupations now led to a cer¬ 
 tain daily routine, though it was often agreeably di¬ 
 versified by incidental occurrences. Perhaps a leaf 
 taken at random from my journal, now regularly 
 kept, may serve to set before my readers a tolerable 
 sample of our ordinary course of life and society at 
 Ha’yel, while it will at the same time give a more 
 distinct idea of the town and people than we have 
 yet supplied. It is, besides, a pleasure to retrace 
 the memories of a pleasant time, and such on the 
 whole was ours here ; and I trust that the reader 
 will not be wholly devoid of some share in my feel¬ 
 ings. 
 
 “Be it, then, the 10th of August, whose jotted notes 
 I will put together and fill up the blanks. I might 
 equally have taken the 9tli or the 11th, they are all 
 much the same ; but the day 1 have chosen looks a 
 little the closer written of the two. and for that sole 
 reason I prefer giving it. 
 
 “ On that day, then, in 1862, about a fortnight 
 after our establishment at Ha’yel, and when we were, 
 in consequence, fully inured to our town existence, 
 Seleem Abou Mahmood-el-’Eys and Barakat-esh- 
 
LIFE IN HA'YEL. 
 
 167 
 
 Shamee, that is, my companion and myself, rose, not 
 from our beds, for we had none, but from our roof- 
 spread carpets, and took advantage of the silent 
 hour of the first faint dawn, while the stars yet kept 
 watch in the sky over the slumbering inhabitants of 
 Shomer, to leave the house for a cool and undis¬ 
 turbed walk ere the sun should arise and man no 
 
 o 
 
 forth unto his work and to his labor. We locked 
 the outer door, and then passed into the still twi¬ 
 light gloom down the cross-street leading to the 
 market-place, which we next followed up to its 
 farther or southwestern end, where large folding- 
 gates separate it from the rest of the town. The 
 wolfish city-dogs, whose bark and bite too render 
 walking the streets at night a rather precarious bu¬ 
 siness, now tamely stalked away in the gloaming, 
 while here and there a crouching camel, the pack¬ 
 ages yet on his back, and his sleeping driver close 
 by, awaited the opening of the warehouse at whose 
 door they had passed the night. Early though it 
 was, the market-gate's were already unclosed, and 
 the guardian sat wakeful in his niche. On leaving 
 the market we had yet to go down a broad street of 
 houses and gardens cheerfully intermixed, till at last 
 we reached the western wall of tlie town, or, rather, 
 of the new quarter added by ’Abdallah, where the 
 high portal between round flanking towers gave us 
 issue on the open plain, blown over at this hour by 
 a light gale of life and coolness. To the west, but 
 some four or five miles distant, rose the serrated 
 mass of Pjebel Shomer, throwing up its black fan¬ 
 tastic peaks, now reddened by the reflected dawn, 
 
168 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 against the lead-blue sky. Northward the same 
 chain bends round till it meets the town, and then 
 stretches away for a length of ten or twelve days’ 
 journey, gradually losing in height on its approach 
 to Meshid ’Alee and the valley of the Euphrates. 
 On our south we have a little isolated knot of rocks, 
 and far off the extreme ranges of Djebel Shomer or 
 ’Aja, to give it its historical name, intersected by 
 the broad passes that lead on in the same direction 
 to Djebel Solrna. Behind us lies the capital. 
 Telal’s palace, with its high oval keep, houses, gar¬ 
 dens, walls, and towers, all coming out black against 
 the ruddy bars of eastern light, and behind, a huge 
 pyramidal peak almost overhanging the town, and 
 connected by lower rocks with the main mountain 
 range to north and south, those stony ribs that pro¬ 
 tect the central heart of the kingdom. In the plain 
 itself we can just distinguish by the doubtful twi¬ 
 light several blackish patches irregularly scattered 
 over its face, or seen as though leaning upward 
 against its craggy verge ; these are the gardens and 
 country-houses of ’Obeyd and other chiefs, besides 
 hamlets and villages, such as Kefar and ’Adwah, 
 with their groves of palm and ‘ Ithel,’ (the Arab 
 larch,) now blended in the dusk. One solitary 
 traveller on his camel, a troop of jackals sneaking 
 off to their rocky cavern, a few dingy tents of 
 Shomer Bedouins, such are the last details of the 
 landscape. Far away over the southern hills beams 
 the glory of Canopus, and announces a new Arab 
 year ; the pole-star to the north lies low over the 
 mountain tops. 
 
LIFE IN IIA’ YEL. 
 
 169 
 
 “We pace the pebble-strewn flat to the south, till 
 we leave behind us the length of the town wall, and 
 reach the little cluster of rocks already mentioned. 
 W e scramble up to a sort of niche near its summit, 
 whence, at a height of a hundred feet or more, we 
 can overlook the whole extent of the plain and wait 
 the sunrise. Yet before the highest crags of 
 Sliomer are gilt with its first rays, or the long giant 
 shadows of the easterly chain have crossed the 
 level, we see groups of peasants, who drawing their 
 fruit and vegetable-laden asses before them, issue 
 like little bands of ants trom the mountain gorges 
 around, and slowly approach on the tracks converg¬ 
 ing to the capital. Horsemen from the town ride 
 out to the gardens, and a long line of camels on the 
 westerly Medina road winds up towards Ha’yel. 
 We wait ensconced in our rocky lookout and enjoy 
 the view till the sun has risen, and the coolness of 
 the night air warms rapidly into the sultry day; it 
 is time to return. So we quit our solitary perch, 
 and descend to the plain, where, keeping in the 
 shadow of the western fortifications, we regain the 
 town gate and thence the market. 
 
 “ There, all is now life and movement; some of the 
 warehouses, filled with rice, flour, spit es, or coflee, 
 and often concealing in their inner recesses stores 
 of the } rohibited American w 7 eed, are already open ; 
 we salute the owners while we pass, and they return 
 a polite and friendly greeting. Camels are unload¬ 
 ing in the streets, and Bedouins standing by, look¬ 
 ing anything but at home in the town. The shoe¬ 
 maker and the blacksmith, those two main props ol 
 
170 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 Arab handicraft, are already at their work, and 
 some gossiping bystanders are collected around 
 them. At the corner where our cross-street falls 
 into the market-place, three or four country women 
 are seated, with piles of melons, gourds, egg-plant 
 fruits, and the other garden produce before them for 
 sale. My companion falls a haggling with one of 
 these village nymphs, and ends by obtaining a 
 dozen ‘badinjans* and a couple of water-melons, 
 each bigger than a man’s head, for the equivalent 
 of an English twopence. With this purchase we 
 return home, where we shut and bolt the outer door, 
 then take out of a flat basket what has remained 
 from over night of our wafer-like Ha’yel bread, and 
 with this and a melon make a hasty breakfast. I 
 say a hasty one, for although it is only half an hour 
 after sunrise, repeated knocks at our portal show 
 the arrival of patients and visitors : early rising being 
 here the fashion, and reason must wherever artifi¬ 
 cial lighting is scanty. However, we do not at once 
 open to our friends, nor will they take offence at the 
 delay, but remain where they are, chatting together 
 before our door till we admit them ; of so little value 
 is time here. 
 
 “ In comes a young man of good appearance, clad 
 in the black- cloak common to all of the middle or 
 upper classes in Central Arabia ; in his hand he 
 bears a wand of the Sidr or lotos-wood. A silver- 
 hilted sword and a glistening Kafee’yah announce 
 him to be a person of some importance, while his 
 long black ringlets, handsome features and slightly 
 olive complexion, with a tall stature and easv gait. 
 
 V O » 
 
LIFE IN IIA' YEL. 
 
 171 
 
 declare him native of Djebel Shomer, and townsman 
 of Ha’jel; it is ’Ojeyl, the eldest born of a large 
 family, and successor to the comfortable house and 
 garden of his father not long since deceased, in a 
 quarter of the town some twenty minutes’ walk dis¬ 
 tant. He leads by the hand his younger brother, a 
 modest looking lad of fair complexion and slim 
 make, but almost blind, and evidently out of health 
 also. After passing through the preliminary cere¬ 
 monies of introduction to Barakat, he approaches 
 my recess, and standing without, salutes me with 
 the greatest deference. Thinking him a desirable 
 acquaintance, I receive him very graciously, and he 
 begs me to see what is the matter with his brother. 
 I examine the case, finding it to be within the limits 
 of my skill, and not likely to require more than a 
 veiy simple course of treatment. Accordingly I 
 make my bargain for the chances of recovery, and 
 find Ojeyl docile to the terms proposed, and with 
 little disposition, all things considered, to back¬ 
 wardness in payment. Arabs, indeed, are in gen¬ 
 eral close in driving a bargain and open in down¬ 
 right giving; they will chaffer half a day about a 
 penny, while they will throw away the worth of 
 pounds on the first asker. But ’Ojeyl was one of 
 the best specimens of the Ha’yel character, and of 
 the clan Ta’i, renowned in all times for their liberal 
 ways and high sense of honor. I next proceed to 
 administer to my patient such drugs as his state re¬ 
 quires, and he receives them with that air of abso¬ 
 lute and half religious confidence which well-edu¬ 
 cated Arabs show to their physician, whom they 
 
172 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 regard as possessed of an almost sacred and super 
 natural power—a feeling, bj the way, hardly less 
 advantageous to the patient than to the practitioner, 
 and which may often contribute much to the suc¬ 
 cess of the treatment. 
 
 “ During the rest of my stay at Ha’yel, ’Ojeyl 
 continued to be one of my best friends, I had 
 almost said disciples; our mutual visits were fre¬ 
 quent, and always pleasing and hearty. His 
 brother’s cure, which followed in less than a fort¬ 
 night, confirmed his attachment, nor had I reason 
 to complain of scantiness in his retribution. 
 
 “ Meanwhile the courtyard has become full of vis¬ 
 itors. Close by my door I see the intelligent and 
 demurely-smiling face of ’Abd-el-Mahsin, where he 
 sits between two pretty and well-dressed boys ; they 
 are the two elder children of Telal, Bedr and Ban¬ 
 der ; their guardsmen, a negro slave with a hand¬ 
 some cloak and sword, is seated a little lower down. 
 Farther on are two townsmen, one armed, the other 
 with a wand at his side. A rough good-natured 
 youth of a bronzed complexion, and whose dingy 
 clothes bespeak his mechanical profession, is talking 
 with another of a dress somewhat different in form 
 and coarser in material than that usually w r orn in 
 Ha’yel; this latter must be a peasant from some 
 one of the mountain villages. Two Bedouins, 
 ragged and uncouth, have straggled in with the rest; 
 while a tall, dark-featured youth, with a gilded hilt 
 to his sword, and more silk about him than a Wa- 
 habee w r ould approve, has taken his place opposite 
 to Abd-el-Mahsin, and is trying to draw him into 
 
LIFE IN IIA'YEL. 
 
 173 
 
 conversation. But this last has asked Barakat to 
 lend him one of my Arabic books to read, and is 
 deeply engaged in its perusal. 
 
 ’Ojeyl has taken leave, and I give the next turn of 
 course to ’Abd-el-Mahsin. He informs me that Te- 
 lal has sent me his two sons Bedr and Bander that 
 I may examine their state of health, and see if they 
 require doctoring. This is in truth a little stroke of 
 policy on Telal’s part, who knows equally with my¬ 
 self that the boys are perfectly well and want noth¬ 
 ing at all. But he wishes to give us a mark of his 
 confidence, and at the same time to li^lp us in estab¬ 
 lishing our medical reputation in the town ; for 
 though by no means himself persuaded of the reality 
 of our doctoral title, he understands the expediency 
 of saving appearances before the public. 
 
 “ Well, the children are passed in review with all 
 the seriousness due to a case of heart complaint or 
 brain fever, while at a wink from me, Barakat pre¬ 
 pares in the kitchen a draught of cinnamon water, 
 which, with sugar, named medicine for the occasion, 
 pleases the young heirs of royalty and keeps up the 
 farce ; ’Abd-el-Mahsin expatiating all the time to 
 the bystanders on the wonderful skill with which I 
 have at once discovered the ailments and their cure, 
 and the small bovs thinking that if this be medicine, 
 they will do their best to be ill for it every day. 
 
 “ ’Abd-el-Mahsin now commits them to the negro, 
 who, however, before taking them back to the pal¬ 
 ace, has his own story to tell of some personal ache, 
 for which I prescribe without stipulating for pay¬ 
 ment, since lie belongs to the palace, where it is im- 
 
174 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 portant to have the greatest number of friends pos¬ 
 sible, even on the back stairs. But ’Abd-el-Mahsin 
 remains, reading, chatting, quoting poetry, and talk¬ 
 ing history, recent events, natural philosophy, or 
 medicine, as the case may be. 
 
 “ Let us now see some of the other patients. The 
 
 gold-hilted swordsman has naturally a special claim 
 
 on our attention. It is the son of Rosheyd, Telal’s 
 
 maternal uncle. His palace stands on the other 
 
 side of the way, exactly opposite to our house ; and 
 
 I will say nothing more of him for the present, 
 
 intending to pay him afterwards a special visit, and 
 
 thus become more thoroughly acquainted with the 
 
 whole familv. 
 
 %/ 
 
 “ Next let us take notice of those two townsmen 
 who are conversing, or rather £ chaffing,’ together. 
 Though both in plain apparel, and much alike in 
 stature and features, there is yet much about them 
 to distinguish the two ; one has a civilian look, the 
 other a military. He of the wand is no less a per¬ 
 sonage than Mohammed-el-Kadee, chief justice of 
 Ha’yel, and of course a very important individual in 
 the town. However his exterior is that of an elder- 
 bo unpretentious little man, and one, in spite of the 
 proverb which attributes gravity to judges, very fond 
 of a joke, besides being a tolerable representative 
 of what may here be called the moderate party, nei¬ 
 ther participating in the fanaticism of the Waha- 
 bee, nor yet, like the most of the indigenous chiefs, 
 hostile to Mahometanism ; he takes his cue from the 
 court direction and is popular with all factions 
 because belonging properly to none. 
 
LIFE IN' BAY EL. 
 
 175 
 
 “ He requires some medical treatment for himself, 
 and more for his son, a big heavy lad with a swollen 
 arm, who has accompanied him hither. Here too 
 is a useful acquaintance, well up to all the scandal 
 and small talk of the town, and willing to communi¬ 
 cate it. Our visits were frequent, and I found his 
 house well stored with books, partly manuscript, 
 partly printed in Egypt, and mainly on legal or reli¬ 
 gious' subjects. 
 
 “ Of the country folks in the villages around, like 
 Mogali, Delkemee’eh, and the rest, Mohammed-el- 
 Kadee used to speak with a sort of half-contempt¬ 
 uous pity, much like a Parisian talking of Low Bre¬ 
 tons ; in fact, the difference between these rough 
 and sturdy boors, and the more refined inhabitants 
 of the capital, is, all due proportion allowed, no less 
 remarkable here than in Europe itself. We will 
 now let one of them come forward in his own behalf, 
 and my readers shall be judges. 
 
 “ It is accordingly a stout clown from Mogali, 
 scantily dressed in working wear, and who has been 
 occupied for the last half hour in tracing sundry 
 diagrams on the ground before him with a thick 
 peach-tree switch, thus to pass his time till his bet¬ 
 ters shali have been served. He now edges forward, 
 and taking his s-eat in front of the door, calls my at¬ 
 tention with an ‘ I say, doc-tor.’ Whereon I suggest 
 to him that his bulky corporation not being formed 
 of glass or any other transparent material, he has 
 by his position entirely intercepted whatever little 
 dght my recess might enjoy. He apologizes, and 
 shuffles an inch or two sideways. Next I inquire 
 
176 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 what ails him, not without some curiosity to hear 
 the answer, so little does the herculean frame before 
 me announce disease. Whereto Do’eymis, or what¬ 
 ever may be his name, replies, ‘ I say, I am all made 
 up of pain. 5 This statement, like many others, ap¬ 
 pears to me rather too general to be exactly true. 
 So I proceed in my interrogatory : 4 Does your head 
 pain you ?’ £ No. 5 (I might have guessed that; 
 
 these fellows never feel what our cross-Channel 
 friends entitle ‘ le mal des beaux esprits .’) £ Does 
 
 your back ache V £ No.’ £ Your arms ?’ £ No.’ 
 
 £ Your legs ?’ £ No. 5 ‘ Your body ?’ £ No.’ £ But,’ 
 
 I conclude, £ if neither your head nor your body, 
 back, arms, or legs pain you, how can you possibly 
 be such a composition of suffering ?’ £ I am all made 
 up of pain, doctor,’ replies he, manfully intrenching 
 himself within his first position. The fact is, that 
 there is really something wrong with him, but he 
 does not know how to localize his sensations. So I 
 push forward my inquiries, till it appears that our 
 man of Mogah has a chronic rheumatism ; and on 
 ulterior investigation, conducted with all the skill 
 that Barakat and I can jointly muster, it comes out 
 that three or four months before he had an attack of 
 the disease in its acute form, accompanied by high 
 fever, since which he has never been himself again. 
 
 ££ This might suffice for the diagnosis, but I wish 
 to see how he will find his way out of more intricate 
 questions ; besides, the townsmen sitting by, and 
 equally alive to the joke with myself, whisper, 
 
 ‘ Try him again.’ In consequence, I proceed with, 
 What was the cause of your first illness?’ £ I say, 
 
LIFE IN HA'YEL. 
 
 177 
 
 doctor, its cause was God,’ replies the patient. 4 No 
 doubt of that,’ say I; ‘all things are caused by 
 God: but what was the particular and immediate 
 occasion ? ’ ‘ Doctor, its cause was God, and sec¬ 
 
 ondly, that I ate camel’s flesh when I was cold,’ re¬ 
 joins my scientific friend. ‘ But was there nothing 
 else ?’ I suggest, not quite satisfied with the lucid 
 explanation just given. ‘ Then, too, I drank camel’s 
 milk; but it was all, I say, from God, doctor,’ an¬ 
 swers he. 
 
 ‘ Well, I consider the case, and make up my mind 
 regarding the treatment. Next comes the grand 
 question of payment, which must be agreed on 
 beforehand, and rendered conditional on success ; 
 else no fees for the docter, not at Ha’yel only, but 
 throughout Arabia. I inquire what he will give me 
 on recovery. ‘ Doctor,’ answers the peasant, ‘ I will 
 give you, do you hear? I say, I will give you a 
 camel.’ But I reply that I do not want one. ‘I 
 say, remember God,’ which being interpreted here 
 means, ‘ do not be unreasonable ; I will give you a 
 fat camel, every one knows my camel; if you choose, 
 I will bring witnesses, I say.’ And while I persist 
 in refusing the proffered camel, he talks of butter, 
 meal, dates, and such like equivalents. 
 
 “ There is a patient and a paymaster for you. 
 However, all ends by his behaving reasonably 
 enough ; he follows my prescriptions witli the ordi¬ 
 nary docility, gets better,.and gives me for my pains 
 an eighteenpenny fee.” 
 
 During this residence in Ila’yel, Palgrave made 
 manv friends, and soon established those relations 
 
178 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 of familiar intercourse which are so much easier in 
 Moslem than in Christian lands,—a natural result ol 
 the preservation of the old importance, which in the 
 earliest Hebrew days was attached to “ the stran¬ 
 ger.” Palgrave’s intimacies embraced many fami¬ 
 lies related to Telai, and others, whose knowledge 
 of Arabian history or literature made their acquain¬ 
 tance welcome. His own knowledge of these sub¬ 
 jects, fortunately, was equal to theirs, and, from 
 the number of his invitations to dinners and sup¬ 
 pers, he seems to have been a welcome guest to the 
 better classes of Ha’yel. One of the aristocracy, by 
 name Hohey, was his most agreeable acquaintance ; 
 and we quote the following pleasant account of his 
 intercourse : 
 
 “ Doliey’s invitations were particularly welcome, 
 both from the pleasantness of his dwelling-place, 
 and from the varied and interesting conversation 
 that I was sure to meet with there. This merchant, 
 a tall and stately man of between fifty and sixty 
 years of age, and whose thin features were Lighted 
 up by a lustre of more than ordinary intelligence, 
 was a thorough Ha’yelite of the old caste, hating 
 Wahabees from the bottom of his heart, eager for 
 information on cause and effect, on lands and gov¬ 
 ernments, and holding commerce and social life for 
 the main props if not the ends of civil and national 
 organization. His uncle, now near eighty years old, 
 to judge by conjecture in a land where registers are 
 not much in use, had journeyed to India, and 
 traded at Bombay ; in token whereof he still wore 
 an indian skull-cap and a Cachemire shawl. The 
 
LIFE IN HAY EL. 
 
 179 
 
 rest of the family were in keeping with the elder 
 members, and seldom have I seen more dutiful child¬ 
 ren 01 a better educated household. My readers 
 will naturally understand that by education I here 
 imply its moral not its intellectual phase. The eld¬ 
 est son, himself a middle-aged man, would never 
 ventuie into his father s presence without unbuck- 
 hng his swoid and leaving it in the vestibule, nor on 
 any account presume to sit on a level with him or 
 by his side in the divan. 
 
 “ The divan itself was one of the prettiest I met 
 with m these paits. It was a large scjuare room, 
 looking out on the large house-garden, and cheer¬ 
 fully lighted up by trellised windows on two 
 sides, while the wall of the third had purposely been 
 discontinued at about half its height, and the open 
 space thus left between it and the roof propped by 
 pillars, between which 4 a fruitful vino by the sides 
 of the house ’ was intertwined so as to till up the in¬ 
 terval with a gay network of green leaves and ten- 
 drils, transpaient like stained glass in the eastern 
 sunbeams. Facing this cheerful light, the floor of 
 the apartment was raised about two feet above the 
 rest, and covered with gay Persian carpets, silk cush¬ 
 ions, and the best of Arab furniture. In the lower 
 half of the k liawah, and at its farthest angle, was 
 the small stone coffee-stove, placed at a distance 
 where its heat might not annoy the master and his 
 guests. Many of the city nobility would here 
 resort, and the talk generally turned on serious sub¬ 
 jects, and above all on the parties and politics of 
 Arabia ; while Poliey’ would show himself a tlior- 
 
180 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 ougli Arab patriot, and at the same time a courteous 
 and indulgent judge of foreigners, qualities seldom 
 to be met with together in any notable degree, and 
 therefore more welcome. 
 
 “ Many a pleasant hour have I passed in this half 
 greenhouse, hall k’hawah, mid cheerful faces and 
 varied talk, while inly commenting on the natural 
 resources of this manly and vigorous people, and 
 straining the eye of forethought to discern through 
 3 curtain of the future by what outlet 
 their now unfruitful because solitary good may be 
 brought into fertilizing contact with that of other 
 more advanced nations, to the mutual benefit of 
 each and all. 
 
 “ Talk went on with the ease and decorum charac¬ 
 teristic of good Eastern society, without the flippan¬ 
 cy and excitement which occasionally mars it in 
 some countries, no less than over-silence does in 
 others. To my mind the Easterns are generally 
 superior in the science of conversation to the inhab¬ 
 itants of the West; perhaps from a greater necessi¬ 
 ty of cultivating it, as the only means of general 
 news and intercourse where newspapers and pamph¬ 
 lets are unknown. 
 
 “ Or else some garden was the scene of our after¬ 
 noon leisure, among fruit trees and palms, by the 
 side of a watercourse, whose constant supply from 
 the well hid from view among thick foliage, seemed 
 the work not of laborious art but of unassisted na¬ 
 ture. Here, stretched in the cool and welcome 
 shade, would we for hours canvass with ’Abd-el- 
 Mahsin, and others of similar pursuits, the respect- 
 
LIFE IN IIA' TEL. 
 
 181 
 
 ive merits of Arab poets and authors, of Omar-ebn- 
 el-Farid or Aboo’l ’Ola, in meetings that had some¬ 
 thing of the Attic, yet with just enough of the Arab 
 to render them more acceptable by their Semitic 
 character of grave cheerfulness and mirthful com¬ 
 posure, 
 
 “ Or when the stars came out, Barakat and my¬ 
 self would stroll out of the heated air of the streets 
 and market to the cool open plain, and there pass an 
 hour or two alone, or in conversation with what 
 chance passer-by might steal on us half unperceived 
 and unperceiving in the dusk, and amuse ourselves 
 with his simplicity if he were a Bedouin, or with his 
 shrewdness if a townsman. 
 
 “ Thus passed our ordinary life at Ha’yel. Many 
 minor incidents occurred to diversify it, many of the 
 little ups and downs that human intercourse never 
 fails to furnish ; sometimes the number of patients 
 and the urgency of their attendance allowed of little 
 leisure for aught except our professional duties; 
 sometimes a day or two would pass with hardly 
 any serious occupation. But of such incidents my 
 readers have a sufficient sample in what has been 
 already set down. Suffice to say, that from the 27th 
 of July to the 8th of September we remained doc¬ 
 toring in the capital or in its immediate neighbor¬ 
 hood.” 
 
 By this time Palgrave had obtained sufficient 
 knowledge of the country, and was anxious to 
 advance further eastward before the autumn—the 
 best season for travel—should be spent. Now the 
 journey across the Shomer frontier could only be 
 
182 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 pursued with Telal’s cognizance, and by his good 
 will. In fact, a passport bearing the royal signa¬ 
 ture is indispensable for all who desire to cross the 
 boundary, especially into the Wahabee territory; 
 without such a document in hand no one would ven¬ 
 ture to conduct them. 
 
 “ Accordingly,” he says, “ we requested and ob¬ 
 tained a special audience at the palace. Telal, of 
 whose good will we had received frequent, indeed 
 daily proofs during our sojourn at Ha’yel, proved a 
 sincere friend—patron would be a juster word—to 
 the last ; exemplifying the Scotch proverb about 
 the guest not only who * will stay,’ but also who 
 ‘ maun gang.’ To this end he then dictated to 
 Zamil, for Telal himself is no scribe, a passport or 
 general letter of safe conduct, enough to ensure us 
 good treatment within the limits of his rule, and 
 even beyond. 
 
 “ When this was written, Telal affixed his seal, 
 and rose to leave us alone with Zamil, after a part¬ 
 ing shake of the hand, and wishing us a prosperous 
 journey and speedy return. Yet with all these mo¬ 
 tives for going, I could not but feel reluctant to quit 
 a pleasing town, where we certainly possessed many 
 sincere friends and well-wishers, for countries in 
 which we could by no means anticipate equal favor 
 or even equal safety. Indeed so ominous was all 
 that we heard about Wahabee Nedjed, so black did 
 the landscape before us look, on nearer approach, 
 that I almost repepted of my resolution, and was 
 considerably inclined to say, ‘ Thus far enough, 
 and no farther.’ 
 
LIFE IN HAY EL. 
 
 183 
 
 e< ’Obeyd, Telal’s uncle, had left Ha’yel the day 
 before on a military expedition against the Bedou¬ 
 ins of the West. In common with all the sight¬ 
 seers of the town, we had gone to witness his de¬ 
 parture. It was a gay and interesting scene. 
 ’Obeyd had caused his tent to be pitched in the 
 plain without the northern walls, and there re¬ 
 viewed his forces. About one third were on horse¬ 
 back, the rest were mounted on light and speedy 
 camels; all had spears and matchlocks, to which 
 the gentry added swords; and while they rode 
 hither and thither in sham manoeuvres over the pa¬ 
 rade ground, the whole appearance was very pictur¬ 
 esque and tolerably martial. ’Obeyd now unfurled 
 his own peculiar standard, in which the green color, 
 distinctive of Islam, had been added border-wise to 
 the white ground of the ancestral Nedjean banner, 
 mentioned fourteen centuries back by ’Omar-ebn- 
 Kelthoom, the poet of Taghleb, and many others. 
 Barakat and myself mixed with the crowd of spec¬ 
 tators. ’Obeyd saw us, and it w r as now several 
 days since we had last met. Without hesitating he 
 cantered up to us, and while he tendered his hand 
 for a farewell shake, he said : c I have heard that 
 you intend going to Ri’ad; there you will meet 
 with ’Abdallah, the eldest son of Feysul; he is 
 my particular friend; I should much desire to see 
 you high in his good graces, and to that end I have 
 written him a letter in your behalf, of -which you 
 yourselves are to be the bearers; you will find it in 
 my house, where I have left it for you with one of 
 my servants.’ He then assured us that if he 
 
184 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 found us still at Ha’yel on liis return, lie would 
 continue to befriend us in every way ; but tha t if 
 we journeyed forward to Nedjed, we should meet 
 with a sincere friend in ’Abdallah, especially if we 
 gave him the letter in question. 
 
 He then took his leave with a semblance of 
 affectionate cordiality that made the bystanders 
 staie , thus supporting to the last the profound dis¬ 
 simulation which he had only once belied for a mo¬ 
 ment. The letter was duly handed over to us the 
 same afternoon by his head steward, whom he had 
 left to look after the house and garden in his ab¬ 
 sence. Doubtless my readers will be curious to 
 know what sort of recommendation 5 Obeyd had 
 piovided us with. It was written on a small scrap 
 of thick paper, about four inches each way, care¬ 
 fully folded up and secured by three seals. How¬ 
 ever, c our fears forgetting manners,’ we thought 
 best with Hamlet to make perusal of this grand 
 commission before delivering it to its destination, 
 feo we undid the seals with precautions admitting of 
 reclosing them in proper form, and read the royal 
 knaveiy. I give it word tor word; it ran thus: 
 
 ‘ In the name of God the Merciful, the Compas¬ 
 sionate, we, ’Obeyd-ebn-Rasheed, salute you, O 
 Abdallah, son of Feysul-ebn-Sa’ood, and peace be 
 on you, and the mercy of God and His blessings.’ 
 (This is the invariable commencement of all Wa- 
 habee epistles, to the entire omission of the compli¬ 
 mentary formulas used by other Orientals.) ‘ After 
 which, so proceeded the document, 1 we inform you 
 that the bearers of this are one Seleem-el-’Eys, 
 
LIFE IN IIA' YEI. 
 
 185 
 
 and his comrade, Barakat-esh-Shamee, who give 
 themselves out for having some knowledge in ’— 
 here followed a word of equivocal import, capable 
 of interpretation alike by ‘ medicine ’ or ‘ magic,’ 
 but generally used in Nedjed for the latter, which is 
 at Ri’ad a capital crime. ‘ Now may God forbid 
 that we should hear of any evil having befallen 
 you. We salute also your father, Feysul, and your 
 brothers, and all your family, and anxiously await 
 your news in answer. Peace be with you.’ Here 
 followed the signet impression. 
 
 “ A pretty recommendation, especially under the 
 actual circumstances ! However, not content with 
 this, ’Obeyd found means to transmit further infor¬ 
 mation regarding us, and all in the same tenor, to 
 Bi’ad, as we afterwards discovered. For his letter, 
 I need hardly say that it never passed from our 
 possession, where it yet remains as an interesting 
 autograph, to that of ’Abdallah; with whom it 
 would inevitably have proved the one only thing 
 wanting, as we shall subsequently see, to make us 
 leave the forfeit of our lives in the Nedjean man- 
 trap. 
 
 “ Before evening three men knocked at our door ; 
 they were our future guides. The eldest bore the 
 name of Mubarek, and was a native of the suburbs 
 of Bereydah ; all three were of the genuine Ka- 
 seem breed, darker and lower in stature than the 
 inhabitants of Ha’yel, but not ill-looking, and ex¬ 
 tremely affable in their demeanor. Mubarek told 
 us that their departure from Ha’yel had been at 
 first fixed for the morrow, or the 7th of the month, 
 
186 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA . 
 
 but that owing to some delay on the part of their 
 companions, for the band was a large one, it had 
 
 been subsequently put off to the 8 th, or the day 
 after. 
 
 T\ e had soon made all necessary arrangements 
 for our departure, got in a few scattered debts, 
 packed up our pharmacopoeia, and nothing now re¬ 
 mained but the pleasurable pain of farewells. They 
 were many and mutually sincere. Meta’ab had 
 indeed made his a few days before, when he a se¬ 
 cond time left Ha’yel for the pastures; Telal we 
 had already taken leave of, but there remained his 
 younger brother Mohammed to give us a hearty 
 adieu of good augury. Most of my old acquaint¬ 
 ance or patients, Doliey’ the merchant, Mohammed 
 the judge, Dolieym and his family, not forgetting 
 our earliest friend Seyf the chamberlain, Sa’eed^ 
 the cavaliy officer, and others of the court, freemen 
 and slaves, white or black, (for negroes readily fol¬ 
 low the direction indicated by their masters, and 
 are not ungrateful if kindly treated while kept in 
 their due position,) and many others of whose 
 names Homer would have made a catalogue and I 
 will not, heard of our near departure and came to 
 express their regrets, with hopes of future meeting 
 and return.” 
 
 Eaily next morning, before day, Mubarek and 
 another of his countrymen, named Dahesh, were at 
 our door with the camels. Some of our town 
 Mends had also come, even at this hour, to accom¬ 
 pany us as far as the city gates. We mounted our 
 
LIFE IN HA'YEL . 
 
 187 
 
 beasts, and while the first sunbeams streamed level 
 over the plain, passed through the southwestern 
 pornd beyond the market-place, the 8th of Septem¬ 
 ber, 1862, and left the city of Ha’yel.” 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PALGRAVE’s TRAVELS.—JOURNEY TO BEREYDAH. 
 
 A NOTHER stage of our way. From Gaza to 
 Ma’an, from Ma’an to the Djowf, from the 
 Djowf to Ha’yel, three such had now been gone 
 over, not indeed without some fatigue or discomfort, 
 yet at comparatively little personal risk, except what 
 nature herself, not man, might occasion. For to 
 cross the stony desert of the northern frontier, or 
 the sandy Nefood in the very height of summer, 
 could not be said to be entirely free from danger, 
 where in these waterless wastes thirst, if nothing 
 else, may alone, and often does, suffice to cause the 
 disappearance of the over-adventurous traveller, 
 nay, even of many a Bedouin, no less effectually 
 than a lance-thrust or a musket ball. But if nature 
 had been so far unkind, of man at least we had 
 hitherto not much to complain; the Bedouins on 
 their route, however rough and uncouth in their 
 ways, had, with only one exception, meant us fairly 
 well, and the townsmen in general had proved 
 friendly and courteous beyond our expectation. 
 Once within the established government limits of 
 Telal, and among his subjects, we had enjoyed our 
 
JOURNEY TO B ERE YD AH. 
 
 189 
 
 share in tlie common security afforded to wayfarers 
 and inhabitants for life and property, while good 
 success had hitherto accompanied us. ‘ Judge of 
 the day by its dawn,’ say the Arabs ; and although 
 this proverb, like all proverbs, does not always hold 
 exactly true, whether for sunshine or cloud, yet it 
 has its value at times. And thus, whatever unfavor¬ 
 able predictions or dark forebodings our friends 
 might hint regarding the inner Nedjed and its deni¬ 
 zens, we trusted that so iavorable a past augured 
 somewhat better things for the future. 
 
 “ From physical and material difficulties like those 
 before met with, there was henceforward much less 
 to fear. The great heats of summer were past, the 
 cooler seasons had set in ; besides, our path now lay 
 through the elevated table-land of Central Arabia, 
 wdiose northern rim we had already surmounted at 
 our entrance on the Djebel Shomer. Nor did there 
 remain any uncultivated or sandy track to cross 
 comparable to the Nefo.od of Djowf between Ha’yel 
 and Bi ad; on the contrary, we were to exjDect pas¬ 
 ture lands and culture, villages and habitations, cool 
 mountain air, and a sufficiency if not an abundance 
 of water. Nor were our fellow companions now 
 mere Bedouins and savages, but men from town 01 
 village life, members of organized society, and sc 
 far civilized beings. 
 
 “ When adieus, lookings back, wavings of the 
 hand, and all the customary signs of farewell and 
 good omen were over between our Ha’yel friends 
 and ourselves, we pursued our road by the plain 
 w hich I have already described as having been the 
 
190 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 frequent scene of our morning walks; but instead 
 of following the southwesterly path towards Kefar, 
 whose groves and roof-tops now rose in a blended 
 mass before us, we turned eastward, and rounded, 
 though at some distance, the outer wall of Ha yel 
 for nearly half an hour, till we struck off by a south¬ 
 easterly track across stony ground, diversified here 
 and there by wells, each with a cluster of gardens 
 and a few houses in its neighborhood. At last we 
 reached a narrow winding pass among the cliffs of 
 Djebel ’Aja’, wdiose mid-loop encircles Ha’yel on all 
 sides, and here turned our heads to take a last far- 
 off view of what had been our home, or the agree¬ 
 able semblance of a home, for several weeks. 
 
 “ Our only companions as yet were Mubarek and 
 Dahesh. We had outstripped the rest, whose bag¬ 
 gage and equipments had required a more tedious 
 arrangement than our own. Before long they came 
 up—a motley crew. Ten or thereabouts of the 
 Kaseem, some from Bereydah itself, others from 
 neighboring towns ; two individuals, who gave them¬ 
 selves out, but with more asseveration than truth, to 
 be natives of Mecca itself; three Bedouins, two of 
 whom belonged to the &homer clan, the third an 
 ’Anezah of the north ; next a runaway negro, con¬ 
 ducting four horses, destined to pass the whole 
 breadth of Arabia, and to be shipped off at Koweyt, 
 on the Persian Gulf, for Indian sale ; two merchants, 
 one from Zulphah, in the province of Sedeyr, the 
 other from Zobeyr, near Bassora ; lastly, two women, 
 wives of I know not exactly whom in the caravan, 
 with some small children; all this making up, our- 
 
JOURNEY TO B ERE YD AH. 
 
 191 
 
 selves included, a band of twenty-seven or twenty- 
 eight persons, the most mounted on camels, a few 
 on horseback, and accompanied by a few beasts of 
 burden alongside—such was our Canterbury pil¬ 
 grims’ group. 
 
 “ Thus assembled, on we went together, now amid 
 granite rocks, now crossing grassy valleys, till near 
 sunset we stopped under a high cliff, at the extreme 
 southerly verge of Djebel ’Aja’, or, in modern par¬ 
 lance, of Djebel Shomer. The mountain here ex¬ 
 tended far away to right and left, but in front a 
 wide plain of full twenty miles across opened out 
 before us, till bounded southwards by the long 
 bluish chain of Djebel Solma, whose line runs par¬ 
 allel to the heights we were now to leave, and 
 belongs to the same formation and rocky mass de¬ 
 nominated in a comprehensive way the mountains 
 of Ta’i or Shomer. 
 
 “ At about three in the afternoon, next day, we 
 saw some way off to our west a troop of Bedouins 
 coming up from the direction of Medina. While 
 they were yet in the distance, and half hidden from 
 view by the shrubs and stunted acacias of the plain, 
 we could not precisely distinguish their numbers; 
 but they were evidently enough to make us desire, 
 with Orlando, ‘ that we might be better strangers.* 
 On our side we mustered about fifteen matchlocks, 
 besides a few spears and swords. The Bedouins 
 had already perceived us, and continued to approach, 
 though in the desultory and circuitous way which 
 they affect when doubtful of the strength of their 
 
192 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 opponent; still they gained on us more than was 
 pleasant. 
 
 “ Fourteen armed townsmen might stand for a 
 reasonable match against double the number of 
 Bedouins, and in any case we had certainly nothing 
 better to do than to put a bold face on the matter. 
 The ’Eyoon chief, Foleyh, with two of his country¬ 
 men and Grhashee, carefully primed their guns, and 
 then set off at full gallop to meet the advancing 
 enemy, brandishing their weapons over their heads, 
 and looking extremely tierce. Under cover of this 
 manoeuvre the rest of our band set about getting 
 their arms ready, and an amusing scene ensued. 
 One had lost his match, and was hunting for it in 
 his housings, another in his haste to ram the bullet 
 home had it stuck midway in the barrel, and could 
 neither get it up nor down ; the lock of a third was 
 rusty and would not do duty ; the women began to 
 whine piteously ; the two Meccans, who for econo¬ 
 my’s sake were both riding one only camel, a cii- 
 cumstance which caused between them many inter¬ 
 national squabbles, tried to make their beast gallop 
 off with them, and leave the others to their fate, 
 while the more courageous animal, despising such 
 cowardly measures, insisted on remaining with his 
 companions and sharing their lot;—all was thor¬ 
 oughly Arab, much hubbub and little done. Had 
 the menacing feint of the four who protected our 
 rear proved insufficient, we might all have been in a 
 very bad predicament, and this feeling drew every 
 face with reverted gaze in a backward direction. 
 But the Harb banditti, intimidated by the bold 
 
JOURNEY TO BEREYDAH. 
 
 193 
 
 countenance of Foleyh and his companions, wheeled 
 about and commenced a skirmishing retreat, in 
 which a few shots, guiltless of bloodshed, were fired 
 for form’s sake on either side, till at last our assail¬ 
 ants fairly disappeared in the remote valley. 
 
 “ Our valiant champions now returned from pur¬ 
 suit, much elated with their success, and we jour¬ 
 neyed on together, skirting the last rocky spur of 
 Solma, close by the spot where Hatim Ta’i, the well 
 known model, half mythic and half historical, of 
 Arab hospitality and exagerated generosity, is said 
 to be buried. Here we crossed some low hills that 
 form a sort of offshoot to the Solma mountain, and 
 limit the valley; and the last rays of the setting 
 sun gilding to our view, in a sandy bottom some way 
 off, the palm trees of Feyd. 
 
 “ Feyd may be taken as a tolerable sample of the 
 villages met with throughout Northern or Upper 
 Kaseem, for they all bear a close likeness in their 
 main features, though various in size. Imagine a 
 little sandy hillock of about sixty or seventy feet 
 high, in the midst of a wide and dusty valley ; part 
 of the eminence itself and the adjoining bottom is 
 covered by low earth-built houses, intermixed with 
 groups of the feathery itliel. The grounds in the 
 neighborhood are divided by brick walls into green 
 gardens, where gourds and melons, leguminous 
 plants and maize, grow alongside of an artificial 
 irrigation from the wells among them ; palms in 
 plenty—they were now heavy laden with red-brown 
 fruits; and a few peach or apricot trees complete 
 the general lineaments. The outer walls are low, 
 
194 
 
 TRA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 and servo more for the protection of the gardens 
 than of the dwellings ; here are neither towers nor 
 trenches, nor even, at least in many places, any 
 central castle or distinguishable residence for the 
 chief; his habitation is of the same one-storied con¬ 
 struction as those of his neighbors, only a little 
 larger. Some of these townlets are quite recent, 
 and date from the Shomer annexation, which gave 
 this part of the province a degree of quiet and 
 prosperity unknown under their former Waliabee 
 rulers. 
 
 “ Next morning, the 10th of September, we were 
 all up by moonlight, two or three hours before 
 dawn, and off on our road to the southeast. The 
 whole country that we had to traverse for the ne^t 
 four days was of so uniform a character, that a few 
 words of description may here serve for the land¬ 
 scape of this entire stage of our journey. 
 
 “ Upper Kaseem is an elevated plateau or steppe, 
 and forms part of a long upland belt, crossing di¬ 
 agonally the northern half of the peninsula; one 
 extremity reaches the neighborhood of Zobeyr and 
 the Euphrates, while the other extends downwards 
 to the vicinity of Medina. Its surface is in general 
 covered with grass in the spring and summer sea¬ 
 sons, and with shrubs and brushwood at all times, 
 and thus affords excellent pasture for sheep and 
 camels. Across it blows the fresh eastern gale, so 
 celebrated in Arab poetry under the name of ‘ Seba 
 Nedjin,’ or ‘ Zephyr of Nedjed ’ (only it comes from 
 precisely the opposite corner to the Greek or Roman 
 Zephyr), and continually invoked by sentimental 
 
JOURNEY TO BEREYDAIL 
 
 195 
 
 bards to bring them news of imaginary loves or 
 pleasing reminiscences. No wonder; for most of 
 these versifiers being themselves natives of the bar¬ 
 ren Hedjaz or the scorching Tehama, perhaps inhab¬ 
 itants of Egypt and Syria, and knowing little of 
 Arabia, except what they have seen on the dreary 
 Meccan pilgrim road, they naturally look back to 
 with longing, and frequently record, whatever 
 glimpses chance may have allowed them of the 
 cooler and more fertile highlands of the centre, de¬ 
 nominated by them Nedjed, in a general way, with 
 their transient experience of its fresh and invigor¬ 
 ating climate, of its courteous men and sprightly 
 maidens. 
 
 “ But when, nor is this seldom, the sweet smell of 
 the aromatic tliyme-like plants that here abound, 
 mixes with the light morning breeze and enhances 
 its balmy influence, then indeed can one excuse the 
 raptures of an Arab Ovid or Theocritus, and appre¬ 
 ciate—at least I often did—their yearnings after 
 Nedjed, and all the praises they lavish on its 
 memory. 
 
 “ Then said I to my companion, while the camels were hastening 
 To bear us down the pass between Meneefah and Demar, 
 
 ‘ Enjoy while tnou canst the sweets of tae meadows of Nedjed: 
 
 With no such meadows and sweets sh dt thou meet after this evening. 
 Ah! heaven’s blessing on the scented ga'es of Nedjed, 
 
 And its greenswu-d and groves glittering from the spring shower, 
 
 An J thy dear friends, when thy lot was cast awhile in Nedjed— 
 
 Little had t thou to complain of wuat the days brought thee ; 
 
 Months flew past, tuey passed and we perceived not, 
 
 Nor when their moons were new, nor wnen they waned.' ” 
 
 For three days more 
 
 they travelled forward 
 
 ovet 
 
196 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 this undulating table-land, making from sixty to 
 seventy miles a day. The view was extensive, but 
 rather monotonous. There were no high moun¬ 
 tains, no rivers, no lakes, no deep valleys ; but a 
 constant repetition of stony uplands, shallow and 
 sandy hollows, and villages surrounded by belts of 
 palm-groves, the extent and direction of which in¬ 
 dicated the subterranean water-courses. 
 
 On the third evening they reached Kowarah, the 
 most southern station in Telal territory—a large 
 village, lying in a wooded and well-watered hollow. 
 Here they still found the order and security which 
 that ruler has established, and maintains every¬ 
 where throughout his dominions. Leaving the next 
 morning, the 14th of September, they crossed a 
 few low hills, came to a sudden dip in the general 
 level of the country, and then the extent of South¬ 
 ern Ixaseem burst suddenly upon their view. 
 
 “ Now, for the first time,” says Palgrave, “we 
 could in some measure appreciate the strength of 
 the Wahabee in his mastery over such a land. 
 Before us to the utmost horizon stretched an im¬ 
 mense plain, studded with towns and villages, 
 towers and groves, all steeped in the dazzling noon, 
 and announcing everywhere life, opulence, and ac¬ 
 tivity. The average breadth of this po A ulous dis¬ 
 trict is about sixty miles, its length twice as 
 much, or more ; it lies full two hundred feet below 
 the level of the uplands, which here break off like a 
 wall. Fifty or more good sized villages and four or 
 five large towns form the commercial and agricul¬ 
 tural centres of the province, and its surface is 
 
TIIE VILLAGE OF EL SUWAYRKIYAH 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ft 
 
 V • •■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 ■ 
 
 . .• 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - * *• 
 
JOURNEY TO B ERE YD AH. 
 
 197 
 
 moreover thick strewn with smaller hamlets, iso¬ 
 lated wells and gardens, and traversed by a network 
 . of tracks in every direction. Here begin and hence 
 extend to Djebel Toweyk itself, the series of high 
 watch-towers that afford the inhabitants a means, 
 denied otherwise by their level Hats, of discerning 
 from afar the approach of foray or invasion, and 
 thus preparing for resistance. For while no part.of 
 Central Arabia has an older or a better established 
 title to civilization or wealth, no part also has been 
 the starting-point and theatre of so many wars, 
 or witnessed the gathering of such numerous armies. 
 
 “ We halted for a moment on the verge of the 
 uplands to enjoy the magnificent prospect before us. 
 Below lay the wide plain ; at a few miles’ distance 
 we saw the thick palm groves of ’Eyoon, and what 
 little of its towers and citadel the dense foliage per¬ 
 mitted to the eye. Far off on our right, that is, to 
 the west, a large dark patch marked the tillage and 
 plantations which girdle the town of Bass ; other 
 villages and hamlets too were thickly scattered over 
 the landscape. All along the ridge where we stood, 
 and visible at various distances down the level, rose 
 the tall circular watch-towers of Kaseem. But 
 immediately before us stood a more remarkable 
 monument, one that fixed the attention and wonder 
 even of our Arab companions themselves. 
 
 “ For hardly had we descended the narrow path 
 where it winds from ledge to ledge down to the 
 bottom, when saw before us several huge stones, 
 ffke enormous boulders, placed endways perpendicu¬ 
 larly on the soil, while some of them yet upheld 
 
198 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 similar masses laid transversely over their summit. 
 They were arranged in a curve, once forming part, 
 it would appear, of a large circle, and many other 
 like fragments lay rolled on the ground at a mod¬ 
 erate distance; the number of those still upright 
 was, to speak by memory, eight or nine. Two, at 
 about ten or twelve feet apart one from the other, 
 and resembling huge gate posts, yet bore their hori¬ 
 zontal lintel, a long block laid across them ; a few 
 were deprived of their upper traverse, the rest 
 supported each its head-piece in defiance of time 
 and of the more destructive efforts of man. So 
 nicely balanced did one of these cross-bars appear, 
 that in hope it might prove a rocking-stone, I 
 guided my camel right under it, and then stretching 
 up my riding-stick at arm’s-length could just man¬ 
 age to touch and push it, but it did not stir. Mean¬ 
 while the respective heights of camel, rider, and 
 stick taken together would place the stone in ques¬ 
 tion full fifteen feet from the ground. 
 
 “ These blocks seem, by their quality, to have 
 been hewn from the neighboring limestone cliff, and 
 roughly shaped, but present no further trace of art, 
 no groove or cavity of sacrificial import, much less 
 anything intended for figure or ornament. The 
 people of the country attribute their erection to 
 Darim, and by his own hands, too, seeing that he 
 was a giant; perhaps, also, for some magical cere¬ 
 mony, since he w r as a magician. Pointing towards 
 pass, our companions affirmed that a second and 
 similar stone circle, also of gigantic dimensions, 
 existed there; and, lastly, they mentioned a third 
 
JOURNEY TO BEREYLAH. 
 
 199 
 
 towards the southwest, that is, on the confines of 
 Hedjaz. 
 
 “ Here, as in most parts of Arabia, the staple 
 article of cultivation is the date palm. Of this tree 
 there are, however, many widely differing species, 
 and Kaseem can boast of containing the best known 
 anywhere, the Klialas of Hasa alone excepted. The 
 ripening season coincides with the latter half ol 
 August and the first of September, and we had 
 thus an ample opportunity for testing the produce. 
 Those who, like most Europeans at home, only 
 know the date from the dried specimens of that 
 fruit shown beneath a label in shop-windows, can 
 hardly imagine how delicious it is when eaten fresh 
 and in Central Arabia. Nor is it when newly- 
 gathered heating, a defect inherent to the preserved 
 fruit everywhere; nor does its richness, however 
 great, bring satiety : in short, it is an article of food 
 alike pleasant and healthy. Its cheapness in its na¬ 
 tive land might astonish a Londoner. Enough of 
 the very best dates from the Bereydali gardens to fill 
 a large Arab handkerchief, about fifteen inches each 
 way, almost to bursting, cost Barakat and myself 
 the moderate sum of three farthings. We hung it 
 up from the roof-beam of our apartment to preserve 
 the luscious fruit from the ants, and it continued to 
 drip molten sweetness into a sugary pool on the 
 floor below for three days together, before we had 
 demolished the contents, though it figured at every 
 dinner and supper during that period. 
 
 “ We were soon under the outer walls of ’E’yoon, 
 a good-sized town containing at least ten thousand 
 
200 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 inhabitants according to my rough computation, 
 Its central site, at the very juncture of the great 
 northern and western lines of communication, 
 renders it important, and for this reason it is care¬ 
 fully fortified, that is, for the country, and furnished 
 with watch-towers, much resembling manufacturing 
 chimneys in size and shape, besides a massive and 
 capacious citadel. My readers may anticipate ana¬ 
 logous, though proportionate, features in most other 
 towns and villages of this province. 
 
 “ Between the town walls and the sand hills close 
 by was a sheltered spot, where we took about four 
 hours of sleep, till the waning moon rose. Then 
 all were once more in movement, camels gnarling, 
 men loading, and the doctor and his apprentice 
 mounting their beasts, all for Bereydah. But that 
 town was distant, and when day broke at last there 
 was yet a long road to traverse. This now lay 
 amid mounds and valleys, thick with the vegetation 
 already described ; and somewhat after sunrise we 
 took a full hour to pass the gardens and fields of 
 Ghat, a straggling village, where a dozen wells 
 supplied the valley with copious irrigation. On 
 the adjoining hillocks—I may not call them 
 heights—was continued the series of watch-towers, 
 corresponding with others farther off that belonged 
 to villages seen by glimpses in the landscape ; I 
 heard, but soon forgot, their names. Inability to 
 note down at once similar details was a great an¬ 
 noyance to me; but the sight of a pencil and 
 pocket-book would have been just then particu¬ 
 larly out of place, and I was obliged to trust to 
 
JOURNEY TO BERK YD AH. 
 
 201 
 
 memory, which on this, as on too many other occa¬ 
 sions, played me false. 
 
 “ A march of ten or twelve hours had tired us, 
 and the weather was oppressively close, no uncom¬ 
 mon phenomenon in Kaseem, where, what between 
 low sandy ground and a southerly latitude, the 
 climate is much more sultry than in Djebel Shomer, 
 01 the mountains of Toweyk. So that we were very 
 glad when the ascent of a slight eminence discov- 
 eied to our gaze the long-desired town of Berey- 
 dah, whose oval fortifications rose to view amid an 
 open and cultivated plain. It was a view for 
 Turner. An enormous watch-lower, near a hun- 
 died feet in height, a minaret of scarce inferior pro- 
 poitions, a mass of bastioned walls, such as we had 
 not yet witnessed in Arabia, green groves around 
 and thickets of ithel, all under the dreamy glare of 
 noon, offered a striking spectacle, far surpassing 
 whatever I had anticipated, and announced popu¬ 
 lousness and wealth. We longed to enter those 
 gates and walk those streets. But we had yet a 
 delay to wear out. At about a league from the 
 town our guide Mubarek led us off the main road 
 to the right, up and down several little but steep 
 sand hills, and hot declivities, till about two in the 
 afternoon, half roasted with the sun, we reached, 
 never so weary, his garden gate. 
 
 “ morning was bright, yet cool, when we got 
 free of the maze of ithel and sand-slopes, and 
 vnteied the lanes that traverse the garden circle 
 round the town, in all quiet and security. But our 
 approach to Bereydah was destined to furnish us 
 
202 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 an unexpected and «undesired surprise, though 
 indeed less startling than that which discomposed 
 our first arrival at Ha’yel. We had just passed a 
 well near the angle of a garden wall, when we saw 
 a man whose garb and appearance at once bespoke 
 him for a muleteer of the north, watering a couple 
 of mules at the pool hard by. Barakat and I stared 
 with astonishment, and could hardly believe our 
 eyes. For since the day we left Gaza for the south¬ 
 eastern desert, we had never met with a like dress 
 nor with these animals; and how then came they 
 here ? But there was no mistaking either the man 
 or the beasts, and as the muleteer raised his head 
 to look at the passers by, he also started at our 
 sight, and evidently recognized in us something that 
 took him unawares. But the riddle was soon 
 solved. A few paces farther on, our way opened 
 out on the great plain that lies immediately under 
 the town walls to the north. This space was now 
 covered with tents and thronged with men of 
 foreign dress and bearing, mixed with Arabs of town 
 and desert, women and children, talking and quar¬ 
 relling, buying and selling, going and coming ; 
 everywhere baskets full of dates and vegetables, 
 platters bearing eggs and butter, milk and whey, 
 meat hung on poles, bundles of firewood, etc., 
 stood ranged in rows, horsemen and camel-men 
 were riding about between groups seated round 
 fires or reclining against their baggage; in the 
 midst of all this medley a gilt ball surmounted a 
 large white pavilion of a make that I had not seen 
 since last I left India some eleven years before, and 
 
AN ARAB ENCAMPMENT 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -• 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
JOURNEY TO BEREYDAH. 
 
 203 
 
 numerous smaller tents of striped cloth, and 
 certainly not of Arab fashion, clustered around ; a 
 lively scene, especially of a clear morning, but re¬ 
 quiring some explanation from its exotic and non- 
 Arab character. These tents belonged to the great 
 caravan of Persian pilgrims, on their return from 
 Medina to Meshid ’Alee by the road of Kaseem, 
 and hence all this unusual concourse and bustle. 
 
 “ Passing a little on to the east, we left the 
 crowded encampment on one side and turned to 
 enter the city gates. Here, and this is generally 
 the case in the larger Arab towns of old date, 
 the fortifications surround houses alone, and the 
 gardens all lie without, sometimes defended—at 
 ’Oneyzah, for example—by a second outer girdle of 
 walls and towers, but sometimes, as at Berevdah, 
 devoid of any mural protection. The towm itself is 
 composed exclusively of streets, houses, and market¬ 
 places, and bears in consequence a more regular 
 appearance than the recent and village-like arrange¬ 
 ments of the Djowf and even of Ha’yel. We 
 passed a few streets, tolerably large but crooked, 
 «md then made the camels kneel down in a little 
 square or public place, where I remained seated by 
 them on the baggage, switch in hand, like an ordi¬ 
 nary Arab traveller, and Barakat with Mubarbek 
 went in search of lodgings. 
 
 “ Very long did the half-hour seem to me during 
 which I had thus to. mount guard till my com¬ 
 panions returned from their quest; the streets were 
 full of people, and a disagreeable crowd of the lower 
 sort was every moment collecting round myself and 
 
204 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 my camels, with all the inquisitiveness of the idle 
 and vulgar in every land. At last my companions 
 came back to say that they had found what they 
 wanted; a kick or two brought the camels on 
 their legs again, and we moved off to our new 
 quarters. 
 
 “ The house in question was hardly more than 
 five minutes’ walk from the north gate, and at about 
 an equal distance only from the gread market-place 
 on the other side. Its position was therefore good. 
 It possessed two large rooms on the ground story, 
 and three smaller, besides a spacious courtyard, 
 surrounded by high walls. A winding stair of 
 irregular steps and badly lighted, like all in the 
 Nedjed, led up to an extent of flat roof, girt round 
 by a parapet six feet high, and divided into two 
 compartments by a cross-wall, thus affording a very 
 tolerable place for occupation morning and evening, 
 at the hours when the side-walls might yet project 
 enough shade to shelter those seated alongside 
 of them, besides an excellent sleeping-place for 
 night.” 
 
 The day after their arrival they made a call upon 
 Mohanna, the ruler of Bereydah, in order to ask his 
 assistance in proceeding to Nedjed. But he was 
 too busy in devising means to exact more tribute- 
 money from the Persian pilgrims, to give any 
 notice to two persons, whose dress and appearance 
 gave no token of wealth. This neglect afterwards 
 proved to be a piece of good fortune. They then 
 spent several days in a vain attempt to find camels 
 and guides ; no one was willing to undertake the 
 
JOURNEY TO BEREYDAE. 
 
 205 
 
 service. The central province of Nedjed, the 
 genuine Wahabee country, is to the rest of Arabia 
 a sort of lion’s den, into which few venture and yet 
 fewer return. An elderly man of Bereydah, of whom 
 Palgrave demanded information, simply replied, 
 “It is Nedjed ; he who enters it does not come out 
 again,” and this is almost literally true. Its moun¬ 
 tains, once the fastnesses of robbers and assassins, 
 are at the present day equally or even more formid¬ 
 able as the stronghold ol fanatics who consider 
 every one save themselves an infidel or a heretic, 
 and who regard the slaughter of an infidel or a 
 heretic as a duty, at least a merit. In addition to 
 this general cause of anticipating a worse than cold 
 reception in Nedjed, wars and bloodshed, aggression 
 and tyranny, have heightened the original anti¬ 
 pathy of .the surrounding population into special 
 and definite resentment for wrongs received, per¬ 
 haps inflicted, till Nedjed has become for all but her 
 born sons doubly dangerous, and doubly hateful. 
 
 Another circumstance, which seemed to make 
 Palgrave s situation more difficult, although it was 
 equally fortunate in the end, was a rebellion which 
 had broken out in the neighboring city of Oneyzah, 
 headed by Zamil, a native chief. The town was at 
 that time besieged by the Wahabees, yet held out 
 gallantly, and the sympathy of the people of all 
 Kaseem was so strongly on the side of Zamil, that 
 only the presence of the Wahabee troops in Berey¬ 
 dah kept that city, also, from revolt. The rebels 
 had sent deputations to Mecca and also to Djebel 
 Shomer for assistance, and there seemed to be some 
 
20(5 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA . 
 
 possibility of a general Central Arabian revolt 
 against the bated Wahabee supremacy. It seemed 
 thus to be a most unpropitious time for penetrating 
 the stronghold of Nedjed. Palgrave did not so 
 much fear the suspicion of being a European, as that 
 of being an Ottoman spy. His first need, however, 
 was the means of going forward safely. He thus 
 described how an apparent chance made him 
 acquainted with the man to whom almost the entire 
 success of his later travels was due : 
 
 “ It was the sixth day after our arrival, and the 
 22d of September, when about noon I was sitting 
 alone and rather melancholy, and trying to beguile 
 the time with reading the incomparable Divan of 
 Ebn-el-Earid, the favorite companion of my travels. 
 Barakat had at my request betaken himself out of 
 doors, less in hopes of success than to ‘ go to and 
 fro in the earth and walk up and down in it; ’ nor 
 did I now dare to expect that he would return any 
 wiser than he had set forth. When lo ! after along 
 two hours’ absence, he came in with cheerful face, 
 index of good tidings. 
 
 “ Good, indeed, they were, none better. Their 
 bearer said, that after roaming awhile to no purport 
 through the streets and market-place, he had be¬ 
 thought him a visit to the Persian camp. There, 
 while straying among the tents, £ like a washerman s 
 dog,’ a Hindoo would say, he noticed somewhat 
 aloof from the crowd, a small group of pilgrims 
 seated near their baggage on the sand, while curls 
 of smoke going up from* amid the circle indicated 
 the presence of a fire, which at that time of day 
 
JOURNEY TO B ERE FRAIL 
 
 207 
 
 sould be for nothing else than coffee. Civilized 
 
 though Barakat undoubtedly was, he was yet by 
 
 blood and heart an Arab, and for an Arab to see 
 
 coffee-making, and not to put himself in the way of 
 # 
 
 getting a share, would be an act of self-restraint to¬ 
 tally unheard-of ; so he approached the group, and 
 was of course invited to sit down and drink. The par¬ 
 ty consisted of two wealthy Persians, accompanied 
 by three or four of that class of men, half servants, 
 half companions, who often hook on to travellers at 
 Bagdad or its neighborhood, besides a mulatto of 
 Arabo-negrine origin, and his master, this last being 
 the leader of the band, and the giver of the aromatic 
 entertainment. 
 
 “ Barakat’s whole attention was at once engrossed 
 by this personage. A remarkably handsome face, 
 of a type evidently not belonging to the Arab pen¬ 
 insula, long hair curling down to the shoulders, an 
 over-dress of fine spun silk, somewhat soiled by 
 travel, a colored handkerchief of Syrian manufac¬ 
 ture on the head, a manner and look indicating an 
 education much superior to that ordinary in his 
 class and occupation, a camel-driver’s, were pecu¬ 
 liarities sufficient of themselves to attract notice, 
 and give rise to conjecture. But when these went 
 along with a welcome and a salute in the forms and 
 tone of Damascus or Aleppo, and a ready flow of 
 that superabundant and overcharged politeness for 
 which the Syrian subjects of the Turkish empire 
 are renowned, Barakat could no longer doubt that 
 he had a fellow-countryman, and one, too, of some 
 note, before him. 
 
20S 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 “ Sncli was in fact the case. Aboo-’Eysa, to give 
 him the name by which he was commonly known in 
 these parts, though in his own country he bears 
 another denomination, was a native of Aleppo, and 
 son of a not unimportant individual in that fair city. 
 H's education, and the circumstances of his early 
 youth, had rendered him equally conversant with 
 townsmen and herdsmen, with citizens and Bedou¬ 
 ins, with Arabs and Europeans. By lineal descent 
 he was a Bedouin, since his grandfather belonged 
 to the Mejadimah, who are themselves an offshoot 
 of the Benoo-Khalid ; but in habits, thoughts and. 
 manners he was a very son of Aleppo, where he 
 had passed the greater part of his boyhood and 
 youth. When about twenty-live years of age, he 
 became involved, culpably or not, in the great con¬ 
 spiracy against the Turkish government which broke 
 out in the Aleppine insurrection of 1852. Like 
 many others he was compelled to anticipate conse¬ 
 quences by a prompt flight.” 
 
 After trying commerce in order to retrieve his 
 ruined fortunes, but with ill success, Aboo-’Eysa 
 engaged in the horse trade between Persia and 
 Arabia, and also failed. He then went to Bi’ad, the 
 capital of Nedjed, and by presents to Feysul, the 
 chief, obtained a post as guide to the Persian cara¬ 
 vans of pilgrims to Mecca, across Arabia. At this 
 time he had followed that career for three years, 
 and had amassed considerable wealth, for his polite¬ 
 ness, easy manners and strict probity made him 
 popular with the pilgrims. 
 
 *• He recognized a feflow-countryman in Barakat/' 
 
JOURNEY TO BEREYDAIl 
 
 209 
 
 sajs Palgrave, “received him with marked polite¬ 
 ness, and carefully informed himself of our whence 
 and whither. Barakat, overjoyed to find at last a 
 kind of opening after difficulties that had appeared 
 to obstruct all further progress, made no delay in 
 inquiring whether he would undertake our guidance 
 to Ri’ad. Aboo-’Eysa replied that he was just on 
 the point of separating from his friends the Persians, 
 whose departure would leave camels enough and to 
 spare at his disposition, and that so far there was 
 no hindrance to the proposal. As for the Walia- 
 bees, and their unwillingness to admit strangers 
 within their limits, he stated himself to be well 
 known to them, and that in his company we should 
 have nothing to fear from their suspicious criticism.” 
 
 The agreement was made at once, and the travel- 
 leis now only waited until their new companion 
 should have made some final arrangements with the 
 Persian pilgrims, who were to travel directly from 
 Bereydah to Bagdad. In the mean time, the former 
 took advantage of the delay to see as much as pos- 
 siole of the place, and even to make excursions in 
 the neighborhood, especially in the direction of the 
 beleaguered city of Oneyzah. Palgrave’s descrip¬ 
 tion of the place shows that it possesses the sanu 
 general features as the other Arabian towns, yet 
 may be quoted for its intrinsic picturesqueness: 
 
 Barakat and myseli have made our morning 
 household purchases at the fair, and the sun being 
 now an hour or more above the horizon, we think it 
 time to visit the market place of the town, which 
 would hardly be open sooner. We re-enter the city 
 
213 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 gate, and pass on our way by our house door, where 
 we leave our bundle of eatables, and regain the high 
 street of Bereydah. Before long we reach a high 
 arch across the road; this gate divides the market 
 from the rest of the quarter. We enter : first of all 
 we see a long range of butchers’ shops on either 
 side, thick hung with flesh of sheep and camel, and 
 very dirtily kept. Were not the air pure and the 
 climate healthy, the plague would assuredly bo 
 endemic here ; but in Arabia no special harm seems 
 to follow. We hasten on, and next pass a series of 
 cloth and linen warehouses, stocked partly with 
 home manufacture, but more imported; Bagdad 
 cloaks and head-gear for instance, Syrian shawls and 
 Egyptian slippers. Here markets follow the law 
 general throughout the East, that all shops or stores 
 of the same description should be clustered togeth¬ 
 er, a system whose advantages on the -whole out¬ 
 weigh its inconveniences, at least for small towns 
 like these. In the large cities and capitals of 
 Europe, greater extent of locality requires evidently 
 a different method of arrangement; it might be awk¬ 
 ward for the inhabitants of Hyde Park were no hat¬ 
 ters to be found nearer than the Tower. But what 
 is Bereydah compared even with a second-rate 
 European city ? However, in a crowd, it yields to 
 none; the streets at this time of tne day are 
 thronged to choking, and to make matters worse, a 
 huge splay-footed camel comes every now and then, 
 heaving from side to side like a lubber-rowed boat, 
 with a long beam on his back menacing the heads 
 of those in tiie way, or with two enormous loads of 
 
JOURNEY TO BEREYDAH. 
 
 211 
 
 fiie-wood, each as large as himself, sweeping the 
 road before him of men, women, and children, while 
 the driver, high-perched on the hump, regards such 
 tulles with the most supreme indifference, so long as 
 he brushes his path open. Sometimes there is a 
 whole string of these beasts, the head rope of each 
 tied to the crupper of his precursor, very uncom¬ 
 fortable passengers when met with at a narrow turn¬ 
 ing. 
 
 Through such obstacles we have found or made 
 our way, and are now amid leather and shoemakers’ 
 shops, then among copper and iron smiths, whose 
 united clang might waken the dead or kill the 
 living, till at last we emerge on the central town- 
 square, not a bad one either, nor very irregular, con¬ 
 sidering that it is in Kaseem. About half one side 
 is taken up by the great mosque, an edifice near two 
 centuries old, judging by its style and appearance, 
 but it bears on no part of it either date or inscrip¬ 
 tion. This is, according to my experience, a univer¬ 
 sal rule among the constructions of Central and 
 Eastern Arabia ; neither Cufic, nor Himyarite, nor 
 Arabic writings appear on lintel or column, a want 
 which much disappointed me, nor could I w T eil 
 understand whence this dearth of memorials, espe¬ 
 cially when contrasted with the abundance of 
 inscriptions in Hauran and Safa, Palmyra and Bab¬ 
 ylon. Colored writings daubed on walls and over 
 gates are indeed common, but such inscriptions can, 
 it is evident, be only of a few years’ standing. Nor 
 does the dearth of stone-graving come from want of 
 skill, since architectural carving is frequent, though 
 
212 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 rude, iii Nedjed, while throughout Oman this and 
 other ornamental arts are cultivated with no despic¬ 
 able success. 
 
 “ The minaret of this mosque is often very lofty— 
 a proof, among many others, that its date reaches 
 farther back than the first Wahabee domination, for 
 the Nejdean sect does not approve of high minarets, 
 from the all-sufficient reason that they did not 
 exist in the time of Mahomet (true conservatives !), 
 and they accordingly content themselves with a 
 little corner turret, barely exceeding in height the 
 rest of the roof. A crack running up on one side of 
 the tower bears witness to an earthquake said to 
 have occurred here about thirty years since, pro¬ 
 bably the same of which we subsequently found 
 traces in Hasa. The arch, and consequently the 
 vault, are here unknown ; hence the pillars that 
 upbear the mosque roof are close to each other and 
 very numerous. They are of stone. 
 
 “ Another side of the square is formed by an 
 open gallery, reminding me of those at Bologna. 
 In its shade groups of citizens are seated discussing 
 news or business. The central space is occupied by 
 camels and by bales of various goods, among which 
 the coffee of Yemen, henna, and saffron, bear a 
 large part. However, at the period of oui arrival, 
 commerce was unusually languid, owing to the war, 
 whose occupations absorbed a considerable portion 
 of the population itself, while they also rendered 
 the reads unsafe for traders and travellers. 
 
 “ From this square several diverging streets run 
 out, each containing a market-place for this or that 
 
JOURNEY TO B ERE YDAH. 
 
 213 
 
 ware, and all ending in portals dividing them from 
 the ordinary habitations. The vegetable and fruit 
 market is very extensive, and kept almost exclu¬ 
 sively by women ; so are also the shops for grocery 
 and spices. Nor do the fair sex of Bereydah seem 
 a whit inferior to their rougher partners in knowl¬ 
 edge of business and thrifty diligence. ‘ Close- 
 handedness beseems a woman no less than gener¬ 
 osity a man,’ says an Arab poet, unconsciously 
 coinciding with Lance of Yerona in his comments 
 on the catalogue of his future spouse’s c conditions.’ 
 
 “ The whole town has an aspect of old but de¬ 
 clining prosperity. There are few new houses, but 
 many falling into ruin. The faces, too, of most we 
 meet are serious, and their voices in an undertone. 
 Silk dresses are prohibited by the dominant faction, 
 and tobacco can only be smoked within doors, and 
 by stealth. Every now and then zealous Wahabee 
 missionaries from Bi’ad pay a visit of reform and 
 preaching to unwilling auditors, and disobedience 
 to the customs of the Nejdean sect is noticed and 
 punished, often severely. 
 
 “ If, invited by its owner, we enter one of the 
 houses, we find the interior arrangement somewhat 
 differing from that usual in Djebel Shomer. The 
 towns of Kaseem are close built, and space within 
 the walls becomes in proportion more valuable; 
 hence the courtyards are smaller and the rooms 
 narrow; a second story, too, is common here, 
 whereas at Ha’yel it is a rare exception. The 
 abundance of wood in this province renders char¬ 
 coal superfluous, and the small furnaces of Djow: 
 
214 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 and Shomer have disappeared, to make room for 
 fireplaces sunk in the floor, with a raised stone rim 
 and dog-irons, exactly like those in use at home 
 before coals and coal-smoke had necessitated 
 chimney-pieces and ah the modern nicety of 
 hearths and stoves. Ghada and markh wood is 
 piled on the irons, and the coffee, here super- 
 excellent, for the very best of Yemen comes to 
 Kaseem, is prepared on the blaze. 
 
 “ Enough of the town ; the streets are narrow, 
 hot, and dusty; the day, too, advances; but the 
 gardens are yet cool. So we dash at a venture 
 through a labyrinth of byways and crossways till 
 we find ourselves in the wide street that, like a 
 boulevard in France, runs immediately along but 
 inside the walls. 
 
 “ Here is a side gate, but half ruined, with great 
 folding doors and no one to open them. The wall 
 of one of the flanking towers.has, however, been 
 broken in, and from hence we hope to find an out¬ 
 let on the gardens outside. We clamber in, and, 
 after mounting a heap of rubbish, once the foot of 
 a winding staircase, have before us a window look- 
 ing right on the gardens; fortunately we are not 
 the first to try this short cut, and the truant boys 
 of the town have sufficiently enlarged the aperture 
 and piled up stones on the ground outside to 
 render the passage tolerably easy; we follow the 
 indication, and in another minute stand in the open 
 air without the walls. The breeze is fresh, and will 
 continue so till noon. Before us are high palm 
 trees and dark shadows; the ground is velvet 
 
JOURNEY TO BEREYDAH. 
 
 215 
 
 green witli the autumn crop of maize and vetches, 
 and intersected bj a labyrinth of watercourses, 
 some dry, others flowing ; for the w r ells are at work. 
 
 “ We stroll about in the shade, hide ourselves 
 amid the high maize to smoke a quiet pipe unob¬ 
 served by prying Nedjean e} T es, and then walk on 
 till at some distance we come under a high ridge of 
 sand. Curiosity leads us to climb it, though steep 
 and sliding. From its summit we look southwest 
 in the direction of ’Oneyzah ; the whole country 
 between is jotted over with islets of cultivation 
 amid the sands, and far off long lines of denser 
 shade indicate whereabouts ’Oneyzah itself is situ¬ 
 ated. But noon draws on, and the heat increases; 
 it were ill to remain longer in the blaze of mid-day. 
 So we retrace our steps to the walls, and follow at a 
 venture the town ditch till a gate appears, by which 
 we enter and find our way home again. 
 
 “ "While on one of our suburban excursions we 
 took the direction of ’Oneyzah, but found it utterly 
 impossible to arrive within its walls; so w~e con¬ 
 tented ourselves with an outside and distant view 
 of this large and populous town; the number of its 
 houses, and their size, judging by the overtopping 
 summits that marked out the dwelling of Zarnil and 
 his family, far surpassed anything in Bereydah. 
 The outer fortifications are enormously thick, and 
 the girdle of palm-trees between them and the town 
 affords a considerable additional defence to the 
 latter. For all I could see, there is little stonework 
 in the construction ; they appear almost exclusively 
 of unbaked bricks; yet even so they are formidable 
 
216 
 
 TRAVELS IN AKAB1A. 
 
 defences for Arabia. The whole country around, 
 and whatever lay northeast towards Bereydan, 
 v as moie or less ravaged by the war; and we were 
 blamed by our friends as very rash in having 
 \ entui ed thus far; in fact, it was a mere chance 
 that we did not fall in with skirmishers or plun¬ 
 derers ; and in such a case the military discipline 
 of Kaseem would hardly have ensured our safety. 
 
 When all was ready for the long-expected de- 
 paituie, it uas definitely fixed for the 3d of October, 
 a Fiiday, I think, at nightfall. Since our first inter¬ 
 view Baxakat and myself had not again presented 
 ourselves before Mohanna, except in chance meet¬ 
 ings, accompanied by distant salutations in the 
 street or market-place; and we did not see any 
 need for paying him a special farewell call. 
 Indeed, after learning who and what he was, we 
 did oui best not to draw his grey eye on us, and 
 thereby escaped some additional trouble and sur¬ 
 plus duties to pay, nor did any one mention us to 
 him. At star-rise we bade our host and house- 
 holdei Ahmed a final adieu, and left the town with 
 Aboo-’Eysa for our guide.” 
 
CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 PALGRAVE’s TRAVELS—JOURNEY TO Rl’AD, THE CAP1* 
 
 TAL OF NEDJED. 
 
 WO roads lay before us. The shorter, and 
 
 JL for that reason the more frequented of the 
 two, led southeast-by-east through Woshem and 
 Wady Haneefah to Ri’ad. But this track passed 
 through a district often visited at the piesent 
 moment by the troops of ’Oneyzali and their allies, 
 and hence our companions, not over-courageous for 
 the most, were afraid to follow it. Another road, 
 much more circuitous, but farther removed from 
 the scene of military operations, led northeast to 
 Zulphah, and thence entered the province of 
 Sedeyr, which it traversed in a southeasterly or 
 southern direction, and thus reached the ’Aared. 
 Our council of war resolved on the latter itinerary, 
 nor did we ourselves regret a roundabout which 
 promised to procure us the sight of much that we 
 might scarcely have otherwise an opportunity of 
 visiting. Barakat and I were mounted on two ex¬ 
 cellent dromedaries of Aboo-’Eysa’s stud; the 
 Nader was on a lovely grey she camel with a liand- 
 
 The Naib ” was a Persian official, dispatched by the Persian 
 
218 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 some saddle, crimson and go’d. The Meccans 
 shared between them a long-backed black beast; 
 the rest were also mounted on camels or drome¬ 
 daries, since the road before us was impracticable 
 foi horses, at any rate at this time of year. 
 
 Oui load lay >n L.aseen, whose highlands we 
 rejoined once more, and traversed till sunset. The 
 view was very beautiful from its extent and variety 
 °f ups and downs, in broad grassy hills; little 
 groups oi trees stood in scattered detachments 
 around; and had a river, that desideratum of 
 Aiabia, been in sight, one might almost have 
 fancied oneself in the country bordering the Lower 
 Rhine for some part of its course ; readers may 
 suppose, too, that there was less verdure liere than 
 in the European parallel; my comparison bears 
 only on the general turn of the view. No river 
 exists nearer Kaseein than Shaft, (Euphrates,) some 
 hundred leagues off; and oui eyes had been too 
 long accustomed to the deceptive pools of the 
 milage, to associate with them even a passing idea 
 of aught save drought and heat. 
 
 “ We journeyed on till dark, and then reached 
 certain hillocks of a different character from the 
 hard ground lately under our feet. Here began the 
 Nefood, whose course from the southwest to north- 
 
 p lgrims to lay before Feysul, the ruler of Necljed, a statement of 
 the extortions to which they had been compelled to submit at 
 Beroydali. He was thus equally under Aboo-’Eysa’s charge, and 
 lus company was rather an advantage to Palgrave, since his 
 mission was another cause of removing—or, at least, lessening- 
 the piomi ie;ice of the latter, after his arrival at Hi’ad. 
 
JOURNEY TO nr AD. 
 
 219 
 
 east, and then north, parts between Kaseem, 
 Wosliem, and Sedeyr. I have already said some¬ 
 thing of these sandy inlets when describing that 
 which w r e crossed three months ago between Djowf 
 and Sliomer. 
 
 “ On the verge of the desert strip we now halted 
 a little, to eat a hasty supper, and to drink, the 
 Arabs coffee and the Persians tea. But journeying 
 in these sands, under the heat of the day, is alike 
 killing to man and beast, and therefore Aboo-’Eysa 
 had resolved that we should cross the greater por¬ 
 tion under favor of the cooler hours of night. In 
 pursuance of his idea, we were again mounted and 
 on our way before the slanting pyramid of zodiacal 
 light had faded in the w T est. 
 
 “All night, a weary night, we waded up and down 
 through waves of sand, in which the camels often 
 sank up to their knees, and their riders were 
 obliged to alight and help them on. There was no 
 symptom of a track, no landmark to direct our 
 w r ay ; the stars alone were now our compass and 
 guide ; but Aboo-’Eysa had passed this Nefood 
 more than once, and knew the line of march by 
 heart. When the first pale streak of dawn ap¬ 
 peared on our right shoulder, we were near the 
 summit of a sandy mountain, and the air blew 
 keener than I had yet felt it in Arabia. We halted, 
 and gathered together heaps of ghada and other 
 desert shrubs to light blazing fires, by which some 
 eat, some lay and slept, myself for one, till the rising 
 sunbeams tipped the yellow crests around, and w’e 
 resumed our way. 
 
220 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 ‘‘ ^ ow full daylight appeared the true cliar- 
 actei of the region which we were traversing ; its 
 aspect resembled the Nefood north of Djebel 
 Sliomer, but tlie undulations were here higher and 
 deeper, and the sand itself lighter and less stable. 
 In most spots neither shrub nor blade of grass 
 could fix its root, in others a scanty vegetation 
 struggled through, but no trace of man anywhere. 
 Tne camels ploughed slowly on ; the Persians, un¬ 
 accustomed to such scenes, were downcast and 
 silent; all were tired, and no wonder. At last, a 
 little beioie noon, and just -as the sun’s heat was 
 becoming intolerable, we reached the verge of an 
 immense crater-like hollow, certainly three or four 
 miles in circumference, where the sand-billows re¬ 
 ceded on every side, and left in the midst a pit 
 seven or eight hundred feet in depth, at whose 
 base we could discern a white gleam of limestone 
 rock, and a small group of houses, trees, and gar¬ 
 dens, thus capriciously isolated in the very heart of 
 the desert. 
 
 “ This, was the little village and oasis of Wasit, 
 01 the intermediary, so-called because a central 
 point between the three provinces of Kaseem, 
 Sedeyr, and Woshem, yet belonging to none of 
 them. Nor is it often visited by wayfarers, as we 
 learnt from the inhabitants, men simple and half 
 savage, from their little intercourse with the outer 
 v oild, and unacquainted even with the common 
 foims of Islamitie prayer, though dwelling in the 
 midst of the Wahabee dominions. 
 
 A long winding descent brought us to the 
 
JOURNEY TO READ. 
 
 221 
 
 bottom of the valley, where on onr arrival men and 
 boys came out to stare at the Persians, and by 
 exacting double prices for fruit and camel’s milk, 
 proved themselves not altogether such fools as they 
 looked. Por us, regarded as Arabs, we enjoyed 
 their hospitality—it was necessarily a limited one— 
 gratis; whereupon the Na’ib grew jealous, and 
 declaimed against the Arabs as ‘ infidels,’ for not 
 treating with suitable generosity pilgrims like them¬ 
 selves returning from the ‘ house of God.’ 
 
 “ To get out of this pit was no easy matter ; facilis 
 descensus , etc., thought I ; no ascending path 
 showed itself in the required direction, and every 
 one tried to push up his floundering beast where the 
 sand appeared at a manageable slope, and firm to 
 the footing. Camels and men fell and rolled back 
 down the declivity, till some of the party shed tears 
 of vexation, and others, more successful, laughed 
 at the annoyance of their companions. Aboo- 
 ’Eysa ran about from one to the other, attempting 
 to direct and keep them together, till finally, as 
 Heaven willed, we reached the upper rim to the 
 north. 
 
 “ Before us lay what seemed a storm-driven sea 
 of fire in the red light of afternoon, and through it 
 we wound our way, till about an hour before 
 sunset we fell in with a sort of track or furrow. 
 Next opened out on our road a long descent, at 
 whose extreme base we discerned the important 
 and commercial town of Zulpliah? Beyond it rose 
 the wall-like steeps of Djebel Toweyk, so often 
 heard of, and now seen close at hand. Needless to 
 
222 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 say how joyfully we welcomed the first view of that 
 strange ridge, the heart and central knot of Arabia, 
 beyond which whatever lay might almost be reck¬ 
 oned as a return journey. 
 
 “ We had now, in fact, crossed the Nefood, and 
 had at our feet the great valley which constitutes 
 the main line of communication between Nedjed and 
 the north, reaching even to the Tigris and Bagdad. 
 The sun was setting when we reached the lowest 
 ebb of the sand ocean, and left its enormous waves 
 piled up ridge above ridge behind us ; Barakat and 
 myself, thanks to the excellent fibre of our drome¬ 
 daries, were far in front of our associates, and we 
 willingly allowed the beasts to turn aside from the 
 track and feed on the copious pasturage of The- 
 mam, a ragged sweet-smelling grass common 
 throughout Nedjed, and often mentioned by the 
 poets, while we gazed now on the red range in our 
 rear, now on the long valley stretching upon right 
 and left, to north and south, with the broken out¬ 
 lines of the walls of Zulpliali a mile or more in 
 fiont, and now on the precipitous though low for¬ 
 tress-ledge of Toweyk which bordered the horizon. 
 
 We passed the whole length of the town of Zul- 
 phah, several streets of which had been lately swept 
 away by the winter torrents that pour at times their 
 short-lived fury down this valley. Before us to the 
 southeast stretched the long hollow ; on our rhdit 
 was the Neiood, on our left Djebel Toweyk and the 
 province of Sedeyr. The mountain air blew cool, 
 and this day’s journey was a far pleasanter one than 
 its predecessor. We continued our march down the 
 
JOURNEY TV Rl'AD. 
 
 223 
 
 valley till the afternoon, when we turned aside into 
 a narrow gorge running up at a sharp angle to the 
 northeast, and thus entered between the heights of 
 Djebel Toweyk itself. 
 
 “ This mountain essentially constitutes Nedjed. H 
 is a wide and flat chain, or rather plateau, whose 
 general form is that of a huge crescent. If I may 
 be permitted here to give my rough guess regard¬ 
 ing the elevation of the main plateau, a guess 
 grounded partly on the vegetation, climate, and 
 similar local features, partly on an approximate esti¬ 
 mate of the ascent itself, and of the subsequent 
 descent on the other or sea side, I should say that 
 it varies from a height of one to two thousand feet 
 
 o 
 
 above the surrounding level of the peninsula, and J 
 may thus be about three thousand feet at most 
 above the sea. Its loftiest ledges occur in the 
 Sedeyr district, where we shall pass them before 
 long; the centre and the southwesterly arm is cer¬ 
 tainly lower. Djebel Toweyk is the middle knot of 
 Arabia, its Caucasus, so to say; and is still, as it 
 has often been in former times, the turning point of 
 the whole, or almost the whole, peninsula in a polit¬ 
 ical and national bearing. To it alone is the term 
 ‘ Nedjed,’ strictly and topographically applied; 
 although the same denomination is sometimes, nay, 
 often, given by the Arabs themselves to all the 
 inland provinces now under Wahabee rule. 
 
 “ The climate of the northern part of Djebel 
 Toweyk, whether plateau or valley, coincident with 
 the province of Sedeyr, is perhaps one of the health¬ 
 iest in the world; an exception might be made in 
 
224 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA . 
 
 favor of Djebel Shomer alone. The above-named 
 districts resemble each other closely in dryness of 
 atmosphere, and the inhabitants of Sedeyr, like 
 those of Shomer, are remarkable for their ruddy 
 complexion and well developed stature. But when 
 we approach the centre of the mountain crescent, 
 where its whole level lowers, while the more south¬ 
 erly latitude brings it nearer to the prevailing influ¬ 
 ences of the tropical zone, the air becomes damper 
 and more relaxing, and a less salubrious climate 
 pictures itself in the saliower faces and slender 
 make of its denizens. 
 
 Two days later we attained the great plateau of 
 which I have a few pages since given an anticipated 
 description. Here for the first time since our pas¬ 
 sage of the Ghour, in the well-known desert between 
 Gaza and Ma’an, we met with a clouded sky and a 
 disturbed atmosphere. But my readers will recall 
 to mind that it was now the 7th of October, and not 
 be surprised at an autumn storm. The sky, hither¬ 
 to perfectly clear, was suddenly, indeed almost 
 instantaneously, overcast, and a furious gust of 
 wind rushed down, while clouds of dust darkened 
 the air, till we could hardly see our way. Next fol¬ 
 lowed a few drops of rain, but the wind was too 
 high to allow of a good shower, and in about half 
 an hour the whole had blown over ; however, the 
 breeze which succeeded was delightfully cool, and 
 worthy of the Apennines. 
 
 “ About noon we halted in a brushwood-covered 
 plain to light fire and prepare coffee. After which we 
 pursued our easterly way, still a little to the north ; 
 
JOURNEY TO RI'AD. 
 
 225 
 
 now and then meeting with travellers or peasants ; 
 but a European would find these roads very lonely 
 in comparison with those of his own country. All 
 the more did I admire the perfect submission and 
 strict police enforced by the central government, so 
 that even a casual robbery is very rare in the prov¬ 
 inces, and highwaymen are totally out of the ques¬ 
 tion. At last, near the same hour of afternoon that 
 had brought us the day before to Ghat, we came in 
 sight of Mejmaa’, formerly capital of the province, 
 and still a place of considerable importance, with a 
 a population, to judge by appearances and hearsay, 
 of between ten and twelve thousand souls. 
 
 “We were up early next morning, for the night 
 air was brisk, and a few hours of sleep had sufficed 
 us. The whole level of the depression where 
 Mejmaa stands almost equals that of the surface of 
 the first plateau, and to this now succeeded a 
 second of yet greater height, forming part of the 
 midrib of Toweyk. We took the high ground as 
 the shorter route, instead of keeping to the lower 
 steppe, and went on with a wide landscape on either 
 side, but not in front, where at some distance to the 
 east a third and loftier ledge arose to shut out the 
 distant view. 
 
 “ After sunrise we came on a phenomenon of a 
 nature, I believe, without a second or a parallel in 
 Central Arabia, yet withal most welcome, namely, a 
 tolerably large source of running water, forming a 
 wide and deepish stream, with grassy banks, and 
 frogs croaking in the herbage. We opened our eyes 
 iti amazement; it was the first of the kind that 
 
226 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 we had beheld since leaving the valley of Djowf. 
 But though a living, it is a short-lived rivulet, 
 reaching only four or five hours’ distance to Djela- 
 jil, where it is lost amid the plantations of the sub¬ 
 urbs. 
 
 “ We had not long traversed the Meteyr encamp¬ 
 ment, when we came in view of the walls of Toweym, 
 a large town, containing between twelve and fifteen 
 thousand inhabitants, according to the computation 
 here in use, and which I follow for want of better. 
 The houses are here built compactly, of two stories 
 in general, sometimes three; the lower rooms are 
 often fifteen or sixteen feet high, and the upper ten 
 or twelve; while the roof itself is frequently sur¬ 
 rounded by a blind wall of six feet or more, till the 
 whole attains a fair altitude, and is not altogether 
 unimposing. 
 
 “ Early next day, at a short distance from 
 Toweym, we passed another large village with bat- 
 tlemented walls, and on the opposite side of the 
 road a square castle, looking very mediaeval; this 
 was Hair. A couple of hours further on we 
 reached Thomeyr, a straggling townlet, more 
 abounding in broken walls than houses ; close by 
 was a tall white rock crowned by the picturesque 
 remains of an old outwork or fort, overlooking the 
 place. Here our party halted for breakfast in the 
 shadow of the ruins. Barakat and myself deter¬ 
 mined to try our fortune in the village itself; no 
 guards appeared at its open gate ; we entered un¬ 
 challenged, and roamed through silent lanes and 
 heaps of rubbish, vainly seeking news of milk and 
 
DEATH ON THE DESERT. 
 

 
 1 
 
 . . _ — 
 
 .. -- V 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
JOURNEY TO RI'AD. 
 
 227 
 
 dates in this city of the dea L At last we met a 
 meagre townsman, in look and apparel the apothe¬ 
 cary of Romeo ; and of him, not without misgivings 
 of heart, we inquired where aught eatable could be 
 had for love or money. He apologized, though 
 there was scarce need of that, for not having any 
 such article at his disposal; ; but,’ added he, ‘ in such 
 and such a house there will certainly be something 
 good,’ and thitherwards he preceded us in our 
 search. We found indeed a large dwelling, but the 
 door was shut; we knocked to no purpose : nobody 
 at home. 
 
 Our man now set us a bolder example, and we 
 altogether scrambled through a breach in the mud 
 wall, and found ourselves amid empty rooms and a 
 desolate courtyard. ‘ Everybody is out in the fields, 
 women only excepted,’ said our guide, and we sepa¬ 
 rated no better off than before. Despairing of the 
 village commissariat, we climbed a turret on the 
 outer walls, and looked round. Now we saw at 
 some distance a beautiful palm-grove, where we con¬ 
 cluded that dates could not be wanting, and off wo 
 set for it across the stubble fields. But on arriving 
 we found our paradise surrounded by high walls, 
 and no gate discoverable. While thus we stood 
 without, like Milton’s fiend at Eden, but unable, like 
 him, ‘ by one high bound te overleap all bound,’ up 
 came a handsome Solibah lad, all in rags, half 
 walking, half dancing, in the devil-may-care way of 
 his tribe. ‘ Can you tell us which is the way in ?’ 
 was our first question, pointing to the garden before 
 us ; and, ‘ Shall I sing you a song ?’ was his first 
 
228 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 answer. ‘ We don’t want your songs, but dates 
 how are we to get at them ?’ we replied. ‘ Or shall 
 I peiform you a dance ? answered the grinning 
 young scoundrel, and forthwith began an Arabian 
 polka-step, laughing all the while at our undis¬ 
 guised impatience. At last he condescended to 
 show us the way, but no other than what befitted an 
 orchard-robbing boy, like himself, for it lay a little 
 farther off, right over the wall, which he scaled with 
 practiced ingenuity, and helped us to follow. So 
 we did, though perhaps with lionester intentions, 
 and once within, stood amid trees, shade and water. 
 The ‘ tender juvenile’ then set up a shout, and soon 
 a man appeared, ‘ old Adam’s likeness set to dress 
 this gaiden, save that he was not old but young, as 
 Adam might himself have been while yet in Eden. 
 We were somewhat afraid of a surly reception, too 
 well merited by our very equivocal introduction ; 
 but the gardener was better tempered than many of 
 his caste, and after saluting us very politelv, offered 
 his services at our disposal. On learning that we 
 weie from Damascus, he grew positively friendly, 
 led us through an umbrageous alley to a little lodge' 
 or watch-hut in the enclosure, and there presented 
 us to a cousin of his, who also said he had been to 
 ‘ Sham,’ or Damascus. But ‘ Sham’ has in Nedjed 
 as loose an application as Nedjed has in Sham, and 
 we found ere long that our new acquaintance had 
 never really overpassed the limits of Arabia ; he had 
 gone some way on the northern pilgrim road 
 towards Tabook and its neighborhood; however, 
 this was enough to make him a lion in his village', 
 
JOURNEY TO READ. 
 
 229 
 
 and he was a great authority about Damascus, 
 though he had stopped short at a full fortnight’s dis¬ 
 tance from its gates. We made friends, and a very 
 tolerable extemporary breakfast of curds and dates, 
 with clear cold water, such as our hearts desired, 
 was set before us. The young Solibah had gone 
 fruit-hunting on his own account. We then pro¬ 
 posed to purchase a stock of dates for our onward 
 way, whereon the gardener conducted us to an out- 
 hbuse where heaps of three or four kinds of this 
 fruit, red and yellow, round or long, lay piled up, 
 and bade us choose. At his recommendation we 
 filled a large cloth which we had brought with us 
 for the purpose with excellent ruddy dates, and gave 
 in return a small piece of money, welcome here as 
 elsewhere. We then took leave and returned, but 
 this time through the garden gate, to the stubble- 
 fields, and passing under the broken walls of the 
 village, reached our companions, who had become 
 anxious at our absence. 
 
 For three days longer the travellers journeyed 
 southward, through the valleys branching out from 
 Djebel Toweyk, encamping for the night near some 
 of the small towns which still exist in that once 
 populous, but now devastated region. “ In the 
 early gray of the fourth morning,” says Palgrave, 
 “ we passed close under the plantations of Bowdah 
 down the valley, now dry and still, once overflowed 
 with the best blood of Arabia, and through the 
 narrow and high-walled pass which gives entrance 
 to the great strongholds of the land. The sun rose and 
 lighted up to our view wild precipices on either side, 
 
230 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 with a tangled mass of broken rook and brushwood 
 below, while coveys of partridges started up at our 
 feet, and deer scampered away by the gorges to 
 right or left, or a cloud of dust announced the ap¬ 
 proach of peasant bands or horsemen going to and 
 fro, and gardens or hamlets gleamed through side- 
 opemngs or stood niched in the bulging passes of 
 the VV ady itself, till before noon we arrived at the 
 little hamlet of Malka, or ‘ the junction.’ 
 
 “ Its name is derived from its position. Here the 
 valley divides in form of a Y, sending off two 
 branches—one southerly to Derey’eeyah, the other 
 southeast by east through the centre of the province, 
 and communicating with the actual capital, Ri’ad! 
 At the point of bipartition stands what would in 
 
 India be called a bungalo, and in Syria a khan_ 
 
 namely, a sort of open house, for the accommodation 
 and rest of travellers ; close by is a large well, and 
 a garden, the property of the heir-apparent, Abdal¬ 
 lah. I he broad foliage of fig-trees and citrons over¬ 
 hangs the road, and invites to repose. We rested 
 
 the hours of noon, partly in the guest-house and 
 partly m the garden. 
 
 Aboo- Eysa had meditated bringing us on that 
 very evening to Bi’ad. But eight good leagues 
 remained from Malka to the capital; and when the 
 a lb had terminated his cosmetic operations, the 
 easterly-turning shadows left us no hope of attaining 
 1 atl betore nightfall. However, we resumed our 
 march, and took the arm of the valley leading to 
 Derey eeyah ; but before reaching it we once more 
 quitted the Wady, and followed a shorter path by 
 
JOURNEY TO READ. 
 
 231 
 
 the highlands to the left. Our way was next 
 crossed by a long range of towers, built by Ibraheem 
 Basha, as outposts for the defence of this important 
 position. Within their line stood the lonely walls of 
 a large, square barrack; the towers were what 
 we sometimes call Martello—short, large, and 
 round. 
 
 “ The level rays of the setting sun now streamed 
 across the plain, and we came on the ruins of 
 Derey’eeyah, filling up the whole breadth of the 
 valley beneath. The palace walls, of unbaked 
 brick, like the rest, rose close under the left or 
 northern edge, but unroofed and tenantless ; a little 
 lower down a wide extent of fragments showed 
 ■where the immense mosque had been, and hard by, 
 the market-place ; a tower on an isolated height 
 was, I suppose, the original dwelling-place of the 
 Sa’ood family, while yet mere local chieftains, before 
 growing greatness transferred them to their imperial 
 palace. The outer fortifications remained almost 
 uninjured for much of their extent, with turrets and 
 bastions reddening in the western light; in other 
 places the Egyptian artillery or the process of years 
 had levelled them with the earth; within the town 
 many houses were yet standing, but uninhabited ; 
 and the lines of the streets from gate to gate were 
 distinct as in a ground plan. From the great size 
 of the town (for it is full half a mile in length, and 
 not much less in breadth), and from the close pack¬ 
 ing of the houses, I should estimate its capacity at 
 above forty thousand indwellers. The gardens lie 
 without, and still ‘living waved where man had 
 
232 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 ceased to live,’ in full beauty and luxuriance, a deep 
 green ring around the grey ruins. For although the 
 Nedjeans, holding it for an ill omen to rebuild and 
 re-inhabit a town so fatally overthrown, have trans¬ 
 planted the seat of government, and with it the 
 bulk of city population, to Ri’ad, they have not 
 deemed it equally necessary to abandon the rich 
 plantations and well watered fields belonging to the 
 old capital; and thus a small colony of gardeners 
 in scattered huts and village dwellings close under 
 the walls, protract the blighted existence of Derey¬ 
 ’eeyah. 
 
 “ While from our commanding elevation we gazed 
 thoughtfully on this scene, so full of remembrances, 
 the sun set, and darkness grew on. We naturallv 
 proposed a halt, but Aboo-’Eysa turned a deaf ear, 
 and affirmed that a garden belonging to ’Abd-er- 
 Rahman, already mentioned as grandson of the first 
 Wahabee, was but a little farther before us, and 
 better adapted to our night’s rest than the ruins. 
 In truth, three hours of brisk travelling yet inter¬ 
 vened between Derey’eeyah and the place in ques¬ 
 tion; but our guide was unwilling to enter Derey¬ 
 ’eeyah in company of Persians and Syrians, Shi- 
 ya’ees and Christians ; and this he afterwards con¬ 
 fessed to me. For whether from one of those 
 curious local influences which outlast even the 
 change of races, and give one abiding color to the 
 successive tenants of the same spot, or whether it 
 be occasioned by the constant view of their fallen 
 greatness and the triumph of their enemies, the 
 scanty population of Derey’eeyah comprises some 
 
JOURNEY TO READ. 
 
 233 
 
 of the bitterest and most bigoted fanatics that even 
 ’Aared can offer. Accordingly we moved on, still 
 keeping to the heights, and late at night descended 
 a little hollow, where, amid an extensive garden, 
 stood the country villa of ’Abd-er-Rahman. 
 
 “We did not attempt to enter the house; indeed, 
 at such an hour no one was stirring to receive us. 
 But a shed in the garden close by sufficed for tra¬ 
 vellers who were all too weary to desire aught but 
 sleep ; and this we soon found in spite of dogs and 
 jackals, numerous here and throughout Nedjed. 
 
 “From this locality to the capital was about four 
 miles’ distance. Our party divided next morning * 
 the Na’ib and his associates remaining behind; 
 while Barakat and myself, with Aboo-’Eysa, set oft 
 straight for the town, where our guide was to give 
 notice at the palace of the approach of the Persian 
 dignitary, that the honors due to his reception might 
 meet him half way. At our request the Meccans 
 staid also in the rear; we did not desire the 
 equivocal effect of their company on a first appear¬ 
 ance. 
 
 “ For about an hour we proceeded southward, 
 through barren and undulating ground, unable to 
 see over the country to any distance. At last we 
 attained a rising eminence, and crossing it, came at 
 once in full view of Ri’ad, the main (fbject of our 
 long journey—the capital of Nedjed and half Ara¬ 
 bia, its very heart of hearts. 
 
 “ Before us stretched a wild open valley, and in 
 its foreground, immediately below the pebbly slope 
 on whose summit we stood, lay the capital, largo 
 
234 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 and square, crowned by high towers and strong 
 walls of defence, a mass of roofs and terraces, where 
 overtopping all frowned the huge but irregular pile 
 of Feysul’s royal castle, and hard by it rose the 
 scarce less conspicuous palace, built and inhabited 
 by his eldest son, ’Abdallah. Other edifices, too, of 
 remarkable appearance broke here and there through 
 the maze of grey roof-tops, but their object and in¬ 
 dwellers were yet to learn. All around for full 
 three miles over the surrounding plain, but more 
 especially to the west and south, waved a sea of 
 palm-trees above green fields and well-watered gar¬ 
 dens ; while the singing, droning sound of the water¬ 
 wheels reached us even where we had halted, at a 
 quarter of a mile or more from the nearest town- 
 walls. On the opposite side southwards, the valley 
 opened out in-to the great and even more fertile 
 plains of Yemamali, thickly dotted with groves and 
 villages, among which the large town of Manfoo'hah, 
 hardly inferior in size to Ri’ad itself, might be clearly 
 distinguished. Farther in the background ranged 
 the blue hills, the ragged Sierra of Yemamali, com¬ 
 pared some thirteen hundred years since, by ’Amroo- 
 ebn-Kelthoom the Shomerite, to drawn swords in 
 battle array; and behind them was concealed the 
 immeasurable Desert of the South, or Dahna. On 
 the west the valley closes in and narrows in its up¬ 
 ward windings towards Derey’eeyah, while to the 
 southwest the low mounds of Afiaj are the division 
 between it and Wady Dowasir. Due east in the 
 distance a long blue line marks the farthest heights 
 
 o o 
 
 of Toweyk, and shuts out from view the low ground 
 
JOURNEY TO READ. 
 
 235 
 
 of Hasa and the shores of the Persian Gulf. In all 
 the countries which I have visited, and they are 
 many, seldom has it been mine to survey a land¬ 
 scape equal to this in beauty and in historical mean¬ 
 ing, rich and full alike to eye and mind. But should 
 any of my readers have ever approached Damascus 
 from the side of the Anti-Lebanon, and surveyed 
 the Ghootah from the heights above Mazzeh, they 
 may thence form an approximate idea of the valley 
 of Ki’ad when viewed from the north. Only this is 
 wider and more varied, and the circle of vision here 
 embraces vaster plains and bolder mountains ; while 
 the mixture of tropical aridity and luxuriant verdure, 
 of crowded population and desert tracks, is one that 
 Arabia alone can present, and in comparison with 
 which Syria seems tame, and Italy monotonous.” 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 PALGRAVE’s TRAVELS.—ADVENTURES IN Rl’AD. 
 
 B ARAKAT and myself stopped our dromedaries 
 a few minutes on the height to study and en¬ 
 joy this noble prospect, and to forget the anxiety 
 inseparable from a first approach to the lion’s own 
 den. Aboo- Eysa, too, though not unacquainted 
 with the scene, willingly paused with us to point out 
 and name the main features of the view, and show 
 us where lay the onward road to his home in Hasa. 
 We then descended the slope, and skirted the walls 
 cf the first outlying plantations which gird the 
 town. 
 
 With a little knot of companions walking by our 
 side, and laughing and talking their fill, we entered 
 on a byway leading between the royal stables on 
 one hand, and a spacious garden belonging to ’Abd- 
 el-Lateef, Kadee of the town, on the other. After a 
 while we came out on the great cemetery, which 
 spreads along the northeastern wall, and contains 
 the population of many past years—low tombs, 
 without stone or memorial, inscription or date. 
 
 “ This burial ground is intersected by several 
 
AD VENTURES IN HI'AD. 
 
 237 
 
 tracks, leading to the different town gates; we our¬ 
 selves now followed a path ending at the north¬ 
 eastern portal, a wide and high entrance, with thick 
 square towers on either side; several guardsmen, 
 armed with swords, were seated in the passage. 
 A.boo-’Eysa answered their challenge, and led us 
 within the town. Here we found ourselves at first 
 in a broad street, going straight to the palace; on 
 each side were large houses, generally two stories 
 high, wells for ablution, mosques of various dimen¬ 
 sions, and a few fruit-trees planted here and there 
 in the courtyards. After advancing two hundred 
 yards or rather more, we had on our right hand the 
 palace of Abdallah, a recent and almost symmetri¬ 
 cal construction, square in form, with goodly carved 
 gates, and three stories of windows, one above the 
 other. We contemplated and were contemplated 
 by groups of negroes and servants, seated near the 
 doors, or on the benches outside, in the cool of the 
 morning shade. 
 
 “ At last we reached a great open square : its 
 right side, the northern, consists of shops and ware¬ 
 houses ; while the left is entirely absorbed by the 
 huge abode of Nedjean royalty; in front of us, and 
 consequently to the west, a long covered passage, 
 upborne high on a clumsy colonnade, crossed the 
 breadth of the square, and reached from the palace 
 to the great mosque, which it thus joins directly 
 with the interior of the castle, and affords old Fey- 
 sul a private and unseen passage at will from his 
 own apartments to his official post at the Friday 
 prayers, without exposing him on his way to vulgar 
 
238 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 curiosity, or perhaps to the dangers of treachery. 
 Foi the fate of his father and of his great-uncle, his 
 predecessors on the throne, and each of them 
 pierced by the dagger of an assassin during public 
 worship, has rendered Feysul very timid on this 
 score, though not at prayer-time only. Behind this 
 colonnade, other shops and warehouses make up 
 the end of the square, or more properly parallel¬ 
 ogram ; its total length is about two hundred paces, 
 by rather more than half the same width. In the 
 midst of this space, and under the far-reaching 
 shadow of the castle walls, are seated some fifty or 
 sixty women, each with a stock of bread, dates, milk, 
 vegetables, or firewood before her for sale. 
 
 “ But we did not now stop to gaze, nor indeed 
 did we pay much attention to all this \ our first 
 introduction to the monarch and the critical posi¬ 
 tion before us took up all oar thoughts. So 
 we paced on alongside of the long blind wall 
 running out Irom the central keep, and looking 
 more like the outside of a fortress than of a peace¬ 
 ful lesidence, till we came near a low and narrow 
 gate, the only entry to the palace. Deep' sunk 
 between the bastions, with massive folding-doors 
 iion bound, though thrown open at this hour of 
 the day, and giving entrance into a dark passage, 
 one might easily have taken it for the vestibule of a 
 prison; while the number of guards, some black, 
 some white, but all sword-girt, who almost choked 
 tue way, did not seem very inviting to those with¬ 
 out, especially to foreigners. Long earth-seats 
 liLK'd the adjoining walls, and afforded a convenient 
 
ADVENTURES IN READ. 
 
 231 ) 
 
 Waiting-place for visitors \ and here we took np our 
 rest at a little distance from the palace gate; but 
 Aboo- Fysa entered at once to announce our arrival, 
 and the approach of the Na’ib. 
 
 “ The first who drew near and saluted us was a 
 tall meagre figure, of a sallow complexion, and an 
 intelligent but slightly ill-natured and underhand 
 cast of features. He was very well dressed, though 
 of course without a vestige of unlawful silk in his 
 apparel, and a certain air of conscious importance 
 tempered the affability of his politeness. This was 
 ’Abd-el-’Azeez, whom, for want of a better title, I 
 shall call the minister of foreign affairs, such being 
 the approximate translation of his official style.” 
 
 “Accompanied by some attendants from the 
 palace, he came stately up, and seated himself by 
 our side. He next began the customary interroga¬ 
 tions of whence and what, with much smiling 
 courtesy and show of welcome. After hearing our 
 replies, the same of course as those given elsewhere, 
 he invited us to enter the precincts, and partake of 
 his Majesty’s coffee and hospitality, while he 
 promised us more immediate communications from 
 the king himself in the course of the day. 
 
 “ If my readers have seen, as most of them un¬ 
 doubtedly will, the Paris Tuileries, they may here¬ 
 by know that the whole extent of Feysul’s palace 
 equals about two thirds of that construction, and is 
 little inferior to it in height; if indeed we except 
 the angular pyramidal roofs or extinguishers pecu¬ 
 liar to the French edifice. But in ornament the 
 Parisian pile has the better of it, for there is small 
 
240 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 pretensions to architectural embellishment in this 
 Waliabee Louvre. Without, within, every other 
 consideration has been sacrificed to strength and 
 security; and the outer view of Newgate, at any 
 rate, bears a very strong resemblance to the general 
 effect of Feysul’s palace. 
 
 “ Aboo-’Eysa meanwhile, in company with the 
 outriders sent from the palace, had gone to meet 
 the Na’ib and introduce him to the lodgings pre¬ 
 pared for his reception. Very much was the Per¬ 
 sian astounded to find none of the royal family 
 among those who thus came, no one even of high 
 name or office; but yet more was his surprise 
 when, instead of immediate admittance to Feysul’s 
 presence and eager embrace, he was quietly led 
 aside to the very guest-room whither we had been 
 conducted, and a dinner not a whit more sumptuous 
 than ours was set before him, after which he was 
 very coolly told that he might pray for Feysul and 
 retire to his quarters, while the king settled the 
 day and hour whereon he would vouchsafe him the 
 honor of an audience. 
 
 “ Afterwards, the minister of foreign affairs con¬ 
 descended to come in person, and, sweetly smiling, 
 informed us that our temporary habitation was 
 ready, and that Aboo-’Eysa would conduct us 
 thither without delay. We then begged to know, 
 if possible, the king’s good will and pleasure 
 regarding our stay and our business in the town. 
 For on our first introduction we had duly stated, 
 in the most correct Wahebee phraseology, that we 
 had come to Pi’ad ‘ desiring the favor of God, and 
 
AD VENTURES IN Rl'AD. 
 
 211 
 
 secondly of Feysul; and that we begged of God, 
 and secondly of Feysul, permission to exercise in 
 the town our medical profession, under the pro¬ 
 tection Ox God, and in the next place of Feysul.’ 
 For Dogberry’s advice to ‘ set God first, for God 
 defend but God should go before such villains,’ is 
 here observed to the letter; whatever is desired, 
 purported, or asked, the Deity must take the lead. 
 Noi this only, but even the subsequent mention of 
 the creature must nowise be coupled with that of 
 the Creator by the ordinary conjunction ‘ w’,’ that 
 is, and, since that would imply equality between 
 the two—flat blasphemy in word or thought. Hence 
 the disjunctive ‘ thumina,’ or ‘ next after,’ ‘ at a dis¬ 
 tance,’ must take the place of £ w’,’ under penalty of 
 prosecution under the statute. 4 Unlucky the man 
 who visits Nedjed without being previously well 
 versed in the niceties of grammar,’ said Barakat ; 
 
 ‘ under these schoolmasters a mistake might cost 
 the scholar his head.’ But ol this more anon : to 
 return to our subject, Abd-el-’Azeez, a true politi¬ 
 cian, answered our second interrogation with a 
 vague assurance of good will and unmeaning pa- 
 tionage. Meantime the Ha lb and his train 
 marched ofl in high dudgeon to their quarters, 
 and Aboo-’Eysa gave our dromedaries a kick, 
 made them rise, and drove them before us to our 
 new abode.” 
 
 In the, course of a day or two, the travellers dis¬ 
 covered what a sensation the arrival of their cara¬ 
 van had produced at court. The old king, Feysul, 
 now in the 33d year of his reign, possessed all the 
 
212 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 superstition and bigotry of the old Waliabees, and 
 the sudden presence of Syrians, suspected of being 
 Christians, Persians and Meccans, in his capital, 
 was too much for him. He at once left the palace, 
 took up his temporary residence in a house out¬ 
 side the city, and a strong guard was posted around 
 him until the court officials should have time to 
 examine the strangers, discover, if possible, their 
 secret designs, and report them to the king. The 
 first spy was a shrewd and intelligent Affghan, a 
 pretended convert to the Wahabee doctrine, who 
 discovered nothing, and consequently made an 
 unfavorable report. The second was a “ man ot 
 zeal,” one of a committee of twenty-two inquisitors, 
 appointed by the king to exercise constant espion¬ 
 age upon the inhabitants, with the power of punish¬ 
 ing them at will for any infraction or neglect of the 
 Wahabee discipline. Palgrave gives the following 
 account of his visit: 
 
 “ Abbood, for such was his name, though I never 
 met the like before or after in Arabia proper, how¬ 
 ever common it may be in Syria and Lebanon, took 
 a different and a more efficacious mode of espion¬ 
 age than ’Abd-el-Hameed had done before him. 
 Affecting to consider us Mahometans, and learned 
 ones too, he entered at once on religious topics, on 
 the true character of Islam, its purity or corrup¬ 
 tions, and inquired much after the present teaching 
 and usages of Damascus and the North, evidently 
 in the view of catching us in our words. But he 
 had luckily encountered his match ; for every 
 citation of the Koran we replied with two, and 
 
AD VENTURES ID BP AD. 
 
 243 
 
 proved ourselves intimately acquainted with the 
 ‘greater’ and the ‘lesser’ polytheism of.foreign 
 nations and heterodox Mahometans, with the com¬ 
 mentaries of Bey do wee and the tales of the 
 Hadeeth, till our visitor, now won over to confi¬ 
 dence, launched out full sail on the sea of. discus¬ 
 sion, and thereby rendered himself equally instruc¬ 
 tive and interesting to men who had nothing more 
 at heart than to learn the tenets of the sect from 
 one of its most zealous professors, nay, a Zelator in 
 person. In short, he ended by becoming half a 
 friend, and his regrets at our being, like other Da¬ 
 mascenes, yet in the outer porch of darkness, were 
 tempered by a hope, which he did not disguise, of 
 at least putting a window in our porch for its better 
 enlightenment.” 
 
 Next day, in the forenoon, while the travellers 
 were sauntering about the market-place, they met 
 the minister Abd-el-’Azeez, who had that morning 
 returned to the capital. With a smiling face and 
 an air of great benignity he took them aside, 
 and informed them the king did not consider Bi’ad 
 a proper field for their medical skill; that they had 
 better at once continue their journey to Hofhoof, 
 whither Aboo-’Eysa should conduct them straight¬ 
 way j and that the king would furnish each of them 
 with a camel, a new suit of clothes, and some 
 money. To these arguments Palgrave could only 
 answer that he greatly desired the profit to be 
 expected from a few weeks of medical practice in 
 Iti ad, since his success there would give him an 
 immediate reputation in Hofhoof, while his depart- 
 
244 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 are might deprive him of all reputation at the 
 latter place. The minister promised to present his 
 plea to Feysul, but gave him no hope of a favor¬ 
 able answer. The order to leave was repeated, and 
 then, as a last experiment, Palgrave sent to two of 
 the ministers a pound of the fragrant wood, which 
 is burned as pastilles in Arabia, and is highly 
 prized by the upper classes. The next day he re¬ 
 ceived permission to remain longer in Hi’ad, and 
 exercise his profession. He thereupon took another 
 residence, not so near the palace, and within con¬ 
 venient reach of one of the city gates. Before 
 describing the place, he gives the following ac¬ 
 count of the famous Arabian coffee. 
 
 “ Be it then known, by way of prelude, that 
 coffee though one in name is manifold in fact; nor 
 is every kind of berry entitled to the high qualifi¬ 
 cations too indiscriminately bestowed on the com¬ 
 prehensive genus. The best coffee, let cavillers say 
 what they will, is that of the Yemen, commonly 
 entitled c Mokha,’ from the main place of exporta¬ 
 tion. Now I should be sorry to incur a lawsuit for 
 libel or defamation from our wholesale or retail 
 salesmen; but were the particle not prefixed to 
 the countless labels in London shop-windows that 
 bear the name of the Bed Sea haven, they would 
 have a more truthy import than what at present 
 they convey. Very little, so little indeed as to be 
 quite inappreciable, of the Mocha or Yemen berry 
 ever finds its way westward of Constantinople. 
 Arabia itself, Syria, and Egypt consume fully two 
 thirds, and the remainder is almost exclusively 
 
AD VENTURES IN HI’AD. 
 
 245 
 
 absorbed by Turkish and Armenian oesophagi. 
 Nor do these last get for their limited share the 
 best or the purest. Before reaching the harbors of 
 Alexandria, Jaffa, Beyrout, etc., for further expor¬ 
 tation, the Mokhan bales have been, while yet on 
 their way, silted and resitted, grain by grain, and 
 whatever they may have contained of the hard, 
 rounded, half-transparent, greenish brown berrp, 
 the only one really worth roasting and pounding, 
 has been carefully picked out by experienced 
 fingers; and it is the less generous residue of 
 flattened, opaque, and whitish grains which alone, 
 or almost alone, goes on board the shipping. So 
 constant is this selecting process, that a gradation 
 regular as the degrees on a map may be observed 
 in the quality of Mokha, that is, Yemen, coffee 
 even within the limits of Arabia itself, in proportion 
 as one approaches to or recedes from Wadi Nejran 
 and the neighborhood of Mecca, the first stages 
 of the radiating mart. I have myself been times 
 out of number an eye-witness of this sifting; the 
 operation is performed with the utmost seriousness 
 and scrupulous exactness, reminding me of the dili¬ 
 gence ascribed to American diamond-searchers, 
 when scrutinizing the torrent sands for their minute 
 but precious treasure. 
 
 “ The berry, thus qualified for foreign use, quits 
 its native land on three main lines of export—that 
 of the Bed Sea, that of the inner Hedjaz, and that 
 of Kaseem. The terminus of the first line is 
 Egypt, of the second Syria, of the third Nedjed 
 aud Shomer. Hence Egypt and Syria are, of ;.ll 
 
TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 2fG 
 
 countries without the frontiers of Arabia, the best 
 supplied with its specific produce, though under the 
 restrictions already stated; and through Alexan¬ 
 dria or the Syrian seaports, Constantinople and the 
 North obtain their diminished share. But this 
 last stage of transport seldom conveys the genuine 
 article, except by the intervention of private 
 arrangements and personal friendship or interest. 
 Where mere sale and traffic are concerned, sub¬ 
 stitution of an inferior quality, or an adulteration 
 almost equivalent to substitution, frequently takes 
 place in the different storehouses of the coast, till 
 whatever Mokha-marked coffee leaves them for 
 Europe and the West, is often no more like the 
 real offspring of the Yemen plant than the log¬ 
 wood preparations of a London fourth-rate retail 
 wine-seller resemble the pure libations of an 
 Oporto vineyard. 
 
 The second species of coffee, by some preferred 
 to that of Yemen, but in my poor opinion inferior 
 to it, is the growth of Abyssinia; its berrv is 
 larger, and of a somewhat different and a less 
 heating flavor. It is, however, an excellent species ; 
 and whenever the rich land that bears it shall be 
 permitted by man to enjoy the benefits of her 
 natural fertility, it will probably become an object 
 of extensive cultivation and commerce. With this 
 stops, at least in European opinion and taste, the 
 list of coffee, and begins the list of beans. 
 
 While we were yet in the Djowf, I described 
 with sufficient minuteness how the berry is prepared 
 for actual use ; nor is the process any way varied hi 
 
ADVENTURES IN READ. 
 
 247 
 
 Nedjed or other Arab lands. But in Nedjed an ad¬ 
 ditional spicing of saffron, cloves, and the like, is 
 still more common ; a fact which is easily explained 
 by the want of what stimulus tobacco affords else¬ 
 where. A second consequence of non-smoking 
 among the Arabs is the increased strength of their 
 coffee decoctions in Nedjed, and the prodigious fre¬ 
 quency of their use ; to which we must add the 
 larger ‘ finjans,’ or coffee-cups, here in fashion. So 
 sure are men, when debarred of one pleasure or 
 excitement, to make it up by another.” 
 
 Palg rave gives the following picturesque descrip¬ 
 tion of the Wahabee capital: “We wrap our head- 
 gear, like true Arabs, round our chins, put on our 
 grave-looking black cloaks, take each a long stick in 
 hand, and thread the narrow streets intermediate 
 between our house and the market-place at a fune¬ 
 ral pace, and speaking in an undertone. Those 
 whom we meet salute us, or we salute them; be it 
 known that the lesser number should always be the 
 first to salute the greater, he who rides him who 
 walks, he who walks him who stands, the stander 
 the sitter, and so forth ; but never should a man 
 salute a woman ; difference of age or even of rank 
 between men does not enter into the general rules 
 touching the priority of salutation. If those whom 
 we have accosted happen to be acquaintances or 
 patients, or should they belong to the latitudinarian 
 school, our salutation is duly returned. But if, by 
 ill fortune, they appertain to the strict and high 
 orthodox party an under-look with a half-scowl in 
 
248 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 silence is their only answer to our greeting. Where¬ 
 at we smile, Malvolio-like, and pass on. 
 
 At last we reach the market-place ; it is full of 
 women and peasants, selling exactly what we want 
 to buy, besides meat, fire-wood, milk, etc.; around 
 are customers, come on errands like our own. We 
 single out a tempting basket of dates, and begin 
 haggling with the unbeautiful Phyllis, seated beside 
 her rural store. We find the price too high. ‘ By 
 Him who protects Feysul,’ answers she, ‘ I am the 
 loser at that price.’ We insist. ‘ By Him who 
 shall grant Feysul a long life, I cannot bate it,’ she 
 replies. We have nothing to oppose to such tre¬ 
 mendous asseverations, and accede or pass on, as 
 the case may be. 
 
 Hall of the shops, namely, those containing gro- 
 cei y, household articles of use, shoemakers’ stalls 
 and smithies, are already open and busily thronged. 
 For the capital of a strongly centralized empire is 
 always full of strangers, come will they nill they on 
 their several affairs. But around the butchers’ 
 shops awaits the greatest human and canine crowd : 
 my readers, I doubt not, know that the only licensed 
 scavengers throughout the East are the dogs. Ned- 
 jeans are great flesh-eaters, and no wonder, consid¬ 
 ering the cheapness of meat (a fine fat sheep costs 
 at most five shillings, often less) and the keenness of 
 mountaineer appetites. I wish that the police regu¬ 
 lations of the city would enforce a little more clean¬ 
 liness about these numerous shambles ; every refuse 
 is left to cumber the ground at scarce two yards’ 
 distance. But dogs and dry air much alleviate the 
 
ADVENTURES IN READ. 
 
 249 
 
 nuisance—a remark I made before at Ha’yel and 
 Bereydah ; it holds true for all Central Arabia. 
 
 “ Barakat and I resolve on continuing our walk 
 through the town. Iliad is divided into four quar¬ 
 ters : one, the northeastern, to which the palaces of 
 the royal family, the houses of the state officers, and 
 the richer class of proprietors and government men 
 belong. Here the dwellings are in general high, 
 and the streets tolerably straight and not over¬ 
 narrow ; but the ground level is low, and it is per¬ 
 haps the least healthy locality of all. Next the 
 northwestern, where we are lodged ; a large irregu¬ 
 lar mass of houses, varying in size and keeping from 
 the best to the worst; here strangers, and often cer¬ 
 tain equivocal characters, never wanting in large 
 towns, however strictly regulated, chiefly abide; 
 here too are many noted for disaffection, and har¬ 
 boring other tenets than those of the son of ’Abd¬ 
 el-Wahab, men prone to old Arab ways and customs 
 in ‘ Church and State,’ to borrow our own analogous 
 phrase; here are country chiefs, here Bedouins and 
 natives of Zulphah and the outskirts find a lodging : 
 here, if anywhere, is tobacco smoked or sold, and 
 the Koran neglected in proportion. However, I 
 would not have my readers to think our entire neigh¬ 
 borhood so absolutely disreputable. 
 
 “ But we gladly turn away our eyes from sc 
 dreary a view to refresh them by a survey of the 
 southwestern quarter, the chosen abode of formal¬ 
 ism and orthodoxy. In this section of Ri’ad inhabit 
 the most energetic Zelators, here are the most irre¬ 
 proachable five-prayers-a-day Nedjeans, and all the 
 
250 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 flower of Wahabee purity. Above all, here dwell 
 the principal survivors of the family of the great re¬ 
 ligious Founder, the posterity of ’Abd-el-Wahab 
 escaped from the Egyptian sword, and free from 
 every stain of foreign contamination. Mosques of 
 primitive simplicity and ample space, where the 
 great dogma, not however confined to Ri’ad, that 
 we are exactly in the right, and every one else is in 
 the wrong, is daily inculcated to crowds of auditors, 
 overjoyed to find Paradise all theirs and none’s but 
 theirs ; smaller oratories of Musallas, wells for ab¬ 
 lution, and Kaabah-directed niches adorn every cor¬ 
 ner, and fill up every interval of house or orchard. 
 The streets of this quarter are open, and the air 
 healthy, so that the invisible blessing is seconded 
 by sensible and visible privileges of Providence. 
 Think not, gentle reader, that I am indulging in 
 gratuitous or self-invented irony \ X am only render¬ 
 ing expression for expression, and almost word for 
 word, the talk of true Wahabees, when describing 
 the model quarter of their model city. This section 
 of the town is spacious and well-peopled, and flour¬ 
 ishes, the citadel of national and religious intole- 
 rance, pious pride, and genuine Wahabeeism. 
 
 “Round the whole town run the walls, varying 
 fi om twenty to thirty feet in height; they are strong, 
 in good repair, and defended by a deep trench and 
 embankment. Beyond them are the gardens, much 
 similai to those of I£aseem, both in arrangement 
 and produce, despite the difference of latitude, here 
 compensated by a higher ground level. But imme¬ 
 diately to the south, in Yemamah, the eye remarks 
 
ADVENTURES IN RI’AD. 
 
 251 
 
 a change in the vegetation to a more tropical as¬ 
 pect ; of this, however, I will not say more for the 
 present. 
 
 “ A striking feature in this southerly slope of the 
 central plateau is the much greater abundance of 
 water here than on its northern terrace in Sedeyr. 
 This comparative moisture of the soil and of the 
 atmosphere, the latter being, in fact, a consequence 
 of the former, is first perceptible about Horeyme- 
 lah, whence it increases progressively southward, 
 till it attains its maximum in the Yemamah; far¬ 
 ther on towards Hareek and Dowasir, it ao:ain 
 diminishes, partly I suppose, from the growing dis¬ 
 tance from the mountainous district, partly from 
 the vicinity of the Great Desert and its arid heat. 
 
 “According to promise, Eboo-’Eysa played his 
 part to bring us in patients and customers, and the 
 very second morning that dawned on us in our new 
 house, ushered in an invalid who proved a very 
 godsend. This was no other than Djowhar, trea¬ 
 surer of Eeysul, and of the Wahabee empire. My 
 readers may be startled to learn that this great 
 functionary was jet black, a negro in fact, though 
 not a slave, having obtained his freedom from Tur- 
 kee, the father of the present king. He was tall, 
 and for a negro, handsome; about forty-five years 
 of age, splendidly dressed, a point never neglected 
 by wealthy Africans, whatever be their theoretical 
 creed, and girt with a golden-hilted sword. ‘ But,’ 
 said he, ‘gold, though unlawful if forming a part of 
 apparel or mere ornament, may be employed with 
 a safe conscience in decorating weapons.’ Manj> 
 
252 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 preachers nave, I believe, wasted time and elo¬ 
 quence in attempting to persuade the ladies to mo¬ 
 deration in dress. I would gladly consent to see 
 them try their chance with a congregation of upper 
 class negroes ; what might be the result I know 
 not, but certainly Gabriel and the Wuhabee have 
 both made a complete failure in this respect. In all 
 other points Djowhar was an excellent fellow, g)o 1 
 humored, rather hot tempered, but tractable and 
 confiding, like most ‘people of his skin,’ in Arab 
 phrase. 
 
 “The disease he was actually suffering under an¬ 
 noyed him much, especially as Feysul desired to 
 send him without delay on a government errand to 
 Bahreyn, (where we afterwards met him,) a busi¬ 
 ness which his bad state of health rendered him 
 wholly unfit for. Thus, bettering his condition 
 might be almost looked on as a national service. 
 Aboo-’Eysa, an old acquaintance and friend of the 
 chief treasurer’s, introduced him, and placed him 
 in great dignity on a carpet spread in the court¬ 
 yard, where, with two or three other individuals of 
 wealth and importance, he seated himself beside 
 the patient, and launched out into a eulogium of 
 my medical skill, which would have required some 
 qualification if applied to Cullen himself; but it 
 served wonderfully to encourage Djowhar, and thus 
 predispose him for a cure. 
 
 “ After ceremonies and coffee, I took my dusky 
 patient into the consulting room, where, by dint of 
 questioning and surmise, for negroes in general are 
 much less clear and less to the point than Arabs in 
 
AD VENTURES IN HI’AD. 
 
 253 
 
 their statements, I obtained the requisite elucidation 
 of his case. The malady, though painful, was for¬ 
 tunately one admitting of simple and efficacious 
 treatment, so that I was able on the spot to promise 
 him a sensible amendment of condition within a 
 fortnight, and that in three weeks’ time he should 
 be in plight to undertake his journey to Bahreyn. I 
 added that with so distinguished a personage I 
 could not think of exacting a bargain and fixing the 
 amount of fees ; the requital of my care should be 
 left to his generosity. He then took leave, and was 
 re-conducted to his rooms in the palace by his fellow- 
 blacks of less degree.” 
 
 The next visitor was Abd-el-Kereem, of the 
 oldest nobility of Nedjed, related to the ruling 
 family ; a bitter Wahabee, a strong, intelligent, bad, 
 and dangerous man, who was both hated and feared 
 by the people. His visit was a distinction for Pal- 
 grave, yet an additional danger. The latter, how¬ 
 ever, determined to draw as much information from 
 him concerning Wahabee doctrine as he might be 
 inclined to give; and, in reality, found him quite 
 communicative. One day Palgrave asked him to de¬ 
 fine the difference between the great sins and the little 
 on es—that is, those to be punished in the next 
 world, or at least deserving of it, and those whose 
 penalty is remissible in this life. 
 
 “Abd-el-Kereem doubted not that he had a sin¬ 
 cere scholar before him, nor would refuse his hand 
 to a drowning man. So, putting on a profound air, 
 and with a voice of first-class solemnity, he uttered 
 his oracle, that £ the first of the great sius is the 
 
254 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 giving divine honors to a creature.’ A hit, I may 
 observe, at ordinary Mahometans, whose whole 
 doctrine of intercession, whether vested in Mahomet 
 or in ’Alee, is classed by Waliabees along with 
 direct and downright idolatry. A Damascene Shekh 
 would have avoided the equivocation by answering, 
 
 ‘ infidelity.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Of course,’ 1 replied, ‘ the enormity of such a 
 sin is beyond all doubt. But if this be the first, 
 there must be a second; what is it ?’ 
 
 “ £ Drinking the shameful,’ in English, ‘ smoking 
 tobacco,’ was the unhesitating answer. 
 
 “ ‘And murder, and adultery, and false witness ?’ 
 I suggested. 
 
 “ ‘ God is merciful and forgiving,’ rejoined my 
 friend ; that is, these are merely little sins. 
 
 “ ‘ Hence two sins alone are great, polytheism and 
 smoking,’ I continued, though hardly able to keep 
 countenance any longer. And Abd-el-Kereem with 
 the most serious asseveration replied that such was 
 really the case. On hearing this, I proceeded 
 humbly to entreat my friend to explain to me the 
 especial wickedness inherent in tobacco leaves, that 
 I might the more detest and eschew them here¬ 
 after. 
 
 “ Accordingly he proceeded to instruct me, say¬ 
 ing that, Firstly, all intoxicating substances are pro¬ 
 hibited by the Koran ; but tobacco is an intoxicating 
 substance—Ergo, tobacco is prohibited. 
 
 “ I insinuated that it was not intoxicating, and 
 appealed to experience. But, to my surprise, my 
 friend had experience too on his side, and had 
 
AD VENTURES ID RI'AD. 
 
 255 
 
 ready at hand the most appalling tales of men 
 falling down dead drunk after a single whiff of 
 smoke, and of others in a state of bestial and 
 habitual ebriety from its use. Nor were his stories 
 so purely gratuitous as many might at first imagine. 
 The only tobacco known, when known, in Southern 
 Nedjed, is that of Oman, a very powerful species. 
 I was myself astonished, and almost ‘ taken in,’ 
 more than once, by its extraordinary narcotic effects, 
 when I experienced them, in the coffee-houses of 
 Bahreyn. 
 
 “ I cannot leave in silence ’Abd-el-Lateef, the 
 great-grandson of the famed Waliabee, and now 
 Kadee of the capital—a very, indeed remarkably, 
 handsome and fair-spoken man, and bearing in his 
 manners a sensible dash of Egyptian civilization. 
 While yet a mere child he was carried to Egypt 
 with the rest of his family by the conquering Basha, 
 and there educated. Cairo society, and the inter¬ 
 course of men more learned and less exclusive than 
 those of Nedjed and Derey’eeyah, have taught him 
 an ease and variety of conversation surprising in a 
 Kadee of Bi’ad ; and thus enabled him to assume 
 on occasion a liberality of phrase free from the cant 
 terms and wearisome tautology of the sect which he 
 heads. But such liberal semblance is merely a sur¬ 
 face whitewash : the tongue may be the tongue of 
 Egypt, but the heart and brain are ever those of 
 Nedjed. Nor do I believe that the central moun¬ 
 tains of Arabia contain a more dangerous man than 
 ’Abd-el-Lateef, or one who more cordially hates the 
 progress he has witnessed, and in which he has to a 
 
256 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 certain degree participated. It is the embodied an¬ 
 tipathy of bad to good, at least equal to that of good 
 to bad.” 
 
 Palgrave furnishes a tolerably complete account 
 of the provinces of Nedjed and the tribes which 
 inhabit them. His concluding statement, however, 
 embodies all which will interest the reader. 
 
 “To sum up, we may say that the Wahabee em¬ 
 pire is a compact and well-organized government, 
 where centralization is fully understood and effectu¬ 
 ally carried out, and whose main-springs and con¬ 
 necting-links are force and fanaticism. There exist 
 no constitutional checks either on the king or on his 
 subordinates, save what the necessity of circum¬ 
 stance imposes or the Koran prescribes. Its atmo¬ 
 sphere, to speak metaphorically, is sheer despotism, 
 moral, intellectual, religious, and physical. This 
 empire is capable of frontier extension, and hence is 
 dangerous to its neighbors, some of whom it is even 
 now swallowing up, and will certainly swallow more 
 if not otherwise prevented. Incapable of true in¬ 
 ternal progress, hostile to commerce, unfavorable to 
 arts and even to agriculture, and in the highest de¬ 
 gree intolerant and aggressive, it can neither better 
 itself nor benefit others ; while the order and calm 
 which it sometimes spreads over the lands of its 
 conquest, are described in the oft-cited Ubi solitudi- 
 nem faciunt pacem appellant of the Itoman annalist. 
 
 “In conclusion, I here subjoin a numerical list, 
 taken partly from the government registers of 
 lli’ad, partly from local information, and containing 
 the provinces, the number of the principal towns or 
 
AD VENTURES IN RFAD. 
 
 257 
 
 villages, the population, and the military contingent, 
 throughout the Wahabee empire. 
 
 Provinces. Towns or villages. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Military muster 
 
 I.—’Aared ... 
 
 1 V 
 
 • • * * At/ 
 
 ..110,000... . 
 
 
 li.—Y.mamah, 
 
 ....32. 
 
 ..140,000.... 
 
 .4,500 
 
 III. —Hareek... 
 
 .16. 
 
 .. 45,000.... 
 
 .3,000 
 
 IV.— Aflaj. 
 
 ....12. 
 
 .. 14,000.... 
 
 .1,200 
 
 V. — VVady Dowasir 50. 
 
 .100,000 .. . 
 
 .4,000 
 
 Vi.—Selev’yel.. 
 
 ....14. 
 
 .. 30,000.... 
 
 .1,400 
 
 Vli.—YVoshem.. 
 
 .20. 
 
 .. 80,000.... 
 
 .4,000 
 
 VIII. —Sedeyr.... 
 
 .. . .25. 
 
 ..140,000... . 
 
 .5,200 
 
 IX.—Kaseem... 
 
 .... 60. 
 
 .,300,000.... 
 
 .11,000 
 
 X.—Hasa. 
 
 .50. 
 
 .160,000... 
 
 .7,000 
 
 XI.—Kateef .... 
 
 _22. 
 
 . .100,000.. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 216 
 
 1,219,000... 
 
 .47,300 
 
 After a time, Palgrave was sent for by Abdallah, 
 the eldest son of King Feysul, who pretended that 
 he wished to learn something of the medical art. 
 This led to a regular intercourse, which at least ena¬ 
 bled the traveller to learn many things concerning 
 the Wahabee government. Another important re¬ 
 sult was an opportunity of visiting the royal stables, 
 where the finest specimens of the famous Nedjed 
 breed of horses are kept. Of these he gives the 
 following interesting description : 
 
 “ The stables are situated some way out of the 
 town, to the northeast, a little to the left of the road 
 which we had followed at our first arrival, and not 
 far from the gardens of ’Abd-er-Kahman the Waha¬ 
 bee. They cover a large square space, about 150 
 yards each way, and are open in the centre, with a 
 long shed running round the inner walls; under this 
 covering the horses, about three hundred in num¬ 
 ber when I saw them, are picketed during the night; 
 
258 
 
 TRAVELS 11V ARABIA. 
 
 in tlie daytime they may stretch their legs at pleas¬ 
 ure within the central courtyard. The greater num¬ 
 ber were accordingly loose; a few, however, were 
 tied up at their stalls; some, but not many, had 
 horse-cloths over them. The heavy dews which fall 
 in Wady Haneefah do not permit their remaining 
 with impunity in the open night air ; I w.as told also 
 that a northerly wind will occasionally injure the 
 animals here, no less than the land wind does now 
 and then their brethren in India. About half the 
 royal stud was present before me, the rest were out 
 at grass; Feysul’s entire muster is reckoned at six 
 hundred, or rather more. 
 
 “No Arab dreams of tying up a horse by the 
 neck ; a tether replaces the halter, and* one of the 
 animal’s hind legs is encircled about the pastern by 
 a light iron ring, furnished with a padlock, and 
 connected wi^th an iron chain of two feet or tlieiea- 
 bouts in length, ending in a rope, which is fastened 
 to the ground at some distance by an iron peg ; 
 such is the customary method. But should the 
 animal be restless and troublesome, a foreleg is put 
 under similar restraint. It is well known that in Ara¬ 
 bia horses are much less frequently vicious or re¬ 
 fractory than in Europe, and this is the reaso 1 
 why geldings are here so rare, though not un¬ 
 known. No particular prejudice, that I could dis¬ 
 cover, exists against the operation itself; only it is 
 seldom performed, because not otherwise necessary, 
 and tending, of course, to diminish the value of the 
 animal. 
 
 But to return to the horses now before us: 
 
ADVENTURES IN HI’AD. 
 
 259 
 
 never had I seen or imagined so lovely a collec¬ 
 tion. Their stature was indeed somewhat low; I 
 do not think that any came fully up to fifteen 
 hands; fourteen appeared to me about their aver¬ 
 age, but they were so exquisitely well shaped that 
 want of greater size seemed hardly, if at all, a de¬ 
 fect. Remarkably full in the haunches, with a 
 shoulder of a slope so elegant as to make one, in 
 the words of an Arab poet, ‘ go raving mad about 
 it;’ a little, a very little, saddle-backed, just the 
 curve which indicates springiness without any weak¬ 
 ness ; a head broad above, and tapering down to a 
 nose fine enough to verify the phrase of ‘ drinking 
 from a pint pot,’ did pint pots exist in Nedjed ; a 
 most intelligent and yet a singularly gentle look, 
 full eye, sharp thorn-like little ear, legs fore and 
 hind that seemed as if made of hammered iron, so 
 clean and yet so well twisted with sinew; a neat, 
 round hoof, just the requisite for hard ground; the 
 tail set on, or rather thrown out at a perfect arch; 
 coats smooth, shining and light, the mane long, but 
 not overgrown nor heavy, and an air and step that 
 seemed to say, ‘ look at me, am I not pretty ?’ their 
 appearance justified all reputation, all value, all 
 poetry. The prevailing color was chestnut or grey ; 
 a light bay, an iron color, white or black, were 
 less common; full bay, flea-bitten or piebald, none. 
 But if asked what are, after all, the specially 
 distinctive points or the Nedjee horse, I should 
 reply, the slope of the shoulder, the extreme clean¬ 
 ness of the shank, and the full, rounded haunch, 
 though every other part, too, has a perfection and a 
 
260 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 harmony unwitnessed (at least by my eyes) any¬ 
 where else. 
 
 “ Nedjee horses are especially esteemed for great 
 speed and endurance of fatigue; indeed, in this 
 latter quality, none come up to them. To pass 
 twenty-lour hours on the road without drink and 
 without flagging is certainly something; but to 
 keep up the same abstinence and labor conjoined 
 under the burning Arabian sky for forty-eight 
 hours at a stretch, is, I believe, peculiar to the ani¬ 
 mals of the breed. Besides, they have a delicacy, 
 I cannot say of mouth, for it is common to ride 
 them without bit or bridle, but of feeling and obe¬ 
 dience to the knee and thigh, to the slightest check 
 of the halter and the voice of the rider, far surpass¬ 
 ing whatever the most elaborate manege gives a 
 European horse, though furnished with snaffle, 
 curb, and all. I often mounted them at the invita¬ 
 tion of their owners, and without saddle, rein, or 
 stirrup, set them off at full gallop, wheeled them 
 round, brought them up in mid career at a dead 
 halt, and that without the least difficulty or the 
 smallest want of correspondence between the horse’s 
 movements and my own will; the rider on their 
 back really feels himself the man-half of a centaur, 
 not a distinct being.” 
 
 During the last week in November, the Persian 
 Na’ib, who had been little edified by his expe¬ 
 riences m Nedjed, set off for Bagdad. In the 
 meantime, Feysul had made great preparations 
 towards collecting an army for the reduction of 
 the city of Oneyzah, (near Bereydali,) which still 
 
ADVENTURES IN RT AD. 
 
 261 
 
 hold out gallantly. Troops were summoned from 
 the eastern coast and the adjoining provinces, and 
 Sa’ood, the second son of Feysul, was ordered to 
 bring them together at the capital, when the com¬ 
 mand was to be given to Abdallah, the eldest son. 
 Palgrave had then his only opportunity of seeing 
 the old King of the Wahabees. 
 
 “ Sa’ood speedily arrived, and with him about 
 two hundred horsemen; the rest of his men, more 
 than two thousand, were mounted on camels. When 
 they entered Ki’ad, Feysul, for the first and last 
 time during our stay, gave a public audience at the 
 palace gate. It was a scene for a painter. There 
 sat the blind old tyrant, corpulent, decrepit, yet im¬ 
 posing, with his large, broad forehead, white beard, 
 and thoughtful air, clad in all the simplicity of a 
 Wahabee; the gold liafted sword at his side his 
 only ornament or distinction. Beside him the min¬ 
 isters, the officers of his court, and a crowd of the 
 nobler and wealthier citizens. Abdallah, the heir 
 of the throne, was alone absent. Up came Sa’ood 
 with the bearing of a hussar officer, richly clad 
 in Cachemire shawls and a gold-wrought mantle, 
 while man by man followed his red-dressed cava¬ 
 liers, their spears over their shoulders, and their 
 swords hanging down; a musket too was slung be¬ 
 hind the saddle of each warrior ; and the sharp 
 dagger of Hareek glittered in every girdle. Next 
 came the common soldiers on camels or dromeda¬ 
 ries, some with spears only, some with spears and 
 guns, till the wide square was filled with armed 
 men and gazing spectators, as the whole troop drew 
 
262 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 up before the great autocrat, and Sa’ood alighted 
 to bend and kiss his father’s hand. ‘God save 
 Feysul! God give the victory to the armies of the 
 Muslims!’ was shouted out on every side, and all 
 faces kindled into the fierce smile of concentrated 
 enthusiasm and conscious strength. Feysul rose 
 from his seat and placed his son at his side ; an¬ 
 other moment, and they entered the castle together. 
 
CHAPTER XY. 
 
 PALGRAVES TRAVELS—HIS ESCAPE TO THE EASTERN 
 
 COAST. 
 
 F OR a foreigner to enter Ri’ad is not always 
 easy, but to get away from it is harder still; 
 Reynard himself would have been justly shy of 
 venturing on this royal cave. There exists in the 
 capital of Nedjed two approved means of barring 
 the exit against those on whom mistrust may have 
 fallen. The first and readiest is that of which it 
 has been emphatically said, Stone-dead hath no 
 felloio. But should circumstances render the bonds 
 of death inexpedient, the bonds of Hymen and a 
 Ri’ad establishment may and occasionally do supply 
 their office. By this latter proceeding, the more 
 amiable of the two, Abdallah resolved to enchain 
 us. 
 
 “ Accordingly, one morning arrived at our dwell¬ 
 ing an attendant of the palace, with a smiling face, 
 presage of some good in reserve, and many fair 
 speeches. After inquiries about our health, com¬ 
 fort, well-being, etc., he added that Abdallah 
 thought we might be desirous of purchas.ng this 
 
2G4 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 or that, and begged us to accept of a small present. 
 It was a fair sum of money, just twice so much as 
 the ordinary token of good will, namely, four rials 
 in place of two- After which the messenger took 
 his leave. Aboo-’Eysa had been present at the 
 interview : c Be on the look-out,’ said he, ‘ there is 
 something wrong.’ 
 
 “ That very afternoon Abdallah sent for me, 
 and with abundance of encomiums and of promises, 
 declared that he could not think of letting Bi’ad 
 lose so valuable a physician, that I must accord¬ 
 ingly take up a permanent abode in the capital, 
 where I might rely on his patronage, and on all 
 good things; that he had already resolved on 
 giving me a house and a garden, specifying them, 
 with a suitable household, and a fair face to keep 
 me company ; he concluded by inviting me to go 
 without delay and see whether the new abode fitted 
 me, and take possession. 
 
 “ Much and long did I fight off; talked about a 
 winter visit to the coast, and coming back in the 
 spring; tried first one pretext and then another; 
 but none would avail, and Abdallah continued to 
 insist. To quiet him, I consented to go and see 
 the house. For the intended Calypso, I had ready 
 an argument derived from Mahometan law, which 
 put her out of the question, but its explanation 
 would require more space than these pages can 
 afford. 
 
 “ The winter season was now setting in ; it was 
 the third week in November; and a thunder-storm 
 the liist we had witnessed in Central Arabia, 
 
ESCAPE FROM READ. 
 
 205 
 
 ushered in a marked change for cold in the tem¬ 
 perature of Wady Haneefah. Rain fell abundan y, 
 and sent torrents down the dry watercourses of the 
 valley, changing its large hollows into temporary 
 tanks. None of the streams showed, however, any 
 disposition to reach the sea, nor indeed could they, 
 for this part of Nedjed is entirely hemmed in to 
 the east by the Toweyk range. The inhabitants 
 welcomed the copious showers, pledges of fertility 
 for the coming year, while at ’Oneyzah the same 
 rains produced at least one excellent effect, but 
 which I may well defy my readers to guess. The 
 hostile armies, commanded by Zamil and Mo- 
 hammed-ebn-Sa’ood, were drawn up in face of each 
 other, and on the point of fierce conflict, when the 
 storm burst on them, and by putting out the lighted 
 matchlocks of either party, prevented the discharge 
 of bullets and the effusion of blood.” 
 
 Abdallah, who hated his second brother, Sa’ood, 
 and had many other fierce enmities in the capi¬ 
 tal, then accidentally learned that Palgrave had 
 employed a deadly poison (strycliine) in making a 
 remarkable cure. Thenceforth all his powers of 
 persuasion were employed in endeavoring to pro¬ 
 cure some of the drug; but Palgrave, suspecting 
 his real design, positively refused to let him have 
 any. His rage was suddenly and strongly ex¬ 
 pressed on his countenance, foreboding no good to 
 the traveller, who took the first opportunity of 
 returning to his house. 
 
 “ There Aboo-’Eysa, Barakat, and myself,” he 
 says, “ immediately held council to consider what 
 
2G6 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 was now to be done. That an outbreak must 
 shortly take place seemed certain ; to await it was 
 dangerous, yet we could not safely leave the town 
 in an over-precipitate manner, nor without some 
 kind of permission. We resolved together to go on 
 in qu et and caution a few days more, to sound the 
 court, make our adieus at Feysul’s palace, get a 
 good word from Mahboob, (no difficult matter,) and 
 then slip off without attracting too much notice. 
 But our destiny was not to run so smoothly/* 
 
 Late in the evening of the 21st of November, 
 Palgrave was sum roned to Abdallah’s palace. 
 The messenger refused to allow Barakat or Aboo- 
 ’Eysa to accompany him. The occasion seemed 
 portentous, but disobedience was out of the ques¬ 
 tion. Palgrave followed the messenger. On enter¬ 
 ing the reception-room, h i found Abdallah, Abd-el- 
 Lateef, the successor of the Wahabee, Mahboob, 
 and a few others. All were silent, and none re¬ 
 turned his first salutation. “ I saluted Abdallah,” 
 says Palgrave, “ who replied in an undertone, and 
 gave me a signal to sit down at a little distance 
 from him, but on the same side of the divan. My 
 readers may suppose that I was not at the moment 
 ambitious of too intimate a vicinity. 
 
 “ After an interval of silence, Abdallah turned 
 half round towards me, and with his blackest look 
 and a deep voice said, ‘ I now know perfectly well 
 what you are ; you are no doctors, you are Chris¬ 
 tians, spies, and revolutionists, come hither to ruin 
 our religion and state in behalf of those who sent 
 you. The penalty for such as you is death, that 
 
ESCAPE ' FROM READ . 
 
 267 
 
 you know, and X am determined to indict it without 
 delay.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Threatened folks live long,’ thought I, and had 
 no difficulty in showing the calm which I really felt. 
 So looking him coolly in the face, I replied, 
 
 ‘ Istaghfir \Mali* literally, ‘Ask pardon of God.’ 
 This is the phrase commonly addressed to one who 
 has said something extremely out of place. 
 
 “ Tne answer was unexpected i he started, and 
 
 said, £ Why so ? ’ 
 
 “ £ Because,’ I rejoined, £ you have just now 
 uttered a sheer absurdity. ‘ Christians,’ be it so ; 
 but £ spies,’ £ revolutionists,’—as if we were not 
 known by everybody in your town for quiet doc¬ 
 tors, neither more nor less! And then to talk 
 about putting me to death! You cannot, and you 
 dare not.’ 
 
 “ ‘ But I can and dare,’ answered Abdallah, 
 £ and who shall prevent me ? you shall soon learn 
 that to your cost.’ 
 
 “‘Neither can nor dare,’repeated I. ‘ We are 
 here your father’s guests, and yours for a month 
 and more, known as such, received as such. What 
 have we done to justify a breach of the laws of 
 hospitality in Nedjed ? It is impossible for you to 
 do what you say,’ continued I, thinking the while 
 that it was a great deal too possible after all; ‘ the 
 obloquv of the deed would be too much for you. 
 
 “ He remained a moment thoughtful, then said, 
 * As if any one need know who did it. I have the 
 means, and can dispose of you without talk or 
 rumor. Those who are at my bidding can take a 
 
268 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 suitable time and place for that, without my name 
 being ever mentioned in the affair.’ 
 
 “ The advantage was now evidently on my side ; 
 I followed iu up, and said with a quiet laugh, 
 ‘ Neither is that within your power. Am I not 
 known to your father, to all in his palace ? to your 
 own brother Sa’ood among the rest ? Is not the fact 
 of this my actual visit to you known without your 
 gates? Or is there no one here?’ added I, with a 
 glance at Mahboob, ‘ who can report elsewhere 
 what you have just now said ? Better for you to 
 leave off this nonsense ; do you take me for a child 
 of four days old ? ’ 
 
 “ He muttered a repetition of his threat. £ Bear 
 witness, all here present,’ said I, raising my voice 
 so as to be heard from one end of the room to the 
 other, ‘ that if any mishap befalls my companion 
 or myself from Bi’ad to the shores of the Persian 
 Gulf, it is all Abdallah’s doing. And the conse¬ 
 quences shall be on his head, worse consequences 
 than he expects or dreams.’ 
 
 The prince made no reply. All were silent; 
 Mahboob kept his eyes steadily fixed on the fire¬ 
 place ; Abd-el-Lateef looked much and said noth¬ 
 ing. 
 
 Biing coffee, called out Abdallah to the 
 seivants. Before a minute had elapsed, a black 
 slave approached with one and only one coffee-cup 
 in his hand. At a second sign from his master he 
 came before me and presented it. 
 
 “ 0f course the worst might be conjectured of so 
 unusual and solitary a draught. But I thought it 
 
ESCAPE FROM READ. 
 
 269 
 
 highly improbable that matters should have been 
 so accurately prepared ; besides, his main cause of 
 anger was precisely the refusal of poisons, a fact 
 which implied that he had none by him ready for 
 use. So I said, ‘ Bismillah ,’ took the cup, looked 
 very hard at Abdallah, drank it off, and then said 
 to the slave, ‘ Pour me out a second.’ This he 
 did ; I swallowed it, and said, £ Now you may take 
 the cup away.’ 
 
 “ The desired effect was fully attained. Abd¬ 
 allah’s face announced defeat, while the rest of the 
 assembly whispered together. The prince turned 
 to ’Abd-el-Lateef and began talking about the 
 dangers to which the land was exposed from spies, 
 and the wicked designs of infidels for ruining the 
 kingdom of the Muslims. The Kadee and his com¬ 
 panions chimed in, and the story of a pseudo- 
 Darweesh traveller killed at Derey’eeyah, and of 
 another, (but who he was I cannot fancy ; perhaps 
 a Persian, who had, said Abdallah, been also 
 recognized for an intriguer, but had escaped to 
 Mascat, and thus baffled the penalty due to his 
 crimes,) were now brought forward and commented 
 on. Mahboob now at last spoke, but it was to 
 ridicule such apprehensions. * The thing is in 
 itself unlikely,’ said he, 4 and were it so what 
 harm could they do ? ’ alluding to my companion 
 and myself. 
 
 “ On this I took up the word, and a general con¬ 
 versation ensued, in which I did my best to explode 
 the idea of spies and spymanship, appealed to our 
 own quiet and inoffensive conduct, got into a 
 
270 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 virtuous indignation against such a requital of evil 
 for good after all the services which w r e had ren¬ 
 dered court and town, and quoted verses of the 
 Koran regarding the wickedness of ungrounded 
 suspicion, and the obligation of not judging ill 
 without clear evidence. Abdallah made no direct 
 answer, and the others, whatever they may have 
 thought, could not support a charge abandoned by 
 their master. 
 
 “ What amused me not a little, was that the Walia- 
 bee prince had after all very nearly hit the right 
 nail on the head, and that I was snubbing him only 
 for having guessed too well. But there was no 
 help for it, and I had the pleasure of seeing that, 
 though at heart unchanged in his opinion about us, 
 he was yet sufficiently cowed to render a respite 
 certain, and our escape thereby practicable. 
 
 “ This kind of talk continued awhile, and I pur¬ 
 posely kept my seat, to show the unconcern of 
 innocence, till Maliboob made me a sign that I 
 might safely retire. On this I took leave of Abd¬ 
 allah and quitted the palace unaccompanied. It 
 was now near midnight, not. a light to be seen in 
 the houses, not a sound to be heard in the streets ; 
 the sky too was dark and overcast, till, for the first 
 time, a feeling of lonely dread came over me, and I 
 confess that more than once I turned my head to 
 look and see if no one was following with‘evil,’ 
 as Arabs say, in his hand. But there was none, 
 and I reached the quiet alley and low door where a 
 gleam through the chinks announced the anxious 
 watch of my companions, who now opened the 
 
ESCAPE FROM RI'AD. 
 
 271 
 
 entrance, overjoyed at seeing me back sound and 
 safe from so critical a parley. 
 
 “ Our plan for the future was soon formed. A day 
 or two we were yet to remain in Iti’ad, lest haste 
 should seem to imply fear, and thereby encourage 
 pursuit. But during that period we would avoid 
 the palace, out-walks in gardens or after nightfall, 
 and keep at home as much as possible. Mean¬ 
 while Aboo-’Eysa was to get his dromedaries ready, 
 and put them in a courtyard immediately adjoining 
 the house, to be laden at a moment’s notice. 
 
 “ A band of travellers was to leave Iti’ad for Hasa 
 a few days later. Aboo-’Eysa gave out publicly 
 that he would accompany them to Hofhoof, while 
 w r e were supposed to intend following the northern 
 or Sedeyr track, by which the Na’ib, after many 
 reciprocal farewells and assurances of lasting friend¬ 
 ship, should we ever meet again, had lately de¬ 
 parted. Mobeyreek, a black servant in Aboo- 
 ’Eysa’s pay, occupied himself diligently in feeding 
 up the camels for their long march with clover and 
 vetches, both abundant here ; and we continued our 
 medical avocations, but quietly, and without much 
 leaving the house. 
 
 “ During the afternoon of the 24th we brought 
 three of Aboo-’Eysa’s camels into our courtyard, shut 
 the outer door, packed and laded. We then awaited 
 the moment of evening prayer; it came, and the 
 voice of the Mu’eddineen summoned all good Wa- 
 liabees, the men of the town-guard not excepted, to 
 the different mosques. When about ten minutes 
 had gone by, and all might be supposed at their 
 
272 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 prayers, we opened our door. Mobeyreek gave a 
 glance up and down the street to ascertain* that 
 no one was in sight, and we led out the camels. 
 Aboo-’Eysa accompanied us. Avoiding the larger 
 thoroughfares, we took our way by by-lanes and 
 side passages towards a small town-gate, the nearest 
 to our house, and opening on the north. A late 
 comer fell in with us on his way to the Mesjid, and 
 as he passed summoned us also to the public 
 service. But Aboo-’Eysa unhesitatingly replied, 
 ‘ We have this moment come from prayers,’ and 
 our interlocutor, fearing to be himself too late and 
 thus to fall under reprehension and punishment, 
 rushed off to the nearest oratory, leaving the road 
 clear. Nobody was in watch at the gate. We 
 crossed its threshold, turned southeast, and under 
 the rapid twilight reached a range of small hillocks, 
 behind which we sheltered ourselves till the stars 
 came out, and the ‘ wing of night,’ to quote Arab 
 poets, spread black over town and country. 
 
 “ So far so good. But further difficulties remained 
 before us. It was now more than ever absolutely 
 essential to get clear of Nedjed unobserved, to put 
 the desert between us and the Waliabee court and 
 capital; and no less necessary was it that Aboo- 
 ’Eysa, so closely connected as he was with Bi’ad 
 and its government, should seem nohow impli¬ 
 cated in our unceremonious departure, nor any way 
 concerned with our onward movements. In a word, 
 an apparent separation of paths between him and us 
 was necessary, before we could again come together 
 and complete the remainder of our explorations. 
 
ESCAPE FROM READ. 
 
 273 
 
 “ In order to manage this, and while ensuring our 
 own safety to throw a little dust in Waliabee eyes, 
 it was agreed that before next morning’s sunrise 
 Aboo-’Eysa should return to the town, and to his 
 dwelling, as though nothing had occurred, and 
 should there await the departure of the great mer¬ 
 chant caravan, mentioned previously, and composed 
 mainly of men from Hasa and Kateef, now bound 
 for Hofhoof. This assemblage was expected to start 
 within three days at latest. Meanwhile our friend 
 should take care to show himself openly in the pal¬ 
 aces of Feysul and Abdallah, and if asked about 
 us should answer vaguely, with the off-hand air of 
 one who had no further care regarding us. We 
 ourselves should in the interim make the best of our 
 way, with Mobeyreek for guide, to Wady Soley’, and 
 there remain concealed in a given spot, till Aboo- 
 Eysa should come and pick us up. 
 
 “ All this was arranged ; at break of dawn, Aboo- 
 Eysa took his leave, and Barakat, Mobeyreek, and 
 myself were once more high perched on our dromeda- 
 lies, their heads turned to the southeast, keeping the 
 hillock range between us and Bi’ad, which we saw no 
 more. Our path led us over low undulating 
 ground, a continuation of Wady Haneefali, till after 
 about four hours’ march we were before the gates 
 of Manfoohah, a considerable town, surrounded by 
 gardens nothing inferior in extent and fertility to 
 those of Bi’ad; but its fortifications, once strong, 
 have long since been dismantled and broken down 
 by the jealousy of the neighboring capital. 
 
 After winding here and there, we reached the spot 
 
274 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 assigned by Aboo-’Eysa for our liiding-place. It 
 was a small sandy depth, lying some way off the 
 beaten track, amid hillocks and brushwood, and 
 without water ; of this latter article we had taken 
 enough in the goat-skins to last us lor tlnee da^s. 
 Here we halted, and made up our minds to patience, 
 and expectation. 
 
 “ Two days passed drearily enough. We could not 
 but long for our guide’s arrival, nor be wholly with¬ 
 out fear on more than one score. Once or twice a 
 stray peasant stumbled on us, and was much sur¬ 
 prised at our encampment in so droughty a locality. 
 Sometimes leaving our dromedaries crouching down, 
 and concealed among the shrubs, we wandered up 
 the valley, climbed the high chalky cliffs of Toweyk, 
 to gain a distant glimpse of the blue siena of Iia- 
 reek in the far south, and the white ranges of 
 Toweyk north and east. Or we dodged the nume¬ 
 rous nor over-sliy herds of gazelles, not for any 
 desire of catching them, but simply to pass the time 
 and distract the mind weary of conjecture. So the 
 hours went by, till the third day brought closer ex¬ 
 pectation and anxiety, still increasing while the sun 
 declined, and at last went down ; yet nobody ap¬ 
 peared. But just as darkness cl >sed in, and we 
 were sitting in a dispirited group beside our little 
 lire, for the night air blew chill, Aboo-’Eysa came 
 suddenly up, and all was changed for question and 
 answer, for cheerfulness and laughter. 
 
 “ Early on November 28th we resumed our march 
 through a light valley-mist, and soon fell in with our 
 companions of the road. The first day led us out 
 
ESCAPE FROM READ. 
 
 275 
 
 of Wady Soley.’ We traversed the outsorting plan¬ 
 tations of Salemee’yah, a large fortified village. 
 Much to my regret, our caravan passed on without 
 halting, and soon after, turning a little to the north, 
 we entered a long gorge cleft in the limestone wall 
 of Toweyk, and mounted for about three hundred 
 feet till we came on a high broad steppe, where a 
 scanty pasturage, just enough to brown the chalky 
 soil here and there, maintained a few herds of sheep¬ 
 like goats, or goat-like sheep; while the dreary 
 ascents and descents reminded me of scenes in 
 Scotland, save that fir and pine were here wanting. 
 We were long in traversing this waste, until towards 
 evening we came on a patch of greener soil, and a 
 cluster of wells, the Lakey’yat by name, and here we 
 encamped for a very cold night. 
 
 “ Next morning the whole country, hill and dale, 
 trees and bushes, was wrapped in a thick blanket of 
 mist, fitter for Surrey than for Arabia. So dense 
 was the milky fog, that we fairly lost our way, and 
 went on at random, shouting and hallooing, driving 
 our beasts now here, now there, over broken ground 
 and amid tangling shrubs, till the sun gained 
 strength, and the vapor cleared off, showing us the 
 path at some distance on our right. Before we had 
 followed it far, we saw a black mass advancing from 
 the east to meet us. It was the first division of the 
 Hasa troops on their way to Bi’ad ; they were not 
 less than four or five hundred in number. Like true 
 Arabs, they marched with a noble contempt of 
 order and discipline—walking, galloping, ambling, 
 singing, shouting, alone or in bands, as fancy led; 
 
276 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 We interchanged a few words of greeting with those 
 brisk boys, who avowed, without hesitation or 
 shame, that they should much have preferred to 
 stay at home, and that enforced necessity, not any 
 military or religious ardor, was taking them to the 
 field. We laughed, and wished them Zamil’s head, 
 or him theirs, whereon they laughed also, shouted, 
 and passed on. 
 
 “ Whilst hereabouts, we caught a magnificent 
 southward view of the Hareek, to which we were 
 now opposite, though separated from it by a streak 
 of desert. Its hills lie east and west in a ragged and 
 isolated chain, which was apparently sixty miles or 
 more in length. Thus girdled by the desert, Ha¬ 
 reek must needs be a very hot district; indeed, its 
 name (literally, * burning’) implies no less, and the 
 dusky tint of its inhabitants confirms the fact. We 
 could not at such a distance distinguish any towns 
 or castles in particular ; only the situation of the cap¬ 
 ital, Hootah, was pointed out to us by the knowing 
 ones of our band. It was curious also to see how 
 suddenly, almost abruptly, Djebel Toweyk ended in 
 the desert, going down in a rapid series of precipi¬ 
 tous steps, the last of which plunges sheer into the 
 waste of sand. Toweyk is here mainly limestone, 
 but in some spots iron ore is to be found, in some 
 copper ; Aboo-’Eysa pointed out to us a hill, the 
 appearance of which promised the latter metal. 
 
 “ On we went, but through a country of much 
 more varied scenery than what we had traversed 
 the day before, enjoying the ‘ pleasure situate in 
 hill and dale,’ till we arrived at the foot of a high 
 
ESCAPE FROM BEAD. 
 
 277 
 
 white cliff, almost like that of Dover \ but these 
 crags, instead of having the sea at their foot, over¬ 
 looked a wide valley full of trees, and bearing 
 traces of many violent winter torrents from east to 
 west; none were now flowing. Here we halted, and 
 passed an indifferent night, much annoyed by ‘ chill 
 November’s surly blast,’ hardly less ungenial here 
 than on the banks of Ayr, though sweeping over a 
 latitude of 25°, not 56°. 
 
 “ Before the starlight had faded from the cold 
 morning sky, we were up and in movement, for a 
 long inaicli was before us. After a little parleying, 
 so to speak, with the mountain, we climbed it by a 
 steep winding path, hard of ascent to the camels, of 
 whom Arabs report that when asked which they like 
 best, going up hill or going down, they answer, ‘ A 
 curse light on them both.’ At sunrise we stood on 
 the last, and here the highest ledge of Toweyk, that 
 long chalky wall which bounds and backs up Ned- 
 jed on the east; beyond is the desert, and then the 
 coast. The view now opened to us was very exten¬ 
 sive, and the keen air made all the more sensible 
 our elevation above the far-off plains, that hence 
 showed like a faintly-ribbed sea-surface to the west. 
 Neithei man nor beast, tree nor shrub, appeared 
 around; marl and pebbles formed the jDlateau, all 
 diy and dreary under a cold wind and a hot sun. 
 
 After about three hours of level route we began 
 to descend, not rapidly, but by degrees, and at noon 
 we leached a singular depression, a huge natural 
 basin, liollowed out in the limestone rock, with 
 tlacks lesembling deep trenches leading to it from 
 
278 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 every side. At tlie bottom of this crater-like valley 
 were a dozen or more wells, so abundant in their 
 supply that they not unfrequently overflow the 
 whole space, and form a small lake ; the water is 
 clear and good, but no other is to be met with on 
 the entire line hence to Hasa. 
 
 “ For the rest of the day we continued steadily to 
 descend the broad even slope, whose extreme bar¬ 
 renness and inanimate monotony reminded me of 
 the pebbly uplands near Ma’an on the opposite side 
 of the peninsula, traversed by us exactly seven 
 months before. The sun set, night came on, and 
 many of the travellers would gladly have halted, 
 but Aboo-’Eysa insisted on continuing the march. 
 We were now many hundred feet lower than the 
 crest behind us, and the air felt warm and heavy, 
 when we noticed that the ground, hitherto hard be¬ 
 neath our fe^t, was changing step by step into a 
 light sand, that seemed to encroach on the rocky 
 soil. It was at first a shallow ripple, then deepened, 
 and before long presented the well known ridges and 
 undulations characteristic of the land ocean when 
 several fathoms in depth. Our beasts ploughed la¬ 
 boriously on through the yielding surface ; the night 
 was dark, but starry, and we could just discern 
 amid the shade a white glimmer of spectral sand¬ 
 hills, rising around us on every side, but no track 
 or indication of a route. 
 
 “ It was the great Dahna, or ‘ Fed Desert,’ the 
 bugbear of even the wandering Bedouin, and never 
 traversed by ordinary wayfarers without an appre¬ 
 hension which has too often 1 een justified by iatal 
 
ESCAPE FROM RI'AD. 
 
 279 
 
 incidents. So light are the sands, so capricious the 
 breezes that .shape and reshape them daily into un¬ 
 stable hills and valleys, that no traces of preceding 
 travellers remain to those who follow ; while intense 
 heat and glaring light reflected on all sides combine 
 with drought and weariness to confuse and bewilder 
 the adventurer, till he loses his compass and wan¬ 
 ders up and down at random amid a waste solitude 
 which soon becomes his grave. Many have thus 
 perished ; even whole caravans have been known to 
 disappear in the Dahua without a vestige; till the 
 wild Arab tales of demons carrying off wanderers, 
 or gliouls devouring them, obtain a half credit 
 among many accustomed elsewhere to laugh, at 
 such fictions. 
 
 “For, after about three hours of night travelling, 
 or rather wading, among the sand-waves, till men 
 and beasts alike were ready to sink for weariness, a 
 sharp altercation arose between Aboo-’Eysa and El- 
 Ghannam, each proposing a different direction of 
 march. We all halted a moment, and raised our 
 eyes, heavy with drowsiness and fatigue, as if to see 
 which of the contending parties was in the right. 
 It will be long before I forget the impression of that 
 moment. Above us was the deep black sky, 
 spangled with huge stars of a brilliancy denied to 
 all but an Arab gaze, while what is elsewhere a ray 
 of the third magnitude becomes here of the first 
 amid the pure vacuum of a mistless, vaporless air ; 
 around us loomed high ridges, shutting us in before 
 and behind with their white ghost-like outlines ; be¬ 
 low our feet the lifeless sand, and everywhere a 
 
280 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 silence that seemed to belong to some strange and 
 dreamy world where man might not venture. 
 
 “ Next morning we resumed our course, but now 
 under the sole guidance of Aboo-’Eysa, to whom 
 our band, confiding in his superior conversance with 
 this wild region, had unanimously agreed to entrust 
 themselves till we should reach the opposite bank. 
 
 ' How our leader contrived to direct his steps would 
 be hard to tell; the faculty of keeping one’s nose in 
 the right direction, when neither eyes nor ears can 
 afford any assistance, is, I suppose, one of the many 
 latent powers of human nature, only to be brought 
 out by circumstance and long exercise. When not 
 far from the midmost of the Dahna, we fell in with 
 a few Bedouins, belonging to the Aal-Morrah clan, 
 sole tenants of this desert; they were leading their 
 goats to little spots of scattered herbage and shrubs 
 which here and there fix a precarious existence in 
 the hollows of the sands. 
 
 “ Theirs is the great desert from Nedjed to Had- 
 ramaut. Not that they actually cover this immense 
 space, a good fourth of the peninsula, but that they 
 have the free and undisputed range of the oases 
 which it occasionally offers, where herbs, shrubs, 
 and dwarf-palms cluster round some well of scant 
 and briny water. These oases are sufficiently 
 numerous to preserve a stray Bedouin or two from 
 perishing, though not enough so to become land¬ 
 marks for any regular route across the central 
 Dahna, from the main body of which runs out the 
 long and broad arm which we were now traversing. 
 
 “ Another night’s bivouac, and then again over 
 
ESCAPE FROM READ. 
 
 281 
 
 the white down-sloping plain. At last a change en 
 sued: abruptly chalky hills and narrow gorges 
 bounded our way, till at the bottom of a hollow we 
 came on a large solitary tree, with more thorns than 
 leaves, and in hermit loneliness. 
 
 “ A little farther on we entered the great valley, 
 known by the name of Wady Farook, which, like 
 all other leading geographical features of this re¬ 
 gion, whether mountain or plain, runs from north to 
 south. We descended into this valley about noon, 
 crossed it not altogether without anxiety, and near 
 sunset climbed the opposite bank, and began to 
 thread the coast-range of Hasa. These hills attain, 
 after my very rough observations, about fourteen 
 hundred feet above the sea-level, and about four 
 hundred above the desert on the west, which would 
 thus be itself about a thousand feet higher than the 
 coast. Their sides are often eaten out into caverns, 
 and their whole look is fanciful and desolate in the 
 extreme. 
 
 “ dt was now three days and a half since our last 
 supply of water, and Aboo-’Eysa was anxious to 
 reach the journey’s end without delay. As darkness 
 closed around we reached the furthermost heights. 
 Hence we overlooked the plains of Hasa, but could 
 distinguish nothing through the deceptive rays of 
 the rising moon; we seemed to gaze into a vast 
 milky ocean. After an hour’s halt for supper, we 
 wandered on, now up, now' down, over pass and 
 crag, till a long corkscrew descent down the precipi¬ 
 tous sea-side of the mountain for a thousand feet 
 or near it, placed us fairly upon the low level of 
 
282 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA 
 
 Hasa, and within the warm damp air of the sea- 
 coast. 
 
 “ The ground glimmered white to the moon, and 
 gave a firm footing to our dromedaries, who, bj 
 their renewed agility, seemed to partake in the joy 
 of their riders, and to understand that rest was near. 
 We were, in fact, all so eager to find ourselves at 
 home and homestead, that although the town of 
 Hofhoof, our destined goal, was yet full fifteen 
 miles to the northeast, we pressed on for the capital. 
 And there, in fact, we should have all arrived in a 
 body before day-dawn, had not a singular occur¬ 
 rence retarded by far the greater number of our 
 companions. 
 
 “ Soon after, the crags in our rear had shut out, 
 perhaps for years, perhaps forever, the desert and 
 Central Arabia from our view, while before and 
 around us lay the indistinct undulations and uncer¬ 
 tain breaks of the great Hasa plain, when on a 
 sloping bank at a short distance in front we dis¬ 
 cerned certain large black patches, in strong contrast 
 with the white glister of the soil around, and at the 
 same time our attention was attracted by a strange 
 whizzing like that of a flight of hornets, close along 
 the ground, while our dromedaries capered and 
 started as though struck with sudden insanity. The 
 cause of all this was a vast swarm of locusts, here 
 alighted in their northerly wanderings from their 
 birthplace in the Dalina; their camp extended far 
 and wide, and we had already disturbed their out¬ 
 posts. These insects are wont to settle on the 
 ground after sunset, and there, half stupefied by the 
 
ESCAPE FROM READ. 
 
 283 
 
 aiglit cliill, to await the morning rays, which warm 
 them once more into life and movement. This time 
 our dromedaries did the work of the sun, and it 
 would be hard to say which of the two were the 
 most frightened, they or the locusts. It was truly 
 laughable to see so huge a beast lose his wits for 
 fear at the flight of a harmless, stingless insect; of 
 all timid creatures none equals the ‘ ship of the 
 desert ’ for cowardice. 
 
 ‘ The swarm now before us was a thorough god¬ 
 send for our Arabs, on no account to be neglected. 
 Thirst, weariness, all was forgotten, and down the 
 riders leapt from their starting camels; this one 
 spread out a cloak, that one a saddle-bag, a third 
 his shirt, over the unlucky creatures destined for the 
 morrow’s meal. Some flew away whirring across 
 our feet, others w r ere caught and tied up in cloths 
 and sacks; Cornish wreckers at work about a 
 shattered East Indiaman would be beaten by Ghan- 
 nam and his companions with the locusts. How¬ 
 ever, Barakat and myself felt no special interest in 
 the chase, nor had we much desire to turn our dress 
 and accoutrements into receptacles for living game. 
 Luckily Aboo-’Eysa still retained enough of his 
 North Syrian education to be of our mincL-also. Ac¬ 
 cordingly w 7 e left our associates hard at work, turned 
 our startled and still unruly dromedaries in the 
 direction of Hofhoof, and set off full speed over the 
 plain. 
 
 “ It was not till near morning that we saw 7 before 
 us in indistinct row the long black lines of the im¬ 
 mense date-groves that surround Hofhoof. Then, 
 
284 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 winding on amid rice grounds and cornfields, we left 
 on our right an isolated fort, (to be described by 
 daylight,) passed some scattered villas, with their 
 gardens, approached the ruined town walls, and 
 entered the southern gate, now open and unguarded. 
 Faither on a few streets brought us before the door 
 of Aboo-’Eysa’s house, our desired resting-place. 
 
 “ was s till night. All was silent in the street 
 and house, at the entrance of which we now stood j 
 indeed, none but the master of a domicile could 
 think of knocking at such an hour, nor was Aboo- 
 ’Eysa expected at that precise moment. With much 
 difficulty he contrived to awake the tenants ; next 
 the sin ill voice ol the lady was heard within in 
 accents of joy and welcome; the door at last 
 opened, and Aboo-’Eysa invited us into a dark pas- 
 sage, where a gas-light would have been a remark¬ 
 able improvement, and by this ushered us into the 
 k’hawah. Here we lighted a fire, and after a hasty 
 refreshment all lay down to sleep, nor awoke till the 
 following forenoon. 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 PALGEAYE’s TRAVELS.—EASTERN ARABIA.— CON¬ 
 CLUSION. 
 
 O UR stay at Hofhoof was very pleasant and 
 interesting, not indeed through personal inci¬ 
 dents and hairbreadth escapes—of which we had 
 
 our fair portion at Ri’ad and elsewhere—but in the 
 information here acquired, and in the novel charac¬ 
 ter of everything around us, whether nature, art, or 
 man. Aboo-’Eysa was very anxious that we should 
 see as much as possible of the country, and procured 
 us all means requisite for so doing, while the shelter 
 of his roof, and the precautions which he adopted 
 or suggested, obviated whatever dangers and incon¬ 
 veniences we had experienced in former stages of 
 the journey. Besides, the general disposition of the 
 inhabitants of Hasa is very different from that met 
 with in Nedjed, and even in Sliomer or Djowf, and 
 much better adapted to make a stranger feel himself 
 at home. A sea-coast people, looking mainly to 
 foreign lands and the ocean for livelihood and com¬ 
 merce, accustomed to see among them not unfre¬ 
 quently men of dress, manners, and religion differ¬ 
 ing from their own, many of them themselves tra- 
 
286 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 vellers or voyagers to Basrah, Bagdad, Bahreyn, 
 Oman, and some even farther, they are commonly 
 free from that half-wondering, half-suspicious feel¬ 
 ing which the sight of a stranger occasions in the 
 isolated, desert-girded centre ; in short, experience, 
 that best of masters, has gone far to unteacli 
 the lessons of ignorance, intolerance, and national 
 aversion. 
 
 Hof hoof, whose ample circuit contained during 
 the last generation about thirty thousand inhabi¬ 
 tants, now dwindled to twenty-three or twenty-four 
 thousand, is divided into three quarters or districts. 
 ‘The general form of the town is that of a large oval. 
 The public square, an oblong space of about three 
 hundred yards in length by a fourth of the same in 
 width, occupies the meeting point of these quarters ; 
 the Kot lies on its northeast, the Bifey’eeyali on the 
 northwest and west, and the Na’athar on the east 
 and south. In this last quarter was our present 
 home ; moreover, it stood in the part farthest 
 removed from the Kot and its sinister influences, 
 while it was also sufficiently distant from the over- 
 turbulent neighborhood of the Bifey’eeyah, the 
 centre of anti-Wahabee movements, and the name 
 of which alone excited distrust and uneasiness in 
 Ned jean minds. 
 
 “ The Kot itself is a vast citadel, surrounded by a 
 deep trench, with walls and- towers of unusual 
 height and thickness, earth-built with an occasional 
 intermixture of stone, the work of the old Carma- 
 tliian rulers ; it is nearly square, being about one 
 third of a mile in length by one quarter in breadth. 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 287 
 
 Three sides of this fortress are provided each with 
 a central gate; on the fourth or northern side a 
 small but strong fortress forms a sort of keep ; it is 
 square, and its towers attain more than forty feet in 
 elevation, or about sixty, if we reckon from the 
 bottom of the outer ditch. 
 
 “ The towers, fifteen or sixteen on each side of 
 the Kot, are mostly round, and provided with wind¬ 
 ing stairs, loopholes, and machicolations below the 
 battlements; the intervening walls have similar 
 means of defence. The trench without is for the 
 greatest part dry, but can be filled with water from 
 the garden wells beyond when occasion requires ; 
 the portals are strong and well guarded. 
 
 “ On the opposite side of the square, and conse¬ 
 quently belonging to the Rifey’eeyah, is the vaulted 
 market-place, or ‘ Keysareeyah,’ a name by which 
 constructions of this nature must henceforth be 
 called up to Mascat itself, though how this Latinism 
 found its way across the peninsula to lands which 
 seem to have had so little commerce with the Roman 
 or Byzantine empires, I cannot readily conjecture. 
 This Keysareeyah is in form a long barrel-vaulted 
 arcade, with a portal at either end; the folding 
 doors that should protect the entrances have here in 
 Hoflioof been taken away, elsewhere they are always 
 to be found. The sides are composed of shops, set 
 apart in general for wares of cost, or at least what 
 is here esteemed costly ; thus weapons, cloth em¬ 
 broidery, gold and silver ornament, and analogous 
 articles, are the ordinary stock-in-hand in the Key¬ 
 sareeyah. Around it cluster several alleys, roofed 
 
288 
 
 TEA VELS IN AEABIA. 
 
 with palm-leaves against the heat, and tolerably 
 symmetrical; in the shops we may see the merchan¬ 
 dise of Bahreyn, Oman, Persia, and India exposed 
 for sale, mixed with the manufactured produce of 
 the country; workshops, smithies, carpenters’ and 
 shoemakers’ stalls, and the like, are here also. In 
 the open square itself stand countless booths for 
 the sale of dates, vegetables, wood, salted locusts, 
 and small ware of many kinds. 
 
 “ The Bifey’eeyah, or noble quarter, covers a con¬ 
 siderable extent, and is chiefly composed of tolerable, 
 in some places of even handsome, dwellings. The 
 comparative elegance of domestic architecture in 
 Hofhoof is due to the use of the arch, which, after 
 the long interval from Ma’an to Hasa, now at last 
 reappears, and gives to the constructions of this 
 province a lightness and a variety unknown in the 
 monotonous and heavy piles of Nedjed and Sliomer. 
 Another improvement is that the walls, whether of 
 earth or stone, or of both mixed, as is often the 
 case, are here very generally coated with fine white 
 plaster, much resembling the ‘ cliunam ’ of Southern 
 India ; ornament, too, is aimed at about the door¬ 
 ways and the ogee-headed windows, and is some¬ 
 times attained. 
 
 “ The Na’athar is the largest quarter ; it forms, 
 indeed, a good half of the town, and completes its 
 oval. In it every description of dwelling is to be 
 seen—for rich and poor, for high and low, palace or 
 hovel. Here, too, but near the Kot, has the pious 
 policy of Feysul constructed the great mosque. 
 
 “ Tne fortifications oi the town were once strong 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 289 
 
 and high, but are now little better than heaps of 
 ruins—of broken towers and winding stairs that lead 
 to nothing. ithout the walls lie the gardens and 
 plantations, stretching away north and east as far 
 as the eye can reach; on the south and west they 
 form a narrower ring. North and east of Hofhoof 
 is one green mass of waving foliage, save where 
 occasionally the overflowing water-channels present 
 that phenomenon specially dear in reminiscences to 
 an east-country Englishman, namely, a real genuine 
 marsh, with reeds, rushes, and long-legged water- 
 fowl. Heaven bless them all! I cannot say how 
 glad I was to see them after so long a separation ; 
 while around the rim of the swamps and pools rise 
 stately palm-trees, laden with the choicest dates of 
 Arabia, or rather of the entire world. A solitary 
 conical hillock, the freak of nature, rises alone on 
 the noitheast from the level of this well-watered 
 plain ; its summit bears the vestiges of Carmathian 
 foititication. These details have, I trust, given my 
 readeis a tolerable idea of the town of Hofhoof and 
 its immediate neighborhood. Its general asj)ect is 
 that of a white and yellow onyx, chased in an 
 emerald rim ; the name of c Hofhoof,’ like the Win¬ 
 chester of our own island, implies glitter and 
 beauty. 
 
 “ But perhaps my reader, after accompanying me 
 thus far, may feel thirsty, for the heat, even in De¬ 
 cember, is almost oppressive, 'and the sky cloudless, 
 as though it were June or July. So let us turr 
 aside into that grassy plantation, where half-a-dozei 
 buflaloes are cooling their ugly hides in a pool, ana 
 
290 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 drink a little from the source that supplies it. When 
 behold ! the water is warm, almost hot. Do not bo 
 surprised ; all the fountain sources and wells of Hasa 
 are so, more or less; in some, one can hardly bear 
 to plunge one’s hand ; others are less above the 
 average temperature, while a decidedly sulphurous 
 taste is now and then perceptible. In fact, from the 
 extreme north of this province down to its southern¬ 
 most frontier, this same sign of subterranean lire is 
 everywhere to be found. The rocks, too, ale here 
 very frequently of tufa and basalt, anothei maik of 
 igneous agency. 
 
 “ The products of Hasa are many and various ; 
 the monotony of Arab vegetation, its eternal palm 
 and ithel, ithel and palm, are here varied by new 
 foliage, and growths unknown to Nedjed and Sho- 
 mer. True, the date-palm still predominates, nay, 
 here attains its greatest perfection. But the nabak, 
 with its rounded leaves and little crab-apple fruit, a 
 mere bush in Central Arabia, becomes in Hasa a 
 stately tree ; the papay, too, so well known in the 
 more easterly peninsula, appears, though seldom, 
 and stunted in growth, along with some other trees, 
 common on the coast from Cutcli to Bombay. Indigo 
 is here cultivated, though not sufficiently for the 
 demands of commerce ; cotton is much more widely 
 grown than in Yemamah; rice fields abound, and 
 the sugar-cane is often planted, though not, I believe, 
 for the extraction of the sugar; the peasants of 
 Hasa sell the reed by retail bundles in the market¬ 
 place, and the purchasers take it home to gnaw at 
 Leisure in their houses. Corn, maize, millet, vetches 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 291 
 
 of every kind, radishes, onions, garlic, beans, in 
 short, almost all legumina and cerealia, barley ex¬ 
 cepted, (at least I neither saw nor heard of any,) 
 cover the plain, and under a better administration 
 might be multiplied tenfold. 
 
 The climate of Hasa, as I have already implied, 
 is very different from that of the uplands, and not 
 equally favorable to health and physical activity. 
 Hence, a doctor, like myself, if my readers will 
 allow me the title, has here more work and better 
 fees ; this latter circumstance is also owing to the 
 greater amount of ready money in circulation, and 
 the higher value set on medical science by men 
 whose intellects are much more cultivated than those 
 of their Ned jean neighbors. In appearance, the 
 inhabitants of Hasa are generally good-sized and 
 well-proportioned, but somewhat sallow in the face, 
 and of a less muscular development than is usual 
 inland, their features, though regular, are less 
 marked than those of the Nedjeans, and do not ex¬ 
 hibit the same half-Jewish type j on the contrary, 
 there is something in them that reminds a beholder 
 of the Bajpoot or the Guzeratee. They are passion¬ 
 ately fond of literature and poetry. 
 
 I have already said that our great endeavor in 
 Hasa was to observe unobserved, and thus to render 
 our time as barren as might be in incidents and 
 catastrophes. Not that we went into the opposite 
 extreme of leading an absolutely retired and there- 
 foie uneventful life. Aboo-’Eysa took care from the 
 first to bring us into contact with the best and the 
 most, cultivated families of the town, nor had m^ 
 
292 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 medical profession anywhere a wider range for its 
 exercise, or better success than in Hof hoof. Fiiendlj 
 invitations, now to dinner, now to supper, were of 
 daily occurrence j and we sat at tables where fish, 
 no longer mere salted shrimps, announced our 
 vicinity to the coast; vermicelli, too, and other 
 kinds of pastry, denoted the influence of Persain 
 art on the kitchen. Smoking within doors was 
 general; but the nargheelah often replaced, and 
 that advantageously, the short Arab pipe; perfumes 
 are no less here in use than in Nedjed. I need 
 hardly say that domestic furniture is here much 
 more varied and refined than what adorns the dwell¬ 
 ings of Sedeyr and ’Aared ; and the stools, low din¬ 
 ner-tables, cupboards, shelves, and bedsteads, are 
 very like the fittings-up of a respectable Hindoo 
 house. 
 
 “ We had passed about a week in the town when 
 
 Aboo-’Evsa enter the side room where Barakat 
 
 «/ 
 
 and I were enjoying a moment of quiet, and copy¬ 
 ing out ‘ Nabtee’ poetry, and shut the door behind 
 him. He then announced to us, with a face and 
 tone of serious anxiety, that two of the principal 
 Nedjeau agents belonging to the Kot had just come 
 into the k’hawali, under pretext of medical con¬ 
 sultation, but in reality, said he, to identify the 
 strangers. We put on our cloaks—a preliminary 
 measure of decorum equivalent to face and hand¬ 
 washing in Europe—aud presented ourselves before 
 our inquisitors with an air of conscious innocence 
 and scientific solemnity. Conversation ensued, and 
 we talked so learnedly about bilious and sanguine 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 293 
 
 complexions, cephalic veins, and Indian drugs, with 
 such apposite citations from the Koran, and such 
 loyal phrases for Feysul, that Aboo-’Eysa was 
 beside himself for joy ; and the spies, after receiving 
 some prescriptions of the bread-pill and aromatic- 
 water formula, left the house no wiser than before. 
 Our friends, too, and they were now many, well 
 guessing what we might really be, partly from our 
 own appearance, and partly from the known char¬ 
 acter of our host, (according to old Homer’s true 
 saying, Heaven always leads like to like,) did each and 
 all their best to throw sand into Wahabee eyes, and 
 everything went on sociably and smoothly. A 
 blessing on the medical profession! None other 
 gives such excellent opportunities for securing every¬ 
 where confidence and friendship. 
 
 “ Before we leave Hasa I must add a few remarks 
 to complete the sketch given of the province and of 
 its inhabitants; want of a suitable opportunity for 
 inserting them before has thrown them together at 
 this point of my narrative. 
 
 “ My fair readers will be pleased to learn that the 
 veil and other restraints inflicted on the gentle sex 
 by Islamitic rigorism, not to say worse, are much 
 less universal, and more easily dispensed with in 
 Hasa; while in addition, the ladies of the land 
 enjoy a remarkable share of those natural gifts 
 which no institutions, and even no cosmetics, can 
 confer; namely, beauty of face and elegance of 
 form. Might I venture on the delicate and some¬ 
 what invidious task of constructing a ‘ beauty-scale 
 Cor Arabia, and for Arabia alone, the Bedouin women 
 
294 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 would, on this kalometer, be represented by zero, or 
 at most 1 °; a degree higher would represent the 
 female sex of Nedjed; above them rank the women 
 of Sliomer, who are in their turn surmounted by 
 those of Djowf. The fifth or sixth degree symbol¬ 
 izes the fair ones of Hasa ; the seventh those of 
 Ivatar; and lastly, by a sudden rise of ten degrees 
 at least, the seventeenth or eighteenth would denote 
 the pre-eminent beauties of Oman. Arab poets oc¬ 
 casionally languish after the charmers of Iiedjaz ; I 
 never saw any one to charm me, but then I only 
 skirted the province. All bear witness to the ab¬ 
 sence of female loveliness in Yemen ; and I should 
 much doubt whether the mulatto races and dusky 
 complexions of Hadramaut have much to vaunt of. 
 But in Hasa a decided improvement on this import¬ 
 ant point is agreeably evident to the traveller 
 arriving from Nedjed, and he will be yet further 
 delighted on finding his Calypsos much more con- 
 versible, and having much more, too, in their con¬ 
 versation than those he left behind him in Sedeyr 
 and ’Aared. 
 
 “During our stay at Hofhoof, Aboo-’Eysa left un¬ 
 tried no arts of Arab rhetoric and persuasion to 
 determine me to visit Oman, assuring me again and 
 again that whatever we had yet seen, even in his 
 favorite Hasa, was nothing compared to what re¬ 
 mained to see in that more remote country. My 
 companion, tired of our long journey, and thinking 
 the long distance already laid between him and his 
 Syrian home quite sufficient in itself without further 
 leagues tacked 0.1 to it, was very little disposed for 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 295 
 
 a supplementary expedition. Englishmen, on the 
 contrary, are rovers by descent and habit; my own 
 mind was now fully made up to visit Oman at all 
 risks, whether Barakat came with me or not. 
 Meanwhile, we formed our plan for the mext imme¬ 
 diate stage of our route. My companion and I 
 were to quit Hofhoof together, leaving Aboo-’Eysa 
 behind us for a week or two at Hasa, whilst we 
 journeyed northwards to Kateef, and thence took 
 ship for the town of Menamah in Bahreyn. In 
 this latter place Aboo-’Eysa was to rejoin us. Our 
 main reason for thus separating our movements in 
 time and in direction, was to avoid the too glaring 
 appearance of acting in concert while yet in a land 
 under Waliabee government and full of Wahabee 
 spies and reporters, especially after the suspicions 
 thrown on us at Bi’ad. The Oman arrangements 
 were to be deferred till we should all meet again.” 
 
 “ Barakat and myself prepared for our departure ; 
 we purchased a few objects of local curiosity, got in 
 our dues of medical attendance, paid and received 
 the customary P. P. C. visits, and even tendered 
 our respects to the negro governor Belal, where he 
 sat at his palace door in the Kot, holding a public 
 audience, and looking much like any other well- 
 dressed black. No passport was required for set¬ 
 ting out on the road to Kateef, which in the eyes ol 
 government forms only one and the same province 
 with Hasa, though in many respects very different 
 from it. The road is perfectly secure ; plundering 
 Bedouins or highway robbers are here out of the 
 question. However w T e stood in need of compan- 
 
296 
 
 TRAVELS IN ABAB1A. 
 
 ions, not for escort, but as guides. Aboo-’E} T sa 
 made inquiries in the town, and found three men 
 who chanced to be just then setting out on their 
 way for Kateef, who readily consented to join band 
 with us for the road. Our Abyssinian hostess sup¬ 
 plied us with a whole sack of provisions, and our 
 Hofhoof associates found us in camels. Thus 
 equipped and mounted, we took an almost touch¬ 
 ing leave of Aboo-’Eysa’s good-natured wife, kissed 
 the baby, exchanged an cm revoir with its father, 
 and set out on the afternoon of December 19th, 
 leaving behind us many pleasant acquaintances, 
 from some of whom I received messages and 
 letters while at Bahreyn. So far as inhabitants 
 are concerned, to no town in Arabia should I return 
 with equal confidence of finding a hearty greeting 
 and a welcome reception, than to Hofhoof and its 
 amiable and intelligent merchants. 
 
 “We quitted the town by the northeastern gate of 
 the Bifey-’eeyah, where the friends, who, according 
 to Arab custom, had accompanied us thus far in a 
 sort of procession, w shed us a prosperous journey, 
 took a last adieu, and returned home. After some 
 hours w T e bivouacked on a little hillock of clean sand, 
 with the dark line of the Hofhoof woods on our 
 left, while at some distance in front a copious foun¬ 
 tain poured out its rushing waters with a noise dis¬ 
 tinctly audible in the stillness of the night, and 
 irrigated a garden worthy of Damascus or Antioch. 
 The night air was temperate, neither cold like tha 
 of Nedjed, nor stifling like that of Southern India 
 the sky clear and starry. From our commanding 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 297 
 
 position on the hill I could distinguish Soheyl or 
 Canopus, now setting ; and following him, nob far 
 above the horizon, the three upper stars of the 
 Southern Cross, an old Indian acquaintance ; two 
 months later in Oman I had the view of the entire 
 constellation. 
 
 “ Next morning we traversed a large plain of light 
 and sandy soil, intersected by occasional ridges of 
 basalt and sandstone. Everywhere were indica¬ 
 tions of abundant moisture at a very slight depth 
 below the surface ; dwarf-palms, shrubs, nay, reeds 
 and rushes, sprang up at short intervals, and now 
 and then we passed a little pool in some sheltered 
 hollow, fringed with overhanging bushes, while the 
 ruins of two large villages, now deserted like Au¬ 
 burn, witnessed to the decline of the land under 
 Nedjean rule. Hundreds and hundreds of the 
 inhabitants have recently emigrated ; a few fami¬ 
 lies northward, the greater number to the islands 
 adjacent to Bahreyn, to the Persian coast, and the 
 kindred dominions of Oman. 
 
 “ We journeyed on all day, meeting no Bedouins 
 and few travellers. At evening we encamped in a 
 shallow valley, near a cluster of brimming wells, 
 some sweet, some brackish, where the traces of 
 half-obliterated watercourses and the vestiges of 
 crumbling house-walls indicated the former ex¬ 
 istence of a village, now also deserted. We 
 passed a comfortable night under the shelter of 
 palms and high brushwood, mixed with gigantic 
 aloes and yuccas ; and rose next morning early to 
 our way. Our direction lay northeast. In the 
 
298 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 afternoon we caught our first glimpse of Djebel 
 Mushalihar, a pyramidical peak some seven hun¬ 
 dred feet high and about ten miles south of Kateef. 
 But the sea, though I looked towards it and for it 
 with an eagerness somewhat resembling that of the 
 Ten Thousand on their approach to the Euxine, 
 remained shut out from view by a further continu¬ 
 ation of the heights. Here we exchanged the 
 sands of Hasa for a rocky and blackish ground ; 
 the air blew cold and sharp, nor was I sorry when 
 at evening we halted near a cluster of trees, exactly 
 at the boundary line of the Kateef territory. Our 
 dromedaries (beautiful creatures to look at) were 
 turned loose to graze, when lo ! they took advan¬ 
 tage of the dusk to sheer off, nor were they recap¬ 
 tured without much difficulty; thus giving us proof 
 of what I had often heard, and have mentioned in 
 another chapter of this work, that a camel when 
 once his own master, never dreams of coming home, 
 except under compulsion. 
 
 “ Next day we rose at dawn, and crossed the hills 
 of Kateef by a long winding path, till after some 
 hours of labyrinthine track we came in sight of the 
 dark plantation-line that girdles Kateef itself land¬ 
 wards. The sea lies immediately beyond ; this we 
 knew, but we could not obtain a glimpse of its 
 waters through the verdant curtain stretched be¬ 
 tween. 
 
 “ About midday we descended the last slope, a 
 steep sandstone cliff, which looks as though it had 
 been the sea-limit of a former period. We now 
 btood on the coast itself. Its level is as nearly as 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 299 
 
 possible tliat of the Gulf beyond; a few feet of a 
 higher tide than usual would cover it up to the 
 cliffs. Hence it is a decidedly unhealthy land, 
 though fertile and even populous ; but the inhabi¬ 
 tants are mostly weak in frame and sallow in com 
 plexion. The atmosphere was thick and oppres¬ 
 sive, the heat intense, and the vegetation hung rich 
 and heavy around; my companions talked about 
 suffocation, and I remembered once more the In¬ 
 dian coast. Another hour of afternoon march 
 brought us to Kateef itself, at its western portal; 
 a high stone arch of elegant form, and Hanked by 
 walls and towers, but all dismantled and ruinous. 
 Close by the two burial grounds, one for the people 
 of the land, the other for the Nedjean rulers and 
 colony—divided even after death by mutual hatred 
 and anathema. Folly, if you will, but folly not pe¬ 
 culiar to the East. 
 
 “ The town itself is crowded, damp, and dirty, and 
 has altogether a gloomy, what for want of a better 
 epithet I would call a mouldy , look ; much busi¬ 
 ness was going on in the market and streets, but 
 the ill-favored and very un-Arab look of the shop¬ 
 keepers and workmen confirms what history tells of 
 the Persian colonization of this city. Indeed, the 
 inhabitants of the entire district, but more especially 
 of the capital, are a mongrel race, in which Persian 
 blood predominates, mixed with that of Bassora, 
 Bagdad, and the ’Irak. 
 
 “ W e urged our starting dromedaries across the 
 open square in front of the market-place, traversed 
 the town in its width, which is scarce a quarter of 
 
300 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 its length, (like other coast towns,) till we emerged 
 from the opposite gate, and then looked out with 
 greedy eyes for the sea, now scarce ten minutes 
 distant. In vain as yet, so low lies the land, and so 
 thick cluster the trees. But after a turn or two we 
 came alongside of the outer walls, belonging to the 
 huge fortress of Karmoot, and immediately after¬ 
 wards the valley opening out showed us almost at 
 our feet the dead shallow fiats of the bay. How 
 different from the bright waters of the Mediterra¬ 
 nean, all glitter and life, where we had bidden them 
 farewell eight months before at Gaza! Like a 
 leaden sheet, half ooze, half sedge, the muddy sea 
 lay in view, waveless, motionless ; to our left the 
 massive walls of the castle went down almost to the 
 water’s edge, and then turned to leave a narrow 
 esplanade between its circuit and the Gulf. On this 
 ledge were ranged a few rusty guns of large calibre, 
 to show how the place was once guarded; and just 
 in front of the main gate a crumbling outwork, 
 which a single cannon-shot would level with the 
 ground, displayed six pieces of honey-combed ar¬ 
 tillery, their mouths pointed seawards. Long stone 
 benches without invited us to leave our camels 
 crouching on the esplanade, while we seated our¬ 
 selves and rested a little before requesting the gov¬ 
 ernor to grant us a day’s hospitality, and permission 
 to embark for Bahreyn. 
 
 “ Barakat and I sat still to gaze, speculating on 
 the difference between the two sides of Arabia. 
 But our companions, like true Arabs, thought it 
 high time for ‘ refreshment,’ and accordingly began 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 301 
 
 their inquiries at the castle gate where the governor 
 might be, and whether he was to be spoken to. 
 When, behold! the majesty of Feysul’s vicegerent 
 issuing in person from his palace to visit the new 
 man-of-war. My abolitionist friends will be gratified 
 to learn that this exalted dignitary is, no less than 
 he of Hofhoof, a negro, brought up from a curly- 
 headed imp to a woolly-headed black in Feysul’s 
 own palace, and now governor of the most impor¬ 
 tant harbor owned by Nedjed on the Persian Gulf, 
 and of the town once capital of that fierce dynasty 
 which levelled the Kaabah with the dust, and filled 
 Kat-eef with the plunder ol Yemen and Syria. Far- 
 hat, to give him his proper name, common among 
 those of his complexion, was a fine tall negro of 
 about fifty years old, good-natured, chatty, hospi¬ 
 table, and furnished with perhaps a trifle more than 
 the average amount of negro intellect. 
 
 “ Aboo- Eysa, who had friends and acquaintances 
 everywhere, and whose kindly manner made him 
 always a special favorite with negroes high or low, 
 had furnished us with an introductory letter to Far- 
 hat, intended to make matters smooth for our future 
 route. But as matters went there was little need of 
 caution. The fortunate coincidence of a strong 
 north wind, just then blowing down the Gulf, gave a 
 satisfactory reason for not embarking on board of a 
 Bassora cruiser, while it rendered a voyage to Bah- 
 reyn, our real object, equally specious and easy. 
 Besides, Farhat himself, who was a good, easy¬ 
 going sort of man, had hardly opened Aboo-’Eysa’a 
 note, than without more ado he bade us a hearty 
 
302 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA 
 
 welcome, ordered our luggage to be brought within 
 the castle precincts, and requested us to step in our¬ 
 selves and take a cup of coffee, awaiting his return 
 for further conversation, after his daily visit of 
 inspection to Feysul’s abridged fleet. 
 
 “ The next day passed, partly in Farhat’s k’hawah, 
 partly in strolling about the castle, town, gardens, 
 and beach, making, meanwhile, random inquiries 
 after boats and boatmen. Kateef offers what might 
 almost be called a violent contrast to the general 
 features of Arabia. The rank luxuriance of its 
 garden vegetation surpasses by much the best 
 watered spots about Hofhoof, and the heavy foliage 
 drooping in the heavy air aroused in me remem¬ 
 brances of a rainy season in the Concan, and sen¬ 
 sations which had been sleeping for many a year. 
 The town itself, damp and dingy as it is, offers little 
 to invite visitors. 
 
 “ It was noon when we fell in with a ship captain, 
 ready to sail that very night, wind and tide permit¬ 
 ting. Farhat’s men had spoken with him, and he 
 readily offered to take us on board. We then paid 
 a visit to the custom-house officer to settle the em¬ 
 barkation dues for men and goods. This foreman 
 of the Ma’asher, whether in accordance with orders 
 from Farliat, or of his own free will and inclination, 
 I know not, proved wonderfully gracious, and 
 declared that to take a farthing of duty from such 
 useful servants of the public as doctors, would be 
 ‘ sheyn w’ khata’,’ ‘ shame and sin.’ Alas, that 
 European custom-house officials should be far re¬ 
 moved from such generous and patriotic sentiments 1 
 
EASTERN ARABIA. 
 
 303 
 
 Lastly, of his own accord he furnished us with men 
 to carry our baggage through knee-deep water and 
 thigh-deep mud to the little cutter, where she lay 
 some fifty yards from shore. Evening now came 
 on, and Earhat sent for us to congratulate us, but 
 with a polite regret on having found so speedy con¬ 
 veyance for our voyage. Meanwhile he let us 
 understand how he was himself invited for the 
 evening to supper with a rich merchant of the town, 
 and that we were expected to join the party; nor 
 need that make us anxious about our passage, 
 since our ship captain was also invited, nor could 
 the vessel possibly sail before the full tide at mid¬ 
 night. 
 
 “ Erom our town supper we returned by torchlight 
 to the castle; our baggage, no great burden, had 
 been already taken down to the sea gate, where 
 stood two of the captain’s men waiting for us. In 
 their company we descended to the beach, and then 
 with garments tucked up to the waist waded to the 
 vessel, not without difficulty, for the tide was rapidly 
 coming in, and we had almost to swim for it. At 
 last we reached the ship, and scrambled up her side; 
 most heartily glad was I to find myself at sea once 
 more on the other side of Arabia.” 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 SHIPWRECK ON THE COAST OF OMAN.— -CONCLUSION. 
 
 A FTER a slow voyage of three days, Palgrave 
 reached Bahreyn, the headquarters of the 
 pearl fisheries, and established himself in the little 
 town of Moharrek, to wait for the arrival of Aboo- 
 ’Eysa, before undertaking his projected exploration 
 of Oman. He and his companion enjoyed a grate- 
 ful feeling of rest and security in this seaport among 
 the sailors, to whom all varieties of foreigners were 
 well known, and who, having no prejudices, felt no 
 suspicion. 
 
 On the 9th of January, 18G3, Aboo-’Eysa arrived, 
 and after much earnest consultation the following 
 plan was adopted : Aboo-’Eysa was to send twenty 
 loads of the best Hasa dates, and a handsome 
 mantle, as presents to the Sultan of Oman, with 
 three additional mantles for the three chiefs "whose 
 territories intervened between Bahreyn and Muscat. 
 Palgrave was to accompany these gifts, under his 
 character of a skilled physician, in quest of certain 
 rare and mysterious herbs of Oman. Meanwhile, 
 
SHIP WRECK OX THE COAST OF 031 A X. 395 
 
 Aboo-’Eysa and Barakat would take passage for 
 Aboo-Shahr (Busheer), in Persia, where the former 
 would be employed for three months in making up 
 his next caravan of Mecca pilgrims. Here Pal- 
 grave was to rejoin them, after his journey. 
 
 In place of Barakat, his companion was a curious 
 individual named Yoosef, whom Aboo-’Eysa had 
 rescued from misery, and maintained in a decent 
 condition. He was a native of Hasa, half a jester 
 and half a knave; witty, reckless, hair-brained to 
 the last degree, full of jocose or pathetic stories, of 
 poetry, traditions, and fun of every description. 
 When everything had been arranged, the four 
 parted company, Palgrave and his new companion 
 sailing for the port of Bedaa’, on the Arabian coast, 
 where resided the first of the three chiefs whose 
 protection it was necessary to secure. They reached 
 there after a cruise of five or six days, finding the 
 place very barren and desolate, with scarcely a tree 
 or a garden; but, as the chief said to Palgrave, 
 “ we are all, from the highest to the lowest, the 
 slaves of one master—Pearl.” The bay contains 
 the best pearl-fishery on the coast, and the town 
 depends for its existence on the trade in these 
 gems. 
 
 The chief was intelligent and friendly, and ap¬ 
 pears to have interposed no obstacle to the pro¬ 
 posed journey into the interior, but Palgrave de¬ 
 cided to go on by sea to the town of Sharjah, on 
 the northern side of the peninsula of Oman. Em¬ 
 barking again on the 6th of February, the vessel 
 was driven by violent winds across to the Persian 
 
306 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 shore, and ten days elapsed before it was possible 
 to reach Sharjah. Here, again, although their re¬ 
 ception was hospitable, the travellers gave up their 
 land journey, and re-embarked in another vessel to 
 pass around the peninsula, through the Straits of 
 Ormuz, and land on the southern shore, in the ter¬ 
 ritory of Muscat. 
 
 In three days they reached the island of Ormuz, 
 of which Palgrave says : “ I was not at all sorry to 
 have an opportunity of visiting an island once so 
 renowmed for its commerce, and of which its Portu¬ 
 guese occupants used to say, ‘ that, w 7 ere the world 
 a golden ring, Ormuz would be the diamond signet.’ 
 The general appearance of Ormuz indicates an 
 extinguished volcano, and such I believe it really is ; 
 the circumference consists of a wide oval wall, 
 formed by steep crags, fire-worn and ragged ; these 
 enclose a central basin, where grow shrubs and 
 grass; the basaltic slopes of the outer barrier run 
 in many places clean dowm into the sea, amid splin¬ 
 ter-like pinnacles and fantastic crags of many colors, 
 like those wdiich lava often assumes on cooling. 
 Between the west and north a long triangular pro- 
 montorv, low and level, advances to a considerable 
 distance, and narrows into a neck of land, which is 
 terminated by a few rocks and a strong fortress, the 
 work of Portuguese builders, but worthy of taking 
 rank among Roman ruins—so solid are the walls, so 
 compact the masonry and w r ell-selected brickwork, 
 against which three long centuries of sea-storm 
 have broken themselves in vain. The greater part 
 of the promontory itself is covered with ruins; 
 
SHIP WRECK ON THE 00AST OF OMAN. 307 
 
 here stood the once thriving town, now a confused 
 extent of desolate heaps, amid which the vestiges 
 of several tine dwellings, of baths, and of a large 
 church, may yet be clearly made out. Close by the 
 fort cluster a hundred or more wretched earth* 
 hovels, the abode of fishermen or shepherds, whose 
 flocks pasture within the crater ; one single shed, 
 where dried dates, raisins, and tobacco are exposed 
 for sale, is all that now remains of the trade of 
 Ormuz.” 
 
 After being detained three days at Ormuz by a 
 storm, the vessel passed through the Strait, skirted 
 the southern coast of the peninsula, and reached 
 the harbor of Sohar on the 3rd of March. Pal- 
 grave determined to set off with Yoosef the same 
 evening on the land-journey of eight or nine days to 
 Muscat; but he had already lost so much time by 
 delays since leaving Balireyn that he yielded to the 
 persuasions of the captain of another vessel, who 
 promised to take him to Muscat by sea in two days. 
 He sailed on the 6th, weighed down with a vague 
 presentiment of coming evil, which w r as soon to be 
 justified. His wanderings in Arabia, and also in 
 this world, very nearly came to an end. The vessel 
 slowly glided on for two days, and Muscat was 
 almost in sight when a dead, ominous calm befell 
 them near the Sowadah Islands—some low reels of 
 barren rocks, about three leagues from shore. 
 What followed must be related in PalgraWs own 
 words: 
 
 “ Towards evening a light southwesterly breeze 
 3 prung up, and we spread our sails, hoping by their 
 
308 
 
 TRA VELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 aid, though the wind was not precisely from the 
 right quarter, to' find our way, after some tacking 
 and wearing, into Muscat harbor. But the breeze 
 rapidly grew till it became a strong gale, and in half 
 an hour’s time it was a downright storm, baffling all 
 nautical manoeuvres. One of our sails was blown 
 to rags, the others were with difficulty got in, and 
 when night closed we were driving under bare poles 
 before a fierce south wester over a raging sea, while 
 the sky, though unclouded, was veiled from view by 
 a general haze, such as often accompanies a high 
 storm. The passengers were frightened, but the 
 sailors and I rather enjoyed the adventure, know¬ 
 ing that we were by this time far off the coast, 
 clear of all rocks, and, in short, anticipating noth¬ 
 ing worse than a day or two extra at sea before get¬ 
 ting round to Muscat. The moon rose—she was in 
 her third quarter—and showed us a weltering waste 
 of waters, -where we were scudding entirely alone; 
 some other vessels which had been in sight at sun¬ 
 set had now totally disappeared. The passengers, 
 and Yoosef among the number, dismayed by the 
 mad roll of the ship, no longer steadied by a stitch 
 of canvas, by the dashing of the waves, and all the 
 confusion of a storm, sat huddled below in the aft 
 cabin, while the helmsman, the captain, and myself, 
 held on to the ropes of the quarter, and so kept our 
 places as best we might; the Sonnees with the Ned- 
 jeans recited verses out of the Koran; the Omanee 
 sailors laughed, or tried to laugh, for some of them, 
 too, began to think the matter serious; no one, 
 
SHIPWRECK ON THE COAST OF OMAN. 309 
 
 however, anticipated, the sudden catastrophe near 
 at hand. 
 
 “ It may have been, to judge by the height of the 
 moon above the horizon, about ten of the night, or 
 a little earlier, when we remarked that the ship, 
 instead of bounding and tossing over the waves as 
 before, began to drive low in the water, with a heavy 
 lurch of a peculiar character. One of the sailors 
 approached the captain and whispered in his eai \ 
 in reply the captain directed them to sound tlit- 
 hold. Two men went to work, and found the lower 
 part of the vessel full of water. Hastily they re¬ 
 moved some side boardings, and saw a large stream 
 pouring into the hole from sternwards ; a plank had 
 
 started. 
 
 “ The captain rose in despair full length, and 
 called out, ‘ Irmoo !’ ‘ throw overboard !’ hoping that 
 lightening the ship of her cargo might yet save her, 
 In a moment the hatchways amidships were removed, 
 and all hands were busy to execute the last and 
 desperate duty. But no more than three bales had 
 been cast into the deep, when a ripple of blue, 
 phosphoric light crossed the main-deck ; the sea 
 was already above board. No chance remained. 
 < Ikhamoo !’ £ plunge for it!’ shouted the captain, and. 
 set the example by leaping himself amid the waves. 
 All this passed in less than a minute ; there was 
 no time for deliberation, or attempt to save any¬ 
 thing. 
 
 “ How to get clear of the whirl which must fol¬ 
 low the ship’s going down was my first thought. I 
 clambered at once on the quarter-deck, which was 
 
310 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 yet some feet raised above tlie triumph of the lash¬ 
 ing waves, invoked Him who can save by sea as well 
 as by land, and dived head foremost as far as I 
 could. After a few vigorous strokes out, I turned 
 my face back towards the ship, whence a wail of 
 despair had been the last sound I had heard. Then 
 I saw amid the raging waters the top of the mizen- 
 mast just before it disappeared below with a spiral 
 movement, while I was yet looking at it. Six men 
 —five passengers and one sailor—had gone down 
 with the vessel. A minute later, and boards, mats, 
 and spars were floating here and there amid the 
 breakers, while the heads of the surviving swimmers 
 now showed themselves, now disappeared, in the 
 inoongleam and shadow. 
 
 “ So rapidly had all this taken place that I had 
 not a moment for so much as to throw off a single 
 article of dress; though the buffeting of the waves 
 soon eased me of turban and girdle. Nor had I 
 even leisure for a thought of deliberate fear ; though 
 I confess that an indescribable thrill of horror, 
 which had come over me when the blue glimmer of 
 the water first rippled over the deck, though scarce 
 noticed at the time, haunted me for months after. 
 But at the actual moment, the struggle for life left 
 no freedom for backward-looking considerations, 
 and I was already making for a piece of timber that 
 floated not far off, when, on looking around more 
 carefully, I descried at some distance the ship’s 
 boat; she had been dragged after us thus far at a 
 long tow, Arab fashion, though who had cut her 
 rope before the ship foundered was what no one of 
 
SHIP WRECK OX THE COAST OF OMAN. 311 
 
 us could ever discover. Slie had now drifted some 
 sixty yards off, and was dancing like an empty nut¬ 
 shell on the ocean. 
 
 “ Being, like the Spanish sailors in ‘Don Juan,’ 
 well aware ‘ That a tight boat will live in a rough 
 sea, Unless with breakers close beneath her lee,’ I 
 gave up the plank, and struck out for the new hope 
 of safety. By the time I had reached her, three of 
 the crew had already established themselves there 
 before me ; they lent me a hand to clamber in ; 
 others now came up, and before long nine men, be¬ 
 sides the lad, nephew of the captain, were in her, 
 closely packed. So soon as I found myself in this 
 ark of respite, though not of safety, I bethought 
 me of Yoosef, whom I had not seen since the mo¬ 
 ment of our wreck. He was not along with us ; but 
 while, scarce hoping, I shouted out his name over 
 the waters to give him a chance of a signal, 1 Here 
 I am, master, God be praised!’ answered the drip¬ 
 ping head ; and we hauled him in to take his for¬ 
 tune with the rest. 
 
 “ We were now twelve—namely, the captain, his 
 nephew, the pilot, and four of the crew; the re¬ 
 maining five consisted of one of the passengers 
 from ’Okdali—for the other had gone down in the 
 ship— the runaway scapegrace of Manfoohali, and a 
 native of Soroeyk, besides Yoosef and myself. 
 Three others at this moment came swimming up, 
 and wished to enter, but the boat, calculated to 
 contain eight or nine at most, was already overload¬ 
 ed, especially for so mad a sea, and to admit a new 
 burden was out of the question. However, tlie 
 
812 
 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 poor fellows got hold of a spare yardarm, which 
 had floated up from the sunken vessel. This we 
 made last to the boat’s stern by a rope, and thus 
 
 look ilie three in tow clinging to it, two passengers 
 and a sailor. 
 
 “ Four oars were stowed in the boat, and her 
 rudder, unshipped, lay in the bottom, along with a 
 small iron anchor and an extra plank or two. The 
 anchor was without delay heaved overboard by the 
 pilot and myself as a superfluous weight, and so 
 were the planks. Meanwhile, some of the sailors 
 pi epared to do as much for the passengers, observ¬ 
 ing, not without a certain show of reason on their 
 side, that with so many on board, there could be 
 remarkably little hope of ever reaching shore; that 
 the boat was after all the sailors’ right, and the rest 
 might manage on the beam astern as best they 
 could. Fortunately during the voyage I had be¬ 
 come a particular friend of the captain and pilot, 
 besides earning the special goodwill of a merry’ 
 sturdy young seaman now in the boat. So I ad¬ 
 dressed myself to them first, and then to all the 
 ciew, and declared the expulsory proposition to be 
 utterly unjust, wicked, and not fit for discussion, and 
 then, to cut short reply, I proceeded, aided by the 
 pilot, who seconded me manfully throughout, to dis¬ 
 tribute the oars among the sailors; as indeed it was 
 high time to do, in order to steady the boat, over 
 which every wave now broke, threatening to send 
 us to the bottom after her old companion. The 
 captain took post at the rudder, while the pilot and 
 myself set to baling out the waUw partly with a 
 
SHIPWRECK ON THE COAST OF OMAN. 313 
 
 leathern bucket which one of the crew had kept the 
 presence of mind to bring with him from the ship, 
 (holding the handle between his teeth no less clev¬ 
 erly than Caesar did his sword off the Alexandrian 
 Pharos,) and partly with a large scoop belonging to 
 the boat; both implements were in constant requi¬ 
 sition, since every bucketful or scoopful of water 
 thrown out, was by the next wave repaid with usu¬ 
 ry, so fiercely did the storm rage around. 
 
 “The Sonnee of Djebel-’Okdah sat up in the 
 boat, repeating verses of the Koran ; the captain’s 
 nephew showed extraordinary spirit for a boy of his 
 age; the sailors managed their oars with much skill 
 and courage, keeping us carefully athwart the roll of 
 the sea; the rest, and I am sorry to say Yoosef 
 for one, were so terribly frightened that they had 
 completely lost their wits, and lay like dead men 
 amid the water in the boat’s bottom, neither raising 
 a head nor saying a word. 
 
 “ Indeed, our position, though not wholly without 
 a gleam of hope, seemed very nearly desperate. 
 We were in an open, overloaded boat, her move¬ 
 ments yet further embarrassed by the beam in tow, 
 far out at sea—so far as to be quite beyond view of 
 coast, though the high shore hereabouts can be seen 
 at a long distance, even by moonlight—with a howl- 
 iug wind, every moment on the increase, and tear¬ 
 ing waves like huge monsters coming on as though 
 with purpose to swallow us up. What reasonable 
 chance had we of ever reaching land ? All de- 
 p ended on the steerage and on the balance and 
 support afioided by the oars; and even more still 
 
314 
 
 TEA YELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 on the providence of Him who made the deep ; nor 
 indeed could I get myself to think that He had 
 brought me thus far to let me drown, just at the 
 end of my journey, and in so very unsatisfactory a 
 way, too ; for had we then gone down, what news 
 of the events off Sowadah would ever have reached 
 home? Or when? So that, altogether, I felt con¬ 
 fident of gettiug somehow or another on shore, 
 though by what means I did not exactly know. 
 The Mahometans on board, (they were two,)—so 
 at least, poor fellows, their demeanor seemed to 
 show—prayed as best they might; the Biadeeyali 
 mostly kept silence, or exchanged a few words rela¬ 
 tive to the management of the boat, while the 
 young sailor already mentioned cracked jokes as 
 coolly as though he had been in his cottage on 
 shore, making the rest laugh in spite of themselves, 
 and thus keeping up their spirits—the best thing 
 just then to be done, for to lose heart would have 
 been to lose all. 
 
 “From an idea that so learned a man (in Arab es¬ 
 timation) as I, ought, among other acquirements, 
 to be better acquainted with the chart than any one 
 else, and perhaps, too, because I seemed to be less 
 thrown out of my reckonings than most of our 
 party, all referred to me for the direction of our ha¬ 
 zardous course. By the stars, a few of which were 
 dimly visible between mist and moonlight, I guessed 
 the whereabouts of shore. It lay almost due 
 south ; but the hurricane had now veered and blew 
 from between west and north; hence we were 
 obliged to follow a southeasterly line, in order to 
 
SHIPWRECK ON THE COAST OF OMAN. 
 
 315 
 
 avoid the sudden destruction of giving a broadside 
 to the waves. Once sure of this point, I made the 
 men keep our boat’s head steady on the tack just 
 explained, and for a long hour we pulled on, baling 
 out the water every moment, and encouraging each 
 other to keep up good heart; that land could not 
 be far off. At last I saw, by the milky moonlight, a 
 rock which I remembered sighting on the previous 
 afternoon ; it was the Rock of Djeyn, an outlying 
 point of the Sowadah group, and now at some dis¬ 
 tance on our leeboard. ‘ Courage!’ I cried out, 
 ‘ there is Djeyn.’ ‘ Say it again, say it again ; God 
 bless you !’ they all exclaimed, as though the repeti¬ 
 tion of the good news would make it of yet better 
 augury ; but I perceived that none of them had 
 his senses enough about him to see the black peak, 
 which now loomed distant over the sea. 4 Is it 
 near?’ asked he of Djebel-’Okdah. ‘Close by,’ I 
 answered, with a slight inaccuracy, which the duty 
 of cheering the crew' might, I hope, excuse. ‘ Pull 
 away, we shall soon pass it.’ But in my own indi¬ 
 vidual thought I much doubted the w r hile whether 
 we ever should, so rapidly did the boat fill from the 
 spray around, while a moment’s mis-steerage would 
 have sent us all to the bottom. 
 
 “ Another hour of struggle ; it w r as past midnight 
 or thereabouts, and the storm, instead of abating, 
 blew stronger and stronger. A passenger, one of 
 the three on the beam astern, felt too numb and 
 wearied out to retain his hold by the spar any 
 longer ; he left it, and swimming with a desperate 
 effort up to the boat, begged in God’s name to be 
 
316 
 
 TRAVELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 taken in. Some were for granting liis request, 
 others for denying ; at last two sailors, moved with 
 pity, laid hold of his arms where he clung to tho 
 boat s side, and helped him in. We were now thir¬ 
 teen together, and the boat rode lower down in the 
 water and with more danger than ever; it was liter- 
 ally a hand’s breadth between life and death. 
 Soon after another, Ibraheem by name, and also a 
 passenger, made a similar attempt to gain admit¬ 
 tance. To comply would have been sheer madness, 
 but the poor wretch clung to the gunwale and 
 struggled to clamber over, till the nearest of tho 
 crew, after vainly entreating him to quit hold and 
 return to the beam, saying: £ It is your only 
 
 chance of life, you must keep to it,’ loosened his 
 grasp by main force, and flung him back into the 
 sea, where he disappeared forever. ‘Has Ibra¬ 
 heem reached you ?’ called out the captain to the 
 sailor now alone astride of the spar. ‘ Ibraheem is 
 drowned,’ came the answer across the waves. ‘ Is 
 drowned,’ all repeated in an undertone, adding, 
 
 1 anc l we too, shall soon be drowned also.’ For in 
 fact, such seemed the on^y probable end of all our 
 endeavors. For the storm redoubled in violence ; 
 the baling could no longer keep up with the rate at 
 which the waves entered; the boat became water¬ 
 logged ; the water poured in, hissing on every side ; 
 she was sinking, and we were yet far out in the 
 open sea. 
 
 Ikhamoo,’ plunge for it, a second time shouted 
 the captain. ‘ Plunge who may, I will stay by the 
 boat so long as she stays by me,’ thought I, and 
 
SHIPWRECK ON THE COAST OF OH AN. 317 
 
 kept my place. Yoosef, fortunately for him, was 
 lying like a corpse, past fear or motion; b ut four of 
 our party, one a sailor, the other three passengers, 
 thinking that all hope of the boat was now over, 
 and that nothing remained them but the spar, or 
 Heaven knows what, jumped into the sea. Their 
 loss saved the remainder; the boat lightened and 
 righted for a moment; the pilot and I baled away 
 desperately; she rose clear once more of the water; 
 those in her were now nine in all—eight men and a 
 boy, the captain’s nephew. 
 
 “ Meanwhile the sea was running mountains, and 
 during the paroxysm of struggle, while the boat 
 pitched heavily, the cord attached from her stern to 
 the beam, snapped asunder. One man was on the 
 spar ; yet a minute or so the moonlight showed us 
 the head of the five swimmers as they strove to re¬ 
 gain the boat. Had they done it we were all lost; 
 then a huge wave separated them from us. ‘ May 
 God have mercy on the poor drowning men!’ ex¬ 
 claimed the captain. Their bodies were washed 
 ashore off Seeb three or four days later. We now 
 remained sole survivors, if indeed we were to prove 
 so. 
 
 “ Our men rowed hard, and the night wore on ; at 
 last the coast came in full view. Before us was a 
 high black rock, jutting out into the foaming sea, 
 whence it rose sheer, like the wall of a fortress; at 
 some distance on the left a peculiar glimmer and a 
 long, white line of breakers assured me of the exis¬ 
 tence of an even and sandy beach. The three sail¬ 
 ors now at the oars, and the man of ’Okdali, who 
 
318 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA. 
 
 had taken the place of the fourth, grown reckless 
 by long toil under the momentary expectation of 
 death, and longing to see an end anyhow to this 
 protracted misery, were for pushing the boat on the 
 locks, because the nearest land, and thus having it 
 all o\ei as soon as possible. This would have been 
 certain destruction. The captain and pilot, well- 
 nigh stupefied by what they had undergone, offered 
 no opposition. I saw that a vigorous effort must 
 be made, so I laid hold of them both, shook them 
 to arouse their attention, and bade them take heed 
 to what the rowers were about, adding that it was 
 slieei suicide, and that our only hope of life was to 
 bear up for the sandy creek, which I pointed out 
 to them at a short distance. 
 
 “ Thus awakened from their lethargy, they start¬ 
 ed up and joined me in expostulating with the sail¬ 
 ors. But the men doggedly answered that they 
 could hold out no more j that whatever land was 
 nearest they would make for it, come what might, 
 
 and with this they pulled on straight towards the 
 cliff. 
 
 The captain hastily thrust the rudder into the 
 pilot’s hand, and springing on one of the sailors, 
 pushed him from the bench and seized his oar, 
 while I did the same to another on the opposite 
 side, and we now got the boat’s head round towards 
 the bay. The refractory sailors, ashamed of their 
 own faintheartedness, begged pardon, and prom¬ 
 ised to act henceforth according to our orders. We 
 gave them back their oars, very glad to see a strife 
 %o dangerous, especiallj 7 at such a moment, soon at 
 
SHIPWRECK ON THE COAST OF OMAN. 
 
 319 
 
 an end, and the men pulled for the left, though full 
 half an hour’s rowing jet remained between us and 
 the breakers, and the course which we had to hold 
 was more hazardous than before, because it laid the 
 boat almost parallel with the sweep of the water. 
 But half an hour, yet I thought we should never 
 come opposite the desired spot. 
 
 “ At last we neared it, and then a new danger ap¬ 
 peared. The first row of breakers, rolling like a 
 cataract, was still far off shore, at least a hundred 
 yards, and between it and the beach appeared a 
 white yeast of raging waters, evidently ten or 
 twelve feet deep, through which, weary as we all 
 were, and benumbed with the night chill and the 
 unceasing splash of the spray over us, I felt it to 
 be very doubtful whether we should have strength 
 to struggle. But there was no avoiding it, and 
 when we drew near the long white line, which glit¬ 
 tered like a witch fire in the night, I called out to 
 Yoosef and the lad, both of whom lay plunged in 
 deathlike stupor, to rise and get ready for the hard 
 swim now inevitable. They stood up, the sailors 
 laid aside their oars, and a moment after, the curl¬ 
 ing wave capsized the boat, and sent her down as 
 though she had been struck by a cannon-shot, 
 while we remained to fight for our lives in the sea. 
 
 “ Confident in my own swimming powers, but 
 doubtful how far those of Yoosef might reach, I at 
 once turned to look for him, and seeing him close 
 by me in the water, I caught hold of him, telling 
 him to hold fast and I would help him to land. 
 But with much presence of mind he thrust back my 
 
TEA VELS IX ARABIA. 
 
 3:0 
 
 grasp, exclaiming: ‘ Save yourself, I am a good 
 swimmer, never fear for me !’ The captain and the 
 young sailor laid hold of the boy, the captain’s ne¬ 
 phew, one on either side, and struck out with him 
 for the shore. It was a desperate effort; every 
 wave overwhelmed us in its burst and carried us 
 back in its eddy, while I drank much more salt 
 water than was at all desirable. At last, after some 
 minutes long as hours, I touched land, and scram¬ 
 bled up the sandy beach as though the avenger of 
 blood had been behind me. One by one the rest 
 came ashore—some stark naked, having cast off' or 
 lost their remaining clothes in the whirling eddies ; 
 others yet retaining some part of their dress. Every¬ 
 one looked around to see whether his companions 
 arrived, and when all nine stood together on the 
 beach, all cast themselves prostrate on the sands to 
 thank Heaven for a new 1-ease of life granted af\er 
 much danger and so many comrades lost. 
 
 “ Then rising, they ran to embrace each cfflier, 
 laughed, cried, sobbed, danced. I never saw men 
 so completely unnerved as they on this first mo¬ 
 ment of sudden safety. One grasped the ground 
 with his hands, crying out, £ Is this really land we 
 are on ?’ Another said, ‘ And where are our com¬ 
 panions ?’ A third, ‘ God have mercy on the dead; 
 let us now thank Him for our own lives !’ A fourth 
 stood bewildered ; all their long and hard-stretched 
 self-possession gave way. Yoosef had lost his last 
 lag of dress; 1 had, fortunately, yet on two long 
 Hurts, (one is still by me,) reaching down to the 
 feet, Arab fashion. I now gave my companion one, 
 
SHIPWRECK ON THE COAST OF OMAN. 
 
 321 
 
 keeping the other for myself; my red skull-cap had 
 also held firm on my head, so that I was as well ofi 
 01 better than any. 4 We may count this day foi 
 the day of our birth; it is a new life after death,’ 
 said the young Omanee sailor. 4 There have been 
 others praying for us at home, and for their sake 
 God has saved us,’ added the pilot, thinking of his 
 family and children. 4 True ; and more so, perhaps, 
 than you know of,’ replied I, remembering some yet 
 further distant. 
 
 While we were thus conversing, and beginning 
 to look around and wonder on what part of the 
 coast we had landed, the distant sound of a gun 
 was heard on the right. 4 That must be the mora¬ 
 ls gun of Seeb, said the captain. Seeb, being a 
 foitified town, and often a royal residence, has the 
 privilege of a garison and artillery; now, +rom the 
 whereabouts of our wreck, opposite Sowadah, we 
 could not be very far thence. We were yet discuss¬ 
 ing this point, when another gun made itself heard 
 fiom inland. That must be from the palace at 
 Bathat-Farzuh ’ (the valley of Farzah), said another. 
 
 4 Thoweynee is certainly there, for the palace guns 
 
 nevei file excej^t when the Sultan is in residence 
 with his court.’ 
 
 It was now the first glimmer of doubtful dawn, 
 and the wind, sweeping furiously along the beach, 
 rendeied some shelter necessary; tor we were drip¬ 
 ping and chilled to the bone. So we crept to lee- 
 \\ ai d of a cluster of bushes, and there each dug out 
 for himself a long trench in the sand ; and after 
 having thus put ourselves in some degree under 
 
322 
 
 TEA VELS IN ARABIA . 
 
 cover, we waited for the morning, which seemed as 
 though it would never come. At last the moonlight 
 faded away, and the sun rose, though his rays did 
 not reach us quite so soon as we should have 
 desired, for the creek where we had landed was 
 bordered on either side by high hills, shutting out 
 the horizon. These hills ended in precipices towards 
 the sea ; on the left was the very rock on which the 
 despairing impatience of the crew had almost driven 
 us the night before ; it looked horrible. The wind 
 yet blew high, and we were shivering with cold in 
 our scanty clothing. Those who, like myself, had 
 come on shore with more than what was absolutely 
 necessary for decency, had shared it with those who 
 had nothing. 
 
 “ When the sunbeams at last struck over the hill¬ 
 side on the right, we hastened to warm ourselves 
 and to dry our apparel—a task speedily performed 
 with so slender a wardrobe. Next we reconnoitred 
 the position, with which some of the crew found 
 themselves to be not wholly unacquainted. It was 
 a little to the east of Seeb; but between us and that 
 town was a high and broad range of rocks, on which 
 our naked feet had no great disposition to venture ; 
 on the west we were hemmed in by a corresponding 
 barrier. But landwards the valley ran up sandy be¬ 
 tween the hills, and in that direction appeared an 
 easier path, leading ultimately, so the sailors 
 averred, to the Sultan’s country palace—the same 
 whence we had heard the night gun, nor could it be 
 very far off. Once at the palace, all reckoned on 
 the well-known liberality of Thoweynee for obtain- 
 
SHIPWRECK ON T1IE COAST OF OMAN. 323 
 
 ing assistance. Thither we resolved to go ; jet be¬ 
 fore setting out we turned back to look once more 
 on the sea, still raging in mad fury. Not a trace of 
 our saviour boat appeared, not a sail in sight, 
 though the day before (a day that now seemed a 
 year ago), there had been many. Ten large vessels, 
 part belonging to the Persian coast, part to the 
 Omanee, had gone down besides our own, close to 
 the Sowadah rocks, that very night; three, as I 
 afterwards learned, perished with every soul on 
 board ; from one alone the entire crew escaped ; the 
 rest lost, some more, some less; we had, at any 
 rate, companions in misfortune. Gazing on the 
 ocean, every one made aloud the ordinary resolution 
 of shipwrecked sailors never to attempt the faith¬ 
 less element again ; a resolution kept, I doubt not, 
 as steadily as most such—that is, for a fortnight or 
 three weeks. 
 
 “We then proceeded to toil southwards across 
 sands and slopes in quest of the king’s residence. 
 
 ‘ A sorry plight,’ said I to Yoosef, * for us to present 
 ourselves in before his majesty. Were the gifts 
 along with us, our visit might be more to the pur¬ 
 pose.’ Yoosef sighed ; that part of our misadventure 
 fell indeed mainly on him. For myself, I had of 
 course lost every article retained since our parting 
 with Aboo-’Eysa. What annoyed me more seriously 
 was the loss of all my notes, taken from January 
 23d, up to the present date, namely, March 10th, 
 and herein must lie my apology for a certain amount 
 of omission and incompleteness during the part of 
 my story included between those periods, perhaps 
 
324 
 
 TEA VELS IE ARABIA. 
 
 even some involuntary inaccuracies. To the disap¬ 
 pearance of my cash in hand I was less sensible, 
 though in fact it was scarcely a joke to lind oneself 
 penniless, with a penniless and nearly naked com¬ 
 panion, in a strange land, and far from friends or 
 resources. But all this was a tritle compared to the 
 mishap of the captain—deprived of ship, cargo, 
 and everything except the shirt on his back. The 
 rest of the crew were, in proportion, no better otf*. 
 However, several had lost what was far more essen¬ 
 tial—their lives; and in comparison with them we 
 might well deem ourselves fortunate.” 
 
 Walking until nearly noon, they reached the 
 palace of the JSultan, a large and handsome build¬ 
 ing, in a fertile valley. The ruler, who was seated 
 in the portico, reviewing some troops, listened to 
 the captain’s story with an air of compassion, and 
 then ordered that all should be fed and clothed. In 
 the evening one of the Sultan’s ministers sent for 
 Palgrave, who saw that his assumed character was 
 suspected. As there were several natives of Nedjed 
 at the court, the discovery of his nationality might 
 have been carried back to their country, to the pre¬ 
 judice, and possibly danger, of his friend Aboo- 
 'Eysa. For this reason, only—for there could have 
 been now no further risk to himself, in discovery— 
 he resolved to leave the palace, and make his way 
 directly to Muscat. Accompanied by Yoosef, he 
 arrived there after a barefoot march of two days, 
 and felt that his secret was at last safe. 
 
 He was obliged, however, to give up all idea of 
 exploring the interior of Oman. He already felt 
 
SHIPWRECK ON THE COAST 01 OMAN. 325 
 
 the coming symptoms of a typhus fever, the result 
 of so many hardships and exposures; and on the 
 23rd of March set sail, with Yoosef, for Busheer. 
 The fever developed itself on the voyage, and when 
 the vessel arrived, it was necessary to carry him to 
 the house of Aboo-’Eysa. Here he lay in a state 
 of semi-delirium until the arrival of the English 
 steamer, to the surgeon of which and the kindness 
 of the officers, he was probably indebted for his 
 recovery. 
 
 After regaining his strength at Bagdad, where he 
 found his faithful Barakat, Palgrave returned to 
 Syria by way of Mosul and Aleppo, having com¬ 
 pleted the most important and interesting journey 
 aver yet made by any traveller in Arabia. 
 
 FINIS. 
 

Scribners’ New List 
 
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 Books for Young Folks 
 
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A NEW BOOK OF LEGENDS. 
 
 A COMPANION VOLUME TO THE “ BOY'S FROISSART" AND THE “ BOV'S 
 
 KING ARTHUR .” 
 
 THE BOY’S MABINOGION. 
 
 Edited, with an Introduction, by SIDNEY LANIER. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED FREDERICKS. 
 
 (>»»« Volume Crown Svo, Extra Cloth, - - - $3.00 
 
 The series of Boys’ classics of History and Legend, which Mr. Sidney Lanier has 
 begun so auspiciously with his BOY’S FROISSART and BOY’S KING ARTHUR, has 
 an important addition this year in the BOY’S MABINOGION, a companion to the last- 
 named volume, being the Welsh legends of King Arthur and his knights. This series is 
 to receive still further and very important accessions hereafter. 
 
 *i*For sale by all booksellers , or will be sent , postpaid , upon receipt of price, by 
 
 Charles Scribner’s Sons, Publishers. 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
I he book is romantic , poetical, and full of the real adz’eniure which is so much mor~ 
 wholesome than the sham which fills so much of the stimulating juvenile literature of the dav.” 
 — Detroit Free Press. 
 
 THE BOY’S KING ARTHUR. 
 
 Being Sir THOMAS MALORY'S History of King Arthur and 
 his Knights of the Round Table. 
 
 Edited, with an Introduction, by SIDNEY LANIER. 
 
 WITH 12 ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED KAPPES. 
 
 One Volume Seo, Extra Cloth - $3.00. 
 
 Mr. Sidney Lanier, under the title of THE BOY’S KING ARTHUR, has given the 
 FROISSART a companion which perhaps even surpasses it. However familiar the Ar¬ 
 thurian heroes may be to him, as mere names encountered in poetry and scattered legends, 
 not one boy in ten thousand will be prepared for the endless fascination of the great 
 stories in their original shape and vigor of language. He will have something of the 
 feeling with which, at their first writing, as Mr. Lanier says in his Preface, the “fasci¬ 
 nated world read of Sir Lancelot du Lake, of Queen Guenever, of Sir Tristram, of Queen 
 Isolde, of Merlin, of Sir Gawaine, of the Lady of the Lake, of Sir Galahad, and of the 
 wonderful search for the Holy Cup, called the * Saint Graal.’ ” 
 
 *** For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, upon receipt of price , by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY. NEW YORK. 
 
“ That boy will be lucky who gets Air. Sidney Lanier’s Boy’s Froissart for a Christmas y> e* 
 ant this year. There is 710 better and healthier reading for boys than ‘ Fine Sir John;' and this 
 volume is so handsome, so well printed, and so well illustrated, that it is a pleasure to look it over." 
 --Nation. _ 
 
 THE BOY’S FROISSART. 
 
 Edited, with an Introduction, by SIDNEY LANIER. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED KAPPES. 
 
 “As you read of the fair knights and the foul knights, — for Froissart tells of both,— 
 it cannot but occur to you that somehow it seems harder to be a good knight nowadays 
 than it was then. . . . Nevertheless the same qualities which made a manful fighter then, 
 make one now. To speak the very truth ; to perform a promise to the utmost; to rever¬ 
 ence all women; to maintain right and honesty; to help the weak; to treat high and low 
 with courtesy ; to be constant to one love ; to be fair to a bitter foe ; to despise luxury ; to 
 pursue simplicity, modesty, and gentleness in heart and bearing, — this was in the oath of 
 the young knight who took the stroke upon him in the fourteenth century, and this is 
 •till the way to win love and glory in the nineteenth.” — Extract from the Preface. 
 
 * ff For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent , postpaid , upon receipt of price, by 
 
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A New Edition at Reduced Price 
 
 ABOUT OLD STORY-TELLERS. 
 
 OP HOW AND WHEN THEY LIVED, AND WHAT STORIES 
 
 THEY TOLD. 
 
 By DONALD G. MITCHELL, 
 
 AUTHOR OF “THE REVERIES OF A BACHELOR,” ETC., ETC. 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The long silence of this favorite author is at length broken, and it is the young people 
 whom he now invites to the feast which he has prepared for them. The somewhat 
 quaint title of the book faithfully indicates its contents. 
 
 In the Preface, which is addressed to “ Grown-up People,” Mr. Mitchell very charm¬ 
 ingly says, “ In the matter of books, as in the world, I believe in old friends, and don’t 
 think they should be laid away upon the shelf without good cause ; and age is hardly 
 cause enough. In short, I must confess a lurking fondness for those good, old-fashionea 
 stories which were current forty years ago,—ant! some of them maybe a hundred years 
 ago, — written in good, straightforward English, with good, straightforward intent.” 
 
 ***T'or sale by all booksellers , or will be sent, prepaid, vpon receipt of price , by 
 
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 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
A Sew Hook by Frank It, Stockton. 
 
 THE FLOATING PRINCE 
 
 AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. 
 
 One Yol.y Quarto, Extra Cloth, $2,60 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY BENSELL AND OTHERS. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF NASSIMIA AFLOAT. 
 
 Mr. Stockton’s name alone is enough to make the announcement of his new collec¬ 
 tion of stones bring a smile of glad anticipation to the faces of those who have laughed 
 over his Rudder Grange and Jolly Fellowship, and remember those excellent books 
 Roundabout Rambles and Tales out of School, which are now reissued in new edi¬ 
 tions in an attractive style. 
 
 With “The Floating Prince” are published “The Reformed Pirate” “How the 
 Aristocrats Sailed Away,” and several equally good Fairy Tales, all of which are illus¬ 
 trated in the most captivating style. 
 
 * * I* or sale by all booksellers, or will be sent , prepaid, upon receipt of price , by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
A Jolly Fellowship. 
 
 BY 
 
 Frank E. Stockton, 
 
 Author of 
 
 judder (grange . 
 
 One vol. i2mo. Extra Cloth. 
 
 gltofratfd* 
 
 Price,.$1.50 
 
 Mr. Stockton has given so many 
 proofs of his powers to interest 
 and amuse young people, that a 
 new book from his pen will not 
 fail of a hearty welcome. 
 
 “A Jolly Fellowship” is the 
 story of the adventures of two 
 school-boys, who make a vacation 
 trip to Florida. They form a fast 
 friendship with a young girl of 
 their own age, who is traveling 
 there with her parents, and the 
 league which they make is the 
 “ jolly fellowship.” They have a 
 good many adventures, get into 
 all sorts of scrapes, and have a 
 good time generally. 
 
 Some of their experiences are 
 very funny, and so are many of 
 the characters they fall in with. 
 
 The pictures, by Mr. Kelly, 
 have unusual merit, and are ex¬ 
 actly in keeping with the text 
 they illustrate. 
 
 *** For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, upon receipt of price, by 
 
 Charles Scribner’s Sons, publishers, 
 
 ;43 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
New Editions of Old Favorites 
 
 ROUNDABOUT RAMBLES 
 
 IN LANDS OF FAOT AND FICTION, 
 
 By FRANK R. STOCKTON. 
 
 One Vol., Quarto. Boards, With very attractive Lithographed Cover. 370 Cages, 
 
 200 Illustrations. 
 
 Brice reduced from $3.00 to - - _ _ _ _ 
 
 Uniform with “ lionn<1 about Hambies,” 
 
 TALES OUT OF SCHOOL. 
 
 A >eut h'diiion. Brice reduced from $3.00 to - $1.50 
 
 The constant demand for Mr. Stockton’s popular books, which has already exhausted 
 two large editions, leads the publishers to re-issue them in a new ind attractive form at 
 a reduced price to command a popular sale. « 
 
 ** ‘ f'orsale by all booksellers, or will be sent, p> efaid, upon receipt oj price, by 
 
 Charlfs Scribner’s Sons, Publishers, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK". 
 
A Novel of Boy Life. 
 
 PHAETON ROGERS. 
 
 By ROSSITER JOHNSON. 
 
 One Vol. f Square 12mo. Illustrated. Handsomely bound, - - $1.&0 
 
 The action in this capital story grows mainly out of the hero's inventive faculty, 
 which manifests itself in horizontal balloon ascensions and artificial comets, as we V 
 in quieter and more useful mechanical problems. Other characters contribute their 
 share—Isaac Holman, the learned boy, Jimmy Redmond, the poetical boy, and Ned 
 Rogers, brother of the hero, the impulsive and blundering boy. 
 
 *For sale by all booksellers , or will be sent prepaid , upon receipt of price , by 
 
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 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
“ For children, what could be better as a Christmas gift than a copy of Airs. Dodge's 
 I Ians Brinker; or, the Silver Skates, of which we are now given a new and 
 beautiful edition ? This is one of the most charming of juvenile stories, dealing with 
 Jresh scenes and a strange life, and told with sweet simplicity and great beauty.” — Con- 
 GREGATIONALIST. J 
 
 A NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION OT 
 
 HANS BRINKER: 
 
 Or, THE SILVER SKATES. 
 
 A STORY OF LIFE IN HOLLAND. 
 
 By Mrs. MARY MAPES DODGE, 
 
 Author of “Rhymes and Jingles,” and Editor of “St. Nicholas.” 
 
 WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 HANS BRINKER; or, THE SILVER SKATES, Is one of those stories which is 
 destined to be a source of perennial delight to generation after generation of children. It 
 tells of life in Holland, a country which changes so little that a story of people who 
 lived there twenty years ago might be told of to-day as well; and it is marked through 
 out by a vivacity, a freshness, and a healthy vigor, which goes straight to the heart o< 
 every reader, whether he be old or young. 
 
 *** For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, upon receipt of price, by 
 
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 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 
 
A Charming New Volume for Girls and Boys 
 
 RHYMES AND JINGLES. 
 
 A Neiv Edition, with additions and New Illustrations. 
 
 One Vol., Small Quarto . Cloth, ______ $1.50 
 
 Mrs. MARY MAPES DODGE is not only one of the best editors of young people’s 
 literature, but one of the best of living writers for children. Her “Hans Brinker” in 
 prose, and her many songs and brief-rhymed stories have been among the most popular 
 writings of their kind ever published in America. 
 
 In the present volume the child-poems by her, which have had the free range of the 
 newspaper press for many years, are now brought together for the first time. Thousands 
 of children who have learned not a few of these verses by heart will now, for the first 
 time, discover the name of their author. “ Rhymes and Jingles ” are not written about 
 children but for them, and some of them have been pronounced “without rivals in our 
 language.” Every child should have a copy of these witty and beautiful verses. 
 
 * For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent , prepaid , upon receipt of price, by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
Noah Brooks’ Books for Boys. 
 
 THE FAIRPORT NINE. 
 
 By NOAH BROOKS. 
 
 One Vol.f 12mo. Handsomely botmd, - 
 
 Like Mr. Brooks’s Boy Emigrants, this is a story of American boys. Although it 
 treats of a base-ball club, it is by no means exclusively devoted to the chronicles of 
 the game. 
 
 The Fairport Nine have their closely contested matches with the “White Bears,’’ 
 and the description will bring vividly before every lover of that manly sport similar 
 scenes in which he has shared. But they also have their Fourth of July frolic, their 
 military company, their camp in the woods, and the finding of hidden treasure with 
 many boyish episodes, in which are faithfully portrayed the characteristic features of 
 American boys’ life in the country. It is a capital story, with a manly and healthful 
 tone, and will go straight to a boy’s heart. 
 
 THE BOY EMIGRANTS. 
 
 By NOAH BROOKS. 
 
 One Vol., 12mo., cloth. New Edition, - $1.50 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THOMAS MORAN, W. L. SHEPPARD, and others. 
 
 The Boy Emigrants is a story of the adventures of a party of young gold seekers on 
 the Overland Emigrant Route, and in California, during the early rush to the mines. 
 Since the author was himself an emigrant of this description, the scenes and incidents 
 are drawn from life, and the book may be accepted as a fresh and vivid picture of life 
 on the Plains and in the mines from an entirely novel point of view. 
 
 While the story is not designed to be a history, it reproduces in a graphic and 
 spirited manner the wonderful and exceptional phases of the life of which it treats. 
 The illustrations by Moran, Sheppard, and other artists, give additional attractiveness 
 to the book. 
 
 * : fFor sale by all booksellers, or will be sent , prepaid, upon receipt of price , by 
 
 Charles Scribner’s Sons, Publishers, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
"'One of the most attractive narratives for lads that has been written in many a. 
 day. It is clean, breezy and natural. — N. Y. Home Journal. 
 
 DAB KINZER. 
 
 A STORY OF A GROWING BOY. 
 
 By WILLIAM O. STODDARD. 
 
 One Vol., 12mo, 330 pages, - - _____ $1.00 
 
 Dab Kinzer is one of the delightful tales that worthily takes rank with “ Phaeton 
 Rogers,” “A Jolly Fellowship,” or “Hans Brinker.” There is abundant opportunity 
 for boy-heroism and manly adventure in the nautical expeditions of Dab and his friends, 
 and the triumphs and achievements as well as the trials and tribulations of boy-life 
 furnish ample diversity of plot and incident. 
 
 CRITICAL, NOTICES. 
 
 “ A really good story for boys is a good story for anybody and everybody. Just such is furnished 
 in the volume before us.”— Davenport Gazette. 
 
 “ It fairly brims over with humor, and it is as breezy all through as the Long Island shore whereon 
 Dab Kinzer lived.’ 1 — American Rural Home. 
 
 “ The book is enlivened with a racy and genuine humor. It is, moreover, notably healthy in its 
 tone, and in every way is just the thing for boys.”— Philadelphia North American. 
 
 “ It is full of fun, liveliness, and entertainment. Dab Kinzer will be voted a good fellow, wheth¬ 
 er at home, at school, or out fishing.”— Portland Press. 
 
 11 It is written in that peculiarly happy vein which enchants while it instructs, and is one of those 
 thoroughly excellent bits of juvenile literature which now and then crop out from the surface of a mass 
 of common-place.”— Philadelphia Press. 
 
 “ In a literary point of view, we are inclined to rank this book among the first of its kind * * __ * 
 
 A father who wants his boy to grow up in a manly way, may find in such books something to help him. 
 amazingly ,”—Christian Intelligencer. 
 
 Uniform with “ Dab KinzerJ 9 
 
 THE QUARTET. 
 
 A SEQUEL TO DAB KINZER. 
 
 By WILLIAM O. STODDARD. 
 
 One Vol., 12mo, 330 pages, - $1.00 
 
 Mr. Stoddard’s Dab Kinzer proved so popular, both as a serial and in book form, 
 that he has published a sequel to that story which gives Dab a good education and a 
 wife. Nothing in juvenile literature can excel the healthful manly quality of these 
 stories. ___ 
 
 ***For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent , prepaid , upon receipt of price, by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
STANDARD BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 TRAVEL, HISTORY, SCIENCE AND ART. 
 
 A New Edition at Reduced Price . 
 
 BAYARD TAYLOR’S LIBRARY OF TRAVEL. 
 
 fi VoU., square f.’mo, with many ,illustration,. Bandtomr'y bound. 
 
 JAPAN IN OUR DAY. 
 TRAVELS IN ARABIA. 
 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL 
 AFRICA. 
 
 SIAM, THE LAND OF THE WHITE 
 ELEPHANT. 
 
 Price per set, in a box, 
 
 or sold separately at $1.25 per volume. 
 
 $ 6.00 
 
 EPOCHS OF HISTORY. 
 
 These volumes contain the ripe results of the studies of men ivho are authorities in their re¬ 
 spective fields. —The Nation. 
 
 EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. 
 
 THE ERA OF PROTESTANT REVOLU¬ 
 TION. 
 
 THE CRUSADES. 
 
 THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR, 1618 - 1648 . 
 THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER & YORK. 
 "HE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND 
 FIRST EMPIRE. 
 
 THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. 
 
 THE FALL OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 THE PURITAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 THE EARLY PLANTAGENETS. 
 
 AGE OF ANNE. 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE 
 AGES. 
 
 THE NORMANS IN EUROPE. 
 FREDERICK THE GREAT AND THE 
 SEVEN YEARS’ WAR. 
 
 EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. 
 THE GREEKS AND THE PERSIANS. 
 THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE. 
 
 THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. 
 
 EARLY ROME. 
 
 THE GRACCHI MARIUS AND SULLA. 
 THE ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES. 
 
 THE EARLY EMPIRE. 
 
 THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES. 
 TROY. 
 
 ROME AND CARTHAGE. 
 
 *** Each one vol., 16mo, with Maps. 
 Each volume complete in itself, and 
 sold separately. 
 
 Price per vol., in cloth, - $ 1.00 
 
 The same in sets Roxburgh binding, gilt top, at the rate of $1.00 per vol. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF WONDERS. 
 
 The First Series Comprises: 
 
 Illus 
 
 WONDERFUL ESCAPES. 26 
 
 BODILY STRENGTH AND SKILL. 70 
 
 BALLOON ASCENTS.... o 0 
 
 GREAT HUNTS. 22 
 
 EGYPT 3,300 YEARS AGO. 40 
 
 THE SUN. By Guillemin . «;8 
 
 THE HUMAN BODY 
 
 THE SUBLIME IN NATURE 44 
 
 INTELLIGENCE OF ANIMALS Z 
 
 THUNDER AND LIGHTNING 20 
 
 BOTTOM OF THE SEA 
 
 ITALIAN ART . „a 
 
 WONDERS OF HEAT . .. qo 
 
 OPTICAL WONDERS. rr 
 
 EUROPEAN ART. . 
 
 ARCHITECTURE .... In 
 
 WONDERS OF ACOUSTICS . no 
 
 THE HEAVENS. ' 
 
 GLASS-MAKING. . 
 
 WONDERS OF POMP!?!! . 
 
 Price per single vol., cloth, - - - _ _ _ _ $1 a ~ 
 
 The same, in sets of 20 vols., cloth, with a rack, - _ 25MO 
 
 * ** For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent prepaid , upon receipt of price, by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
JULES VERNE’S GREATEST WORK. 
 
 THE EXPLORATION OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Three Volumes Sro Extra Cloth, with 100 Full-page Engravings in each. 
 
 Price, $3.50 per Volume. 
 
 In this chief of his works, M. Jules Verne has set himself to tell the story of all the 
 most stirring adventures of which we have any written record, — to give the history, 
 “ irom the time of Hanno and Herodotus down to that of Livingstone and Stanley,” of 
 those voyages of exploration and discovery which are among the most thrilling episodes 
 in the history of human enterprise. In short, M. Verne has chosen for his most important 
 book the only subject which he could make surpass his own vivid and realistic stories in 
 absorbing interest : to the treatment of such material he brings all the dash and vivid 
 picturesqueness of his own creations, and it may be imagined that he makes a book 
 worth reading. 
 
 The plan of the work is se valuable that it is a matter for surprise that such a histo¬ 
 ry has never been undertaken before. To trace connectedly the progress of discovery, as 
 M. Verne does, from the time when the world was a very small circle indeed, surrounded 
 by the densest of outer darkness, and when the Carthagenian navigators ventured timidiy 
 out of the Mediterranean, is to gain an altogether new idea of the daring and skill that 
 has been expended in this one direction. It is a worthy subject for the most ambitious 
 work of such a writer. 
 
 The work includes three divisions, each in one volume complete in itself,— 
 
 I. FAMOUS TRAVELS AND TRAVELLERS. 
 
 II. THE GREAT NAVIGATORS. 
 
 III. THE EXPLORERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Each volume in the series is very fully illustrated with full-page engravings by French 
 artists of note; and the volume of “FAMOUS TRAVELS” is made still more interest¬ 
 ing by many fac-similes from the original prints in old voyages, atlases, etc. 
 
 “ The Prince of Story - tellers ." — London Times. 
 
 THE WORKS OF JULES VERNE. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS. 
 
 THE COMPLETE AND AUTHORIZED EDITIONS. 
 
 The following works of M. Jules Verne are published by Messrs. Charles Scribner’s Sons, by ar¬ 
 rangement with Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. of London, in accordance with the right ceded to them by 
 MM. Hetzel & C!o., the publishers of M. Verne’s works in the original French edition. These volumes 
 contain all the illustrations of the French edition, and are the only complete and authorized books of M. 
 Jules Verne published in this country. 
 
 MICHAEL STROGOFF ; or, The Courier of the Czar. One vol. 8vo . . . . $3 00 
 
 A FLOATING CITY AND THE BLOCKADE RUNNERS. One vol. 8vo . 300 
 
 DICK SANDS. One vol. 8vo ..3 00 
 
 A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. One vol. i2mo . . . 3 00 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. The complete work in one volume, with 150 illustrat ons, 300 
 HECTOR SERVADAC. One vol. 8vo ........... 3 00 
 
 STORIES OF ADVENTURE. One vol. i2mo ......... 1 so 
 
 FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON Direct in Ninety-seven Hours, Tw nty 
 
 Minutes, and a Journey Around it. One vol. i2mo. Price reduced to . . . . 1 50 
 
 THE DEMON OF CAWNPORE. Being Part First of THE STEAM HOUSE. One 
 
 vol. i2mo. 1 30 
 
 TIGERS AND TRAITORS. Being Part Second of THE STEAM HOUSE. One vol. nmo, 1 50 
 
 * For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent , postpaid , upon receipt of price, by 
 
 Charles Scribner’s Sons, Publishers, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
JULES VERNE’S LATEST STORY 
 
 The Giant Raft. Part f. 
 
 EIGHT-HUNDRED LEAGUES 
 
 ON THE AMAZON. 
 
 One Vol., Square 12nto, Extra Cloth. - 
 
 WITH FIFTY FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 $1.50 
 
 THE START OF THE JURGADA. 
 
 trations by French artists Jnd hL ft? Bouse, it is adorned with many spirited illus- 
 which julcs Vernc £»£* ^"pul'intoan his booLU'"'" ° f •“"««»* 
 
 *** For sale by all booksellers, or will be seat, pre-paid, upon receipt of pr,u, by 
 
 Charles Scribner’s Sons. Publishers, 
 
 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.