Chapter 20 of Southern Arabia This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Southern Arabia by James and Mabel Bent. Chapter 20 The Gara Mountains At length, we turned our faces towards the Gara Mountains with considerable interest and curiosity, and prepared to ascend them by a torturous valley, the Wadi Gersid, which dives into their very midst and forms the usual approach for camels as the mountain sides in other parts are too precipitous. After riding up the valley for a few miles, we came across one of the small lakes of which we were in quest nestling in a rocky hole and with its fine boulders hung with ferns and vegetation, forming altogether one of the most ideal spots we had ever seen. That arid Arabia could produce so lovely a spot was to us one of the greatest surprises of our lives. Water birds and water plants were here to be found in abundance and the hill slopes around were decked with fine sycamores and acacia trees amongst the branches of which sweet white jesamine, several species of convolvulus and other creepers climb. The water was deliciously cool, rushing forth from three different points in the rock among maiden hair and other ferns into the basin which formed the lake, but it is impregnated with lime which leaves a deposit all down the valley along its course. Evidence of the mighty rush of water during the rains is seen on all sides. Rubbish is then cast into the branches of the great fig trees and the Bedouin told us that at times this valley is entirely full of water and quite impassable. Next day we pursued our way up the gorge of Gerseed, climbing higher and higher, making our way through dense woods, often dangerous for the camel riders and obliging us frequently to dismount. Merchants who visited afar in pursuit of their trade knew of these valleys and not unnaturally brought home glowing accounts of their fertility and thus gained for Arabia a reputation which has been thought to be exaggerated. In the Wadi Gerseed amongst the dense vegetation which makes the spot a veritable paradise, we came across many Bedouin of the Bayt Al-Kathan family tending their flocks and dwelling in the caves. They were all exceedingly obsequious to Sheik Sehel and we soon found that he was a veritable king amongst them and forthwith we gave up any attempt to guide our own footsteps but left ourselves entirely in his hands. To take us wither he would and spend as long about it as he liked. One thing which interested us very much was to see the greetings of the Bedouin. For an acquaintance they merely rubbed the palms of their hands when they meet and then kissed the tips of their respective fingers. For an intimate friend they join hands and kiss each other but for a relative they not only join hands but they rub noses and finally he's on either cheek. Whenever we met a party of their friends on our way it was a signal for a halt that these greetings might be observed and then followed a pipe. At first we rather resented these halts but they take such a short time over their weave of tobacco and are so disconsolate without it that we soon gave up complaints at these delays. They literally only take one weave and pass the stone pipe on so that a halt for a smoke seldom lasts more than five minutes and all are satisfied. Sheik Sehel met many of his relatives in the Wadi Gersid and his nose was subject to many energetic rubs and the novelty of this greeting about which one had vaguely read in years gone by excited our interest deeply but at the same time we were thankful we were not likely to meet any relatives in the valley and to have to undergo the novel sensations in person. Every afternoon when our tents were pitched and our baggage open whole rows of Bedouin would sit outside asking for medicine. Pills of special violence of course and quinine were the chief drugs required and then we had many sore eyes and revolting source of every description requiring closer attention. As to the pills we had some difficulty in getting the Bedouin not to chew them but when one man, mas ah by name solemnly chewed five hallways pills and was very sick after so doing it began to dawn upon them that our method was the right one. Most embarrassing of all our patients was old Sheik Sehel himself. Fortune had been kind to him in most respects she had given him wealth and power amongst men and the fickle goddess had bestowed upon him two wives but alas no offspring and to seek for a remedy for this to a savage overwhelming disaster he came with his headman to the tent of the European medicine men it was in vain for my husband to tell him that he had brought no remedy for this complaint they had seen him on one or two occasions consult a small medicine book and their only reply to his negative was the book get out the book Theodore and he had solemnly to pretend to go through the volume before they could be convinced that he had no medicine to meet the case it was curious to hear their morning greeting sabak Theodore sabak Mabel the women of the Gara tribe are timid creatures small and not altogether ill looking in fact, the garas are as a tribe undersized and of small limbs but exceedingly active and light the women do not possess the wealth in savage jewelry which we found to be the case in the Hadhramut the previous year nor do they paint themselves so grotesquely with turmeric and other dyes but indulge only in a few patches like kablos wax on their faces and the touch of antimony around their eyes and joining their eyebrows they were no veils and at first we could not get near them as they ran away in terror at our approach they have but poor jewelry silver necklaces, armlets, nose, toe and finger rings one evening when up in the mountains we were told that the harem wished to see us and we were conducted to a spot just out of sight of our tents where sat three females on the ground looking miserably shy and in their nervousness they plucked and ate grass and constantly as we approached retreated three or four steps back and seated themselves again presently after much persuasion we got one of them to come to the tent and accept a present of needles and other admins the delight of womankind all the world over Altogether, these gara women formed a marked and pleasant contrast to the Bedwin women in the Hadhramut who literally besieged us in our tent and never gave us any peace it is interesting to read in the Periplus page 32 a description of this coast and of the high mountains behind where men dwell in holes we often went to visit the troglodytes in their cave homes where we found men, women and children living with their flocks and herds in happy harmony the floor of their caves is soft and springy the result of the deposits of generations of cattle in the dark recesses of the cave the kids are kept during their mother's absence at the pasture and though these caves are slightly odoriferous we found them cool and refreshing after the external heat in some of them, huts are erected for the families and in one cave we found almost a village of huts but in the smaller ones they have no covering and when in the open the gara cares for nothing all their farm implements are of the most primitive nature the churn is just a skin hang on three sticks which a woman shakes about until she obtains her butter gi oransid butter is one of the chief exports of dofar they practice too a pious fraud on their cows by stretching a calf's skin on a stick the cow leaks this she is satisfied and the milk comes freely they have but few pots and pans and these of the dirtiest description so when we got milk from them we always sent our own utensils in these valleys by rocks near the streams and under trees leave the Bedouin told us those curious semi-divine spirits which they call genie the propitiating of which seems to be the cheap form of religion amongst them one morning as we were riding up a narrow gorge beneath the shade of a beatling cliff our guide suddenly set up a sing song chant which they continued for fully ten minutes alaik sobera alaik sobera were the words which they constantly repeated and which were addressed they told us to the genie of the rocks a supplication to allow us to pass in safety genie also inhabit the lakes in the gara mountains and it is considered dangerous to wet your feet in them for you will catch a fever we could not induce the Bedouin to gather a water plant we coveted in one of them for this reason they inhabit too the caves where people dwell and have to be propitiated with suitable offerings in fact the fear of genie and the skill of certain magicians in keeping them friendly are the only tangible form of religion that we could discover amongst them when at the coast villages they outwardly conform to the Muhamedan customs but when away in their mountains they abandon them all together during the time we were with them they never performed either the prayers or the ablutions required by the muslim creed and the only thing approaching a religious festival amongst them that we heard of is an annual festival held by the garas in November by the side of one of their lakes to which all the members of the different families repair and at which a magician sits on a rock in the center of a group of dancing Bedouin to propitiate with certain formulas the genie of the lake amongst the Bedouin of the Hadramut we noticed the same absence of religious observances and the same superstitious dread of genie but at the same time they have their own sacred places and festivals which they conceal as much as possible to the fanatical Muslims who dwell amongst them a Bedouin never fasts during Ramadhan and does not object to do his work during the month of abstinence but he goes to mosque and says his prayers when occasion brings him to the coast it seems to me a curious coincidence that in many other Muhamedan countries we have visited we have come across the same story still religion as practiced by the nomad races we have the Ali Ulahi in the Persian mountains about whose secret rites horrible stories are told we have the Ansairi and the Druzes in the Lebanon and the Nomad Yoroks of Asia Minor and the Dunme of Salonika about all of whom the strict Muhamedans of the towns tell you exactly the same story that we heard about the Bedouin of southern Arabia they are all looked upon as hidden by the Muslims and accredited with secret rites and ceremonies about which no definite knowledge can be gained and thus it would seem that throughout the length and breadth of Islam there are survivals of more ancient cults which the followers of Muhamed have never been able to eradicate cults which no doubt would offer points of vast interest to the anthropologists if it were possible to unravel the mysteries which surround them we were forever hearing stories of Jini amongst the Gara Bedouin and all we could gather was that when propitiated they are friendly to the human race old Shiksehel and his men stuck to it that they had constantly seen Jini and their belief in them seems deeply rooted this word is pronounced Gini in southern Arabia on January 4 we were at Bait Ayel Katan we had to climb on foot the valley became narrower as we went on and the cliffs at the side were full of long caverns with great stumpy stalactites and stalagmites looking like teeth in gigantic mouths the rocks we had to climb up were very rough and rugged but were millions of camel's feet in thousands of years had polished them they were quite smooth and slippery when we got above the woods all very hot we were able to ride again at an elevation of 2,600 feet on angulating grassy ground we encamped under two large fig trees and the weather being cloudy and windy were glad to find a quantity of wood ready gathered the remains of a night shelter there was muddy water at a little distance the climate seems most healthy in winter at least three kinds of figs grow here some are little purple ones with narrow leaves and some large red ones with broad leaves at a bigger seed we had a beautiful journey we too enjoyed every minute of the three hours and a half we went up the valley through a thick forest of lovely trees there were myrtles ilex, figs, acacia and a quantity of other trees with climbing cacti and other creepers and great high trees of jasmine sometimes it was hard enough to get through the bushes and under the trees perched up aloft on our camels we were down in the river bed part of the time and then climbing through the forest to get to the top of the falls above the forest rise tiers of cliffs and there were trees at the top on a table land as well as large isolated trees on most of the mountain tops sheltering many birds it was only an hour for our tent as the servant's camels were somehow belated and it was considered to be all owing to the genie whos abode we passed large white bastards assembled round our camp once we were settled there was the usual run on the medicine chest a very nice bedu soldier a man, the head one was given five pills and by my husband and as he insisted on grasping his weapons with his other he had such difficulty in consuming them that I had to hold a cup of water for him to sip from mother trees grow about and the beduin make clothes from the silky fibers we ascended a good deal the following day to a point when our view extended over the great central desert it looked like a blue sea with a yellow shore we then turned a little to the south then north again and found ourselves among a quantity of wooded spurs and on the edge of a deep wooded wadi right up to the tops of the mountains which reached an elevation of about 3000 feet the ground is fertile and covered with grass which large herds of cattle feed clusters of sycamores and limes growing here and there give to the undulating hills quite a park-like appearance as we happened to be there in the dry season the grass was all brown and slippery and there stood around us acres upon acres of hay with no one to harvest it but after the rains the aspect of the gara hills must be as green and pleasant as those of Derbyshire the dry grass often catches fire and from the mountains in various directions we saw columns of smoke arising as if from the chimneys of a manufacturing district the country through which we traveled for the next two days is covered with thorny bushes and ant hills and is more like Africa in Arabia the ant hills though very extensive were not so fantastic as those we saw in Africa we were going eastward over high ground we decided to halt for two nights near a pretty little hole full of midden hair fern where there was water it was nice and clean at first but even at the end of the first day it was much diminished travelers like ourselves must be a great nuisance drinking up the scanty supply of water which might last the inhabitants for a long while we had hoped to get a good rest after our many days of marching but while we were here there came on the most frightful hurricane from the north it blew steadily for two days and nights all rest out of the question with difficulty could we keep our tents erect when we were in ours we had to be tightly tied in and sit next to the sunniest wall in the evening when the wind abated a little we used to sit by a large fire dressed in blankets the piercing blasts quite shriveled up our poor and clad conductors who crouched in an inert mass round lag fires which they made we were obliged to remain inactive for they said the camels would not move during this wind though I believe the cause of inaction rose more from their own dislike to travel in the cold and so inert were they that we could hardly get them to fetch us water from the neighboring spring their whole energy being expanded infetching huge logs of wood to keep the fires burning and I think they were all pleased when the time came to descend to the lower regions again and a warmer atmosphere we were afraid to start before the sun was up for fear the camels would be too cold to move and he did not visit us very early Sheik Sehel promised to take us across the Gara border into Nejt if we wished but as it would have entailed a considerable delay and parlay with the Sheiks of the Nejt Bedouin and as we could see from our present vantage ground that the country would afford us absolutely no objects of interest we decided not to attempt this expedition on leaving our very exposed and nameless camping ground we pursued our course in a northeast direction still passing through the same park like scenery through acres and acres of lovely hay to we had for nothing aton it is exceedingly slippery and dangerous foothold for the camels consequently numerous falls were the result and much of our journey had to be done on foot we and they used involuntarily to sit down and slide and be brought up suddenly by a concealed rock to the south the descent is abrupt and rocky to the plain of the far and the engine ocean and the horizon line on either side is remarkably similar for in the far far distance the sandy desert becomes a straight blue line like a horizon of water to the east and west the arid barness of arabia soon asserts itself whereas the angulating gara range like the kotswold is fertile and rounded with deep valleys and ravines running into it full of rich tropical vegetation on the second day we began again to descend a hideously steep path and a drop of about 1500 feet brought us to a remarkable cave just above the plain and only about 10 or 12 miles from alhafa this cave borrows far into the mountain side and is curiously hung with stalactites and contains the deserted huts of a bedu village only inhabited during the rains immediately below this cave in the wadi dahast are the ruins of an extensive sabayan town in the center of which is a natural hole 150 feet deep and about 50 feet in diameter around this hole are the remains of walls and the columns of a large entrance gate we asked for information about this place but all we could get in reply was that it was the well of the adites the name always associated with the ruins of the bygone race they also said the minkwi had lived in the town in my opinion this spot is the site of the oracle mentioned by Ptolemy and others from which the capital of the far took its name it much resembles the deep natural holes which we found in Silesia in Asia Minor where the oracles of the Currican and Albian zoos were situated it is just below the great cave I have mentioned and as a remarkable natural phenomenon it must have been looked upon with awe in ancient days and it was a seat of worship as the ruined walls and gateway prove furthermore it is just half a day's journey east of the city of Mansura or Zufar where ibin batuta somewhat contemptuously says is al aqaf the abode of the adites and there is no other point on the plain of dofar where the oracle could satisfactorily be located from existing evidence sometime perhaps an enterprising archeologist may be able to open the ruins about here and verify the identification from epigraphical evidence when we reached the valley mam sharif said we do not know how we got down that place for all of our feet was each 36 inches from the other foot we had such trouble squeezing through the trees too we encamped not at all far from the deep hole and at first were too hot and tired after our tremendous clamber to look around but my husband found it in his sunset stroll and came and called to me to hurry out while light yet lingered in such joyful tones that i asked is it the anay oraculum? before starting in the morning we went to visit some troglodytes dirty but pleasant and willing for us to see all there was to be seen and as anxious to see us indeed they wished to see more of me than i thought convenient my husband's color stud came undone and they all crowded to see his white chest amid shouts of shof theodor look at theodor one of these people had fever and another neuralgia we found neuralgia pretty common in arabia koasha chips were given to each to steep in water but carefully tied up in different colored cotton bags way was very uninteresting u south to the sea at risat my husband's camel required repacking and he and hasan managed to lose sight of the rest of the kafila imam syarif and i went on without perceiving that the rest had stopped we had to wait an hour to be found i dismounted and sat in a circle of 13 men when one of them wished to attract my attention he tapped me on the knee with sword or stick saying ya mabel oh mabel one of the first days i heard them consulting what my name might be several were suggested but at last they thought it must be fatima and to try called ya fatima i said my name is not fatima then they asked and thus they learned our names they said they did not wish us to give them orders of any kind as they were sheiks certainly not through the soldiers we are gentlemen and they are slaves and if we choose we can kill them what is it to us we shall have to pay 400 riyals but we can give a camel each and can well afford it we are rich i must say these men were often very kind to me end of chapter 20 recording by Shena Sear Fresno, California chapter 21 of southern Arabia this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org southern Arabia by James and Mabel Bent chapter 21 the identification of Abyssalpolis we now pursued our way along the coastline of Dofar in easterly direction Wali Suleiman entertained us for a night at a farm he had built at a place called Rizat the land around which is watered by an abundant stream his garden was rich in many kinds of fruits and on our arrival hot and weary from the road he spread a carpet for us under the shade of a mulberry tree while our camp was pitched and ordered a slave to pick us a dish full of the fruit which was exceedingly refreshing besides this he provided us with papayas gourds, vegetables and all sorts of delicacies to which we had been strangers during our wanderings in the Gara Mountains in this genial retreat Wali Suleiman passed much of his time living behind him at Alhafa and the everlasting bekerings in his harem the next morning refreshed and supplied with the requisites for another journey we started off again as we rode across the plain we were perpetually harassed by the thought as to where the excellent harbor could be which is mentioned by all ancient writers as frequented by the frankincense merchants and which modern writers such as Dr. Glaser and Sir. E. H. Bunbury agreeing considering to be sir. E. H. Bunbury a green considering to be sir. E. H. Bunbury a green considering to be some little way west of Merbat Yakut tells us how the ancient ships on their way to and from India tarried there during the monsoons and he further tells us that it was 20 parasangs east of the capital the periplus peaks of it as Mosja Ptolemy as a Bisaplis and the Arabs as Merbat but as there is no harbourage actually at Merbat it clearly could not be there so as we went along we pondered on this question and wondered if this celebrated harbor was after all a myth. It was the most an interesting ride along this coast flat and for the most part barren broken here and there by lagoons of brackish and evil smelling water and mangrove swamps on the way we saw antelopes and foxes with white bushy tails. One night we encamped by one of these river beds on slightly rising ground and were devoured by mosquitoes and so pestilent are these insects here that they not only attacked us but tormented our camels to such a degree that they were constantly jumping up in the night and making such hideous demonstrations of their discomfort that arrest was considerably interfered with. When we reached Takha after a ride of 15 miles we found ourselves once more amongst the heap or rather two heaps of Sabeyan ruins which had not been so much disturbed by subsequent occupants as those at the capital but at the same time they were not nearly so fine and the columns were mostly undecorated. There were also some very rough The Wali of Takha received as well and placed his house at our disposal but it was so dirty we elected to pitch our tents and encamped some little distance from the village. On the following morning the Wali sent us with a guide to inspect some ruins round the neighboring headland which forms one end of the bay of which Ras Risot is the other. The neck of which it is composed is white in all the sheltered parts and where the path is polished and nearly black in the exposed parts. When we reached the other side of this promontory to our amazement we saw before us a long sheet of water stretching nearly two miles inland broken by many little creeks and in some parts fully half a mile wide which is called Khoruri had been silted up at its mouth by a sandbank over which the sea could only make its way at high tide and the same belt of sand separated from it a fortified rock, Katia by name which must formerly have been an island protecting the double entrance to what once must have been an excellent harbor and which could be again restored by an outlay of very little capital and labor. We were the more amazed at coming across this sheet of water as it is not marked in the Admiralty Chart. Surely there can be no doubt that this is the harbor which was anciently used by the merchants who came to this coast for frankincense. It would be absolutely secure to get 20 parasangs from the ruins of the ancient capital exactly where it ought to be in fact and probably the Arabs called it Marbat a name which has been retained in the modern village on the sheltering headland where we landed when we first reached the far. As for the name Mosca given in the Periplus it is like Mosca a name given to several and I think we discovered why Ptolemy called it Abisapolis as I will presently explain. We ascended the rock at the entrance took a photograph of the sheet of water and felt that we had at last succeeded in reconstructing the geography of this interesting bit of country. I hear that the Egyptologists are in search of a harbor to which the expedition of Punt was made under the enterprising Queen Hatasu. Some imagine that this coast of Arabia was the destination of this expedition and I herewith call their attention to this spot for I know of none other more likely on the barren harborless coast between Aden and Muscat. If we take the illustration of this expedition given in the temple of Deir al-Bahari we have to begin with the frankincense trees the long straight line of water running inland the cattle and the birds then the huts which the Bedouin build on tall poles approached by ladders from which they can inspect the produce of their land and drive off marauders look exactly like those their own depicted. All that we want are the apes exist in the Garam mountains but it is just the spot where one would expect to find them and in a district where the human race has been reduced to the smallest point there is no reason why the kindred race of apes should not have disappeared altogether apes still exist near Aden. We had great difficulty in getting the camels to face the water and carry us to the peninsula the water being halfway up their sides on climbing up we saw columns lying about and there had been a wall all around the summit it had originally been built in courses with roughly squared stones as we could see near the doorway but the present wall is of ordinary broken stones leaving the harbor behind us we again approached the mountains and after being inland for about eight miles we found the valley leading up to the mountains choked up by a most remarkable formation caused by the calcareous deposit of ages from a series of streams which precipitate themselves over a stupendous wall in feathery waterfalls this abyss is perfectly sheer and hung in fantastic confusion with stalactites still it is 550 feet in depth and its greatest length is about a mile it is quite one of the most magnificent natural phenomena I have ever seen and suggestive of comparison with the calcareous deposits in New Zealand and Yellowstone Park and to those who visited this harbour in ancient days it must have been a familiar object so no wonder that when they went home about it the town near it was called the city of the abyss and Tolemy, as was his want gave the spot a fresh appellative just as he called the capital the oracle of Artemis about a quarter of a mile from the western side of the whole abyss is a small conical mountain about 1000 feet high which looks as if it had once stood free but were now nearly smothered by the petrifaction of the overflowing water it rises above the level top of the cliffs and has about a quarter of a mile of abyss on one side which is only 300 feet in depth and half a mile on the other it is all wooded the larger side and the upper plane is called their bat and the smaller merbat or merga the abyss we spent in exploring the neighborhood of this abyss were the brightest and pleasant test of all during this expedition our camp was pitched under shady trees about half a mile from the foot of the abyss we there we could wonder and repose under the shade of enormous plantains which grew around the watercourse and listen to the splashing of the stream as it was precipitated we irrigate the ground below where the Bedouin had nice little gardens in which the vegetation was profuse one day we spent in photography and sketching wondering about the foot of the rocky wall and another day starting early in the morning with one camel to carry our things we set off to climb the hill by a tortoise path under shady trees which conducted us along the side of the hill and got lovely glimpses of the abyss on both sides through the branches on reaching the summit we found ourselves on an extensive and well-timbered flat meadow along which we walked for a mile or so it was covered with cattle belonging to the Bedouin grazing on its rich pasture age it seemed like the place Jack reached when he had climbed up at the beanstalk at length, we came to two lovely narrow lakes joined together by a rapid-mindering stream delicious spots to look upon with well-wooded hills on either side and the wealth of timber in every direction we launched and took our midday siesta under a wide-spreading sycamore by the stream after walking up alongside the lakes for nearly two miles fat milch cows not unlike our own were feeding by the rushing stream birds of all descriptions filled the branches of the trees water hens and herons and docks were in abundance on one of the lakes pool rushes and water weeds grew in them it would be an ideal spot in any country but in Arabia, it was a marvel the trees were loaded with climbing cactus and a large purple convolvulus with great round leaves we wanted to get some water plants easily to be obtained if anyone would have entered the lake in which they grew but the genie or guinea who lives there our old friend the genius of the Arabian knights was so dangerous that the plants had to be hooked out with sticks and branches tied to strings it makes a hell maintains that he has seen guinea in that neighborhood this widespreading meadow can be water that will by damming up the streams which lead the water from the lakes to the abyss and in a large cave near the edge of the precipice dwells a family of pastoral Bedouin who own this happy valley before leaving the higher level we went to the edge and peered over into the hollow below where, far beneath us was our camping ground among the trees and in the sun's rays the waterfall over the white cliff gave out beautiful rainbows we had to cross much swampy ground and got our feet wet without catching the inevitable fever Imam Sharif camped away from us one night and found that the streams which feed them have their source in the limestone about two days' journey from them the Bedouin are exceedingly proud of them and in the absence of much water in their country they naturally look upon them with almost superstitious awe and veneration perhaps in Scotland one might be more inclined to call them mountain tarns for neither of them is more than a mile in length and in parts they are very narrow but they are deep and as the people at Alhafa proudly told us you could float there on any steamer you liked which may or may not be true but their existence in a country like Arabia is, after all their chief cause for renown this really is Arabia Felix if ever distract of country comes into the hands of a civilized nation it will be capable of great peaceful development supposing the harbor restored to receive ships of moderate size Tagara hills reach in grass and vegetation with an ample supply of water and regular rains and furthermore with the most delicious and health giving air might be of inestimable value as a granary and a health resort for the inhabitants of the burnt up centers of Arabian commerce aden and mascot it is as I have said about halfway between them and it is the only fertile stretch of coastline along that arid frontage of the Arabian Peninsula on the Indian Ocean every November a fair or gala is held up here by the side of the lakes to which all the bedwing of the gara tribe come and make merry and the fair of their bath considered by them the great festival of the year around rock was shown us on which the chief magician sits to exercise the genie of the lakes and around him the people dance there is doubtless some religious purport connected with all this but as I have said before it is extremely difficult to get anything out of the bedwing about their religious opinions like the bedwing of the Hadramut they do not observe the prayers and ablutions inculcated by the Muhamedan creed and the Arabs speak of them as heathen but beyond this we could not find out much their language too is different from anything we had heard before they can understand and converse in Arabic after a fashion but when speaking amongst themselves none of our party or European could make out anything they said and from such simple words as we were able to learn such for example as oft for wadi avali sure instead of yom for day and ko instead of nar for a river we were led to believe that they speak an entirely different language and not a dialect as in the Hadramut as we passed through the hay the gara had gathered up a lot of it in sacks which they put under the camel's loads by day and used as beds by night and between times applied to quite a different purpose one of these sacks was used as a combined dish and strainer when they boiled the rice the rice was turned out of the pot and as soon as the cook had scraped it all out with his hands and fed themselves with handfuls of it after another day spent over sketching photography and measurements we felt we had thoroughly explored the neighborhood of the abyss so we started back to Alhafa to prepare for our departure from the far it took us three days to get there we stayed a night on the way on some high ground above and on the second day stopped to visit Hamran where the Wali had built a small fort and a farm which supplied him when at Rizat with butter, vegetables and fruit he also grew tobacco there we found ourselves once more in our old quarters in the castle where many fleas had been born in our absence while the flies and mosquitoes were not diminished the Wali had more prisoners we again visited Rabat and the other ruins the interests which centered in this small district the ancient sites the abyss and above all the surprising fertility of the valleys and mountains the delicious health giving air and the immunity from actual danger which we had enjoyed combined in making us feel that our sojourn in the far had been one of the most enjoyable and productive of any expedition we had hitherto undertaken and that we had discovered a real paradise in the wilderness which will be a rich prize for the civilized nation which is enterprising enough to appropriate it end of chapter 21 recording by Shena Ser Fresno, California chapter 22 of Southern Arabia this is a LibriVox recording on LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Southern Arabia by James and Mabel Bent chapter 22 sailing from Kosair to Aden our object had been crossed from Dofar by land to the Hadramot across the Mari country Wali Suleiman had done all in his power to help us but without much success as Tagara were more or less at war with the Mari who are a dangerous warlike tribe when we first left Alhafa a message had been sent to the Mari chiefs to come and arrange about our journey but on our return they said if we would give them 200 riyals that is about 12 pounds they would let us go through their country but they made no allusion to the request that they would arrange with the Minahali, Amri, Kateri and Tamimi as far as we and the Wali could make out they would only have let us go a certain way along their coast and then we should have been in difficulty about a ship the reply from the Sultan of Jedid was also unfavorable so we had nothing left but to hire a batil and set sail along the coast for Kishin to the Sultan of which place my husband had a letter from the British political agent at Muscat we took leave of Wali Suleiman with much regret and had we foreseen all the disappointments that were in store for us we should, I think far longer under his favorable influence we were sorry afterwards to hear of his death a rebellion broke out in which his castle was knocked into ruins and in the battle he his eldest son and little black mufok were all killed a long sea journey in an Arab batil is exceedingly uncomfortable we had a cabin in the stern open all around a sail was stretched in front to secure our privacy it was so low that we could by no means stand or even sit up except on the deck as 3 feet 6 inches was the height of this place it was roofed over with palm stalks supported on posts overlaid with matting so slippery that Imam Sharif and Hassan, the interpreter had to tie themselves with ropes was nothing to prevent their sliding into the sea I stayed in my camp bed for 6 days as there was nothing else to do our servants crowded every space on the outer part of the deck in and on boxes we had some palm leaf matting hang on the port and southern side to shield us from the sun and much rejoiced that we were not deprived by the sun of the glorious views which unrolled themselves along our starboard side when morning came Lobo used to creep in across my husband's feet and bring our basins to our bedsides and when our toilet was finished he used to creep in and fetch them and then creep back and spreading the breakfast on the floor squat in the middle and hand us our food the gunnel of the batil was only 3 inches from the level of my bed airy as our cabin was bilge water was our torment we had started on january 23 the weather being cool and overcast about 11 o'clock and reached the village of Rakiot in 30 hours only 40 miles we called there to do a civility to the Wali and leave two soldiers there at the end of Omani influence and there is a small fort as a protection against the Mari there was a contrary wind and such a violent swell that we rocked and tossed for 30 more hours in front of the small village when parties of inhabitants came to stare at us it is on a small flat space with high hills and cliffs all around it we started at last 2 miles when we were awakened by a great gale I was nearly blown out of bed the sail was taken down and we were in some danger as it was feared the mast would give way we anchored and the wind seemed to blow from all sides at once the small boat was nearly smashed against the rudder the stars were shining brightly all the time we started again at dawn we did not go more than 3 quarters of a mile in the whole day the wind being so contrary one of the peculiarities of our navigation was that whenever we attacked we went completely round at sunset we had to cast anchor again and lie tossing till 3 and then went on well while at anchor we heard shouts and cries to come to land but our sailors would do nothing of the sort they said a single man might often be seen calling that he was wrecked and asking to be fetched away but a party of armed men would be behind a rock and come out and murder the benevolent crew and steal the boat it was really delightful in the morning to open my still sleepy eyes and without moving to see the lovely picture which seemed to be passing before me not I before it beautiful mountains with their foreground of water every fold and distance filled up and separated by soft vapors then sunrise began to paint the rocks red and black shadows came and changed their shapes and presently all became hard and stony looking passing Ras Hamar which is the next cape to resort we had seen easily how it had acquired the name for it looks like a donkey drinking with its nose in the water and its ears cocked this shows particularly from the west in the pilot book of that sea it is stated that it is called Hamar or Amar from its red color but it is not red the two peculiar peaks on its summit are noticed the wind died away about nine and we shook about and went round and round and at noon of the next day January 28 we were before Kishin the sultan was at his village three miles inland or more correctly in sand a hot walk he is a wise and little old man who can neither read nor write and was poorly dressed visitors being quite unexpected the village of Kishin the Mari capital consists of a few scattered houses and some bedu hots of matting and poles placed in a dreary sandy waist very different from the fertile plain of Dofar and more like the surroundings of Sheher when my husband asked for the sultan's assistance to go into the Had Ramut he said, no one ever goes that way it is full of rubbers of course he was civil enough as my husband showed him the letter from Muscat but he seemed to have little authority I think his followers were sorry to see such a likely prize depart and molested those on board were rather alarmed at the length of time consumed in these negotiations the old sultan Salem is father to the sultan of Sokotra which belongs to the Mari tribe and brother to the sultan of Sayhut another rubber chief to admitting Europeans to his dominions the fact is that these tribes object to European inquiry as they know they would no longer be able to exist in their present condition my husband extracted from him a letter to his brother of Sayhut after our futile attempts to penetrate into the Mari country there was nothing left for us but to start again in our boat for Sheher and rely on the promises which Sultan Hussein al-Qayti had given us the year before of sending us under safe escort to the eastern portion of the Hadramot valley which must contain much of interest not yet having been explored by Europeans so we set sail again and were soon passing country that we had ridden over on camels Ras Fartak is the great landmark but the fine scenery ends at Jedid looking back the rich coloring of the caves seeming to overlap one another and the great height give a most impressive effect the slopes are adorned with federally looking trees and there are many little sandy beaches and there were also many deep caverns for two days we saw hardly an inhabitant between Jedid and Ras Fartak the land is low and recedes and as we sailed along we decided that it was the mouth of some big valley from the interior and after careful cross examination of the Sultan of Kishin and our sailors we gathered that this was actually the mouth of the great Hadramot valley which does not take the extraordinary bend that is given in our maps but runs in almost a straight line from west to east and the bend represents an entirely distinct valley Dawadi Mosila which comes out at Sayut we were two days getting to Sheher anchoring both nights the first as dirty weather was causing alarm was a very noisy one the servants and sailors stalking and singing all night to be in readiness the second night we were put to bed among the strange and weird stacks of rocks at Ras Dis and had a heavy shower of rain which of course penetrated our matting roof when we reached Sheher a messenger was sent ashore with the letter to Sultan Hussein and the message was returned inviting us to take up our quarters in the same unfinished palace where we had lived ten months before one of the first people to greet us was the Nakoda of the ship on which we had gone to Aden from Sheher the word race for captain is never used Galeb Mia was at the house to meet us and we were much interested by finding that the governors of everywhere around about were in Sheher to give up their accounts he of Hagarin was scowling but they of this Kosair and Haura seemed friendly and pleased to see us we heard good accounts of various patients and were especially pleased to hear that the daughter of the governor of this who had for some time been bedridden with a bad leg had been well ever since our visit quite cured by Holloway's ointment the next day there were great negotiations and planning as to our future course our scheme was that we should go from Sheher to Inat to Hadramut valley down to Birbur Hood and Kabar Hood and then eastward to Wadi Musila back to Sheher by the coast and then try to go westward or as to us appeared preferable to go up by the Wadi Musila to Wadi Hadramut and then try to get to the west without returning to Sheher there we stuck for some days listening to any gossip we could hear and taking evening walks by the sea guarded by soldiers we were told that Sultan Salah of Shibam had lost his head wife the sister of Manasar of Makala but had consoled himself by marrying for others about two months afterwards and had divorced two of them already the family of Al-Kaiti are not very good friends among themselves and he is charged by Salah of Shibam is always quickly engaged by Hussein of Sheher and if Hussein dismisses a servant he is sure of a place with Manasar they stop each other's letters and annoy each other in many ways but are always ready to unite if any strange foe assails their family Manasar had quarreled with his wife the daughter of Salah because Salah on the death of his wife had refused to marry a third daughter of Manasar as his dying wife requested Hussein had only one wife and no children there had been great trouble with the Hamumi and only three months before two soldiers had been killed about half a mile from Sheher Galedmiya and Hussein Miya dared not go to Imbula or anywhere outside their walls without 40 or 50 men and when Salah's daughter who is married to the Syed came to Sheher she had to come by a circuitous route with an escort of 500 men when a Bedu has committed a murder he runs to the houses of the Syeds where there is sanctuary and gets absolution on paying 4 or 500 dollars according to the rank of the murdered man thus traveling is difficult unless you have paid Siyar and a relation of the Syara is kept in prison at Sheher all this time the behavior of the sultans and their hospitality to us were very different to what it had been the year before they sent us no presents of food nor did they ever invite Imam Sharif to a meal which they had constantly done when we were last there their manner was stiff and constrained and they said they themselves had been badly treated for their kindness to us and that they were now considered kafirs themselves the fact is that all the Muhammedan world was in a state of restless activity as the jihad or holy war was being preached and now I will tell a most remarkable circumstance quite the most extraordinary in this book Sultan Hussein told my husband on February 1 that a consul had been murdered at Jedha we were most excited about this and anxiously inquired about it when we reached Aden but heard that no murder had taken place nor did it till May when several consuls were murdered these proved that it must have been a very long arranged plan and that the Sultan knew of it and thought it had had time to be carried out no doubt after a good deal of illusory delay the Sultan declared he could not in any way be responsible for our safety if we went anywhere from Sheher so we had to bow to the inevitable and put ourselves on board a dow belonging to Kuch bound for Aden the captain and sailors were all Hindus and to our amusement our Muhammedan party was seen as ourselves the crew would not let us touch their fire and water and filled our vessels themselves without touching them very good humordly and they made up an extra gali for us by putting some sand in a wooden box and here Christians and Muslims had perforce to cook together of course we did not mind but there was much laughter at the expense of the others for they bore their adversity amiably when it brought strange cooking fellows on reaching Aden we still decide to penetrate into that Jebel Akhdar so looked out for a ship going to mascot we could find none therefore we embarked for India with all our company I am not going to describe India but will only tell of our money difficulties so ignorant were we and everyone at mascot as to what money was in use in the far that we were persuaded that it was necessary to take an immense quantity of small change in the shape of copper coins about the size of a far thing supposed to be o money we had four wooden boxes bound with wire about one foot long and five or six inches high and wide delivered to us and said to have a certain sum in each soon after we set out we opened one of these boxes to get out some money and have it ready but found in it so many and various kinds of coins all the same size that we opened all the boxes making quite amount on the ground to sort out the German East Africa English East Africa Zanzibar and other useless coins and then packed them neatly up an awfully troublesome and dirty job we kept out what we thought would pass but behold all were useless no one would look at anything but Maria Theresa dollars and Indian coins down to two ana pieces nothing lower all these boxes therefore had to return to mascot asan a most respectable person with large round gold spectacles my husband asked him to be kind enough to take his money in these boxes and change at mascot no he would only have good silver dollars and sadly he rude his want of good nature we too and Lobo whom we retained went to a hotel in Bombay if Kan Bahadur his four men are go on his cook Hassan and a certain young Afghan Amit who had been a sort of odd man and tent picture went to a caravan Seray and after Hassan's steamer had departed to mascot Imam Sharif came and told us the doleful tidings that Amit had disappeared with a good silver dollars and the gold watch and chain of Hassan was out he then regretted he had not taken the boxes of copper end of chapter 22 recording by Shanna Serre Fresno, California Chapter 23 of Southern Arabia this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Miriam Spiegel Southern Arabia by James and Mabel Bent Chapter 23 coasting along the Red Sea in the winter of 1895 though we still wished to continue our investigations in Arabia we found it impracticable owing to the warlike state of the tribes there so we decided to turn our attention to the other side of the Red Sea and travel once more in Africa parts of Africa have to be discovered each little war and each little journey contributes to the accomplishment of both these ends with surprising rapidity but the geographical millennium is looming in the distance when the traveler will no longer require his sextant and the odolite but will take his spade and pruning hook to cultivate the land this generation is so busy in discovering that winter we added a few square miles to a blank corner of the map where rediscovery was necessary rediscovery will go on a pace and produce most interesting results when we have finished conquering the barbarous followers of the califa and restore law and order to that wide portion of Africa known as the eastern Sudan for the Sudan meaning in Arabic the country of the blacks really extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea little did we think when we started to explore the western shores of the Red Sea that the explosion with the dervishes was so near that we turned our steps in another direction we had with us Mr. Alfred Komli who took numbers of beautiful photographs and lieutenant now captain N. M. Smith, DSO Queens Bayes kindly attached to our expedition by Colonel Sir F. Wingate and to his exertions we owe the map my husband had always thought it foolish to engage an interpreter unknown to him on his own responsibility and would only have one recommended official of our government the choice made for us on this occasion was not at all successful he tried to make out that he was the principal leader of the party and his impedimenta far exceeded ours he may or may not have been sent to keep us from going more than 10 miles from the coast but no explorer would wish to remain within the limits that sat down in the amrulty chart my husband found it necessary to dispense with his services when we were at our first task was to choose a ship it was exciting work rowing about in the harbor of Suez in order to find one that would suit us a letter from our interpreter had told us we could have one at 120 pounds a month a sum which our great experience of sailing boats told us was quite too large when we started our search having refused this we were only shown wretched boats in which we could hardly sit and certainly not stand we spied one we thought would do and said nothing at the time but afterwards my husband and Matheos went off by themselves and engaged her for 35 pounds a month and I do not think that a better ship was to be found in Suez certainly there was none worth 120 pounds our boat was an Arab dow of 80 tons named Acer and we at once put her into the hands of a carpenter who boarded off two cabins for us four whites in the big open stern cabin leaving a sort of veranda where we lived by day Campbell Bay who lives at Terrapline pronounced by the English Terraplane kindly lent us two water tanks containing half a ton each we embarked late on Christmas night and by the murky light of lanterns the ship looked most dreary and uninviting but when we had furnished it by laying down our tent carpet and beds and hanging sheets of colored calico over the gaping boards of our walls and had put up the cabin bags we were quite snug we always had to close in our veranda with a sail at night for when the ship swung round at anchor we were exposed to the north wind our captain Rhys Hamaya turned out an excellent fellow as also did the servant sailors he had under him and though at times they would quarrel loudly enough amongst themselves the only points of discord which arose between them and us had reference to the length of time they wished to stop in harbor and the length of distance they wished to go in a day ill-fed, dirty, unkept men as our sailors were we got to like them all from the elderly dignified Muhammad who thought he knew more about navigation than the captain to Amit Faraj the buffoon who played the tom-tom and made everybody laugh this worthy individual was a recognized leader of all the festivities with which they regaled us from time to time consisting of very ugly songs and yet uglier dance the chief art in which consisted in wagging their elastic tales with an energy which mortals further removed from the monkey origin could never hope to approach we traveled all the first night but the second we anchored near Safaya Island and the third at a place called Sheikh Ghanem in front of the Ashrifi light and the fourth day found us at Kosir which means little castle the government sneaver, Abbas which had started one day after us and gone straight down outside had only got in two hours before us and we had been inside through the reefs and stopped all night so we thought we had not done badly we stayed two nights in the harbor to make our final victualing arrangements Kosir our last really civilized point is now a wretched place though twice in its existence it has been of importance owing to its road connection with Kenna on the Nile five miles to the north of the present town are the ruins of the old Tolomeik one Mayos Hormos Kosir Kadim where the red sea fleet in ancient days assembled to start for India twenty years ago it was a favorite point for the departure of pilgrims from Mecca and the P and O had offices there which are now turned into camel stables Kosir is waiting for a railway before it can again recoup its fortunes there are two mosques of pretty architecture with courses of dark red stone from Kenna and white Kosir limestone there are also diaper and fretwork patterns the pillars are similarly decorated and are quaint and picturesque the tombs of the Abadat shakes have melon shaped domes and there are endless dove coats chiefly made of broken old emphore built into walls along the whole coastline from Kosir to Sawakan one may see that there are no permanent places of residence may accept the tiny egyptian military stations with their fort and huts for the soldiers at Haleib, Mohammed Ghul and Darur it is practically desert all the way and is only visited by the nomad Abadat and Bisharan tribes when, after the rains they can obtain their ascanti pastridge for their flocks during the Ptolemaic and early Arab periods the condition of affairs was very different several considerable towns stood on this coast now marked only by heaps of sand and a few fallen walls in spite of its aridity this coast has a wonderful charm of its own its lofty, deep serrated mountains our perpetual joy to look upon and the sunset effects were unspeakably glorious rich in every conceivable color and throwing out the sharp outline of the pointed peaks against the crimson sky the nature of this coastline is singularly uniform and offers tremendous obstacles to navigation owing to the great belts of coral reefs along it through which the passage was often barely wide enough for our dow to pass and against which on more than one occasion we came in unpleasant contact the Bay of Bernice, for example was for this reason known in ancient times as Akathartos Kopos and is still known as Faul Bay it can only be navigated with the greatest care by the native pilots accustomed to the various aspects of the water which in many places only just covers the treacherous reefs all boats are obliged to anchor during the night either just inside the reefs or in the numerous coves along the coast which are caused by the percalations of fresh water through the sand beds of rivers into the sea and these prevent the coral insect from erecting its continuous wall the rapidly succeeding little harbors formed in the coral reef are called Mersa or Anchorage by the Arabs from Mersat, Anchor Sometimes when the coral reef rises above the surface, low islets have been formed with sandy surface and a scant marine vegetation By one of these, named Cial we were anchored for a night and on landing we found it about three miles in length, some fifty feet in width and never more than four feet above the surface of the sea On its eastern side the shore was strewn with cinders from the numerous steamers which ply the Red Sea and quantities of straw cases for bottles out of which the Ospreys which live here in large numbers have built their nests Turtles revel in the sand and corals of lovely colors line the beach and at one extremity of the islet we found the remains of a holy sheik's hut with his grave hard by Many such holy men dwell on promontories and on remote island rocks along this coast in sanctified seclusion and they are regularly supported by the Bedouin and pearlfishers who bring them food and water Our sailors on New Year's Eve took a handsome present of bread and candles presented to them by us to a holy man who dwelled on the extreme point of Ross Bernas and had a long gossip with him concerning what boats had passed that way and the prospects of trade i.e. the slave trade in the desert regions They burned incense before his shrine and the captain devoutly said his evening prayer whilst he of the Tom Tom Amit Faraj stood behind and mimicked him to the great amusement of his fellows a piece of irreverence I have never seen before in any Muhammadan country Still I think our sailors were as a whole religious They observed their fast and prayers most regularly during Ramazan and their only idea of time was regulated by the five prayers We shall start tomorrow at God is great and anger at the evening prayer and so forth they used to say It is difficult to estimate how far these coral reefs have changed since ancient days There is a lagoon at Bernice which looks as if it had been the ancient harbor with a fort at its extremity Now there are scarcely two feet of water over the bar across its mouth But all ancient accounts bear testimony to a similar difficulty of navigation down this coast At the same time it is manifest that this coastline is just the one to have tempted on the early mariners from point to point with its rapid succession of tiny harbors and its reefs protecting it from heavy seas More especially must have been the case when the boats were propelled by oars and in one's mind's eye one can picture the fleets of the Egyptian Queen Hadasu and of King Solomon from Izayangabur creeping cautiously along this coast and returning after three years' abstence in far distant regions laden with precious frets of gold, frankincense and spices In later days Estrabo and Pliny tell us the motillas of 120 ships proceeded from Mayos Hormos to Oklis in 30 days on their way to India going together for fear of the pirates who marauded this coast and in those days the settlements on the Red Sea must have presented a far livelier aspect than they do now On both shores we find a curious instance of the migration and adaption of an entirely foreign kind of boat Some Arabs who have lived in Singapore and Singapore is as favorite for Arab emigration as America is for the Irish introduced dugouts in their native harbors and these have been found so useful in sailing over the shallow coral reefs in search of pearls that they now swarm in every Red Sea port and steamer loads of dugouts are brought from the Mele Peninsula The Arabs call them Howris Why I cannot think for a more uncomfortable thing to sit in when half full of water in a rolling surf I never found elsewhere on a southeast African river At the present moment the coast between Ras Bernas and above Sawakin is the hotbed of the slave trade carried on between the dervishes of the Nile Valley and Arabia Regular Egyptian Coast Guard boats keep matters pretty clear north of Ras Bernas and we can testify to their activity for we ourselves were boarded and searched by one but south of this, before the influence of Sawakin is reached, there is a long stretch of traffic and human flesh can be carried on undisturbed troops of slaves are sent down from the Nile Valley to the dervish country at certain seasons of the year and the petty sheiks along the coast owing a doubtful allegiance to the Egyptian government kinaib at this transport and the pearl fishing craft which ply their trade amongst the coral reefs are always ready to carry the slaves across to the opposite coast where the markets of Yembo, Jeddah will of course be the case until the dervish power is crushed and the Sudan opened out for more legitimate trade as we sailed along we passed hundreds of these pearl fishing boats engaged in this dual trade and nothing could be more propitious for their pursuits than the absolutely lawless condition of the tribes by the coast at Bernice, for instance there are absolutely no government or inhabitants of any sort nominally, one of our Nile frontier subsidized sheiks Bashar Bay, Gabran of Asuan has authority over all the country between the Nile and the Red Sea, but the coast has been visited more frequently by dervish emirs than by Bashar Bay One Nasre a dervish emir is said to have resided in the mountains behind Bernice for some time passed and with a small following collects ties a cattle from the nomads and sees to the safe conduct of slave caravans the collecting of usur or black coral as they call it a fossilized vegetable growth is a third trade in which these boats are employed from these pipes are made and beads and the black veneer for inlaying tables the navigation of an Arab Dow is no easy task with its clumsy arrangements for sales when there is a strong north wind behind it and reefs in every direction three men are perpetually in the bows on the lookout for rocks and indicate presence of danger to the steersmen by raising their hands the gear of these boats is exceedingly primitive they do not understand reefing a sail hence they are blige to have no less than five different sizes which they are constantly changing as occasion requires they use a clumsy cogwheel for raising and lowering the sails and do it all by main force singing silly little the stitches and screaming at the top of their voices as they haul the ropes the arrangement for bailing out the bilge water is extremely laborious a large trough with channels on either side is erected in the center of the boat in the middle of which the water is bailed by skins from below and the stenches during the process are truly awful as the water flows out of either channel according to the role of the ship there is always a large surface of wet wood to dry up leaving Kosir on the last day of 1895 re-reached Ras Bernas on the second day of 1896 stopping of course each night always rolling and tossing about and always keeping a sharp lookout for coral reefs the watchers shouting advice continually to Rees Hamaya we were supposed to owe our safety in getting through some dangerous reefs with not a yard to spare on either side and escaping our other difficulties to the lucky fact of Rees Hamayas having discovered amongst the plants that my husband had collected in our walks ashore one of the order of which he pounced on gladly and hung on the bow of the tasir as a protection to us he pointed out another thing a shrub called Taldum with tiny yellow flowers on green stalks good to tie round the arm to make one see far Ras Bernas is a long wandering cape composed of rocky hills of iron stone and silicate curiously blended together with shoals and rocks and coral reefs and sand banks hanging on it in very shallow water it is about 25 miles long and ends in a sandy spit we encamped at the head of the lagoon and spent several days amongst the ruins of this old Ptolemaic town of Bernas and made sundry excavations there in its center is an old temple of the date of Tiberias Caesar the hieroglyphs in which are rapidly becoming obliterated all around is a sea of mounds covered with sand where the houses stood mostly built of mad rapora and laid out in streets on the surface are to be found numerous glass beads, Roman coins, bracelets, et cetera and a great number of fragments of rough emeralds from the celebrated emerald mines in the mountain behind we pick up fully 50 of these besides a large quantity of olivines or paradox cornelions and crystals testifying to the wealth of these parts in precious stones in ancient days a few startled Ababda nomads came to visit us at first they inspected us at a distance and encouraged and came to our camp and we were able to purchase from them two lambs to replenish our larder with its emerald mines, its harbor and its great road terminus Bernes must have been one of the most important trade centers of the Red Sea though judging from the plans of the streets we made out, the town cannot have been a very large one in digging we turned up immense quantities of textiles in scraps, fine and coarse nets, knitted work as well as weaving, plain and in colors and bits of papyrus in Greek cursive hand the wretched Abda tribes were constantly at war with one another and the dervish Califa could make his authority felt about here with a small handful of resolute men judiciously placed Nasre had, I believe done this for some time past with only 30 men the nights here were very cold their thermometer going down to 46 degrees fahrenheit there were a few gazelles about but we saw no other animals the Bedouin brought us large shellfish in those great shells we see polished at home when boiled the fish comes out it is in shape like a camel's foot they call it gemel in taste it is like lobster and oyster combined but it is tough as pin wire we had a great tossing for three days after leaving Bernes and stopping every night end of chapter 23 chapter 24 of southern Arabia this is a Libravox recording all Libravox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Libravox.org recording by Mirian southern Arabia by James and Mabel Bent chapter 24 Halaib and Sawakin Kadim it is hard to imagine anything more squalid than the Egyptian fortress of Halaib as it is spelt on the map or Halei as it is pronounced which was our next halting place and from which we succeeded in getting a little way inland the governor Ishmael had been there seven years he and his family inhabit some wicker cages near the small white fort and gathered round them are the huts of his soldiers and the cabins of a few Basharin who live under the immediate protection of the fort Ishmael is possessed of the only patch of cultivated land that we saw during the whole of our expedition where he grows gourds, peas and aburgines or brinjols the man of most authority in the place is Mohammed Ali Tiaut head of the Basharin tribe of Ahmed Orab he appointed his son a fine intelligent young man of 5 and 20 called the Batran in the local dialect to act as our guide and protector during our exploration of the Shalal range which rises some miles inland at the back of Halaib the people of this portion of the Sudan between the coast and the Nal valley who do not own allegiance to the Khalifa belong to the Morgani co-fraternity of Mohammedans their young religious shake a self-possessed clever lad of about 20 lives at Sao Kinn and his influence amongst the tribes not affecting Madism is supreme he is devoted to British interests and no doubt in the present condition of affairs his cooperation will be of great value and the government instructed him to write to the shakes around Halaib and Mohammed Ghul to ensure our safety and to this fact I'm convinced we owe the immunity from danger we enjoyed and the assistance given to us in penetrating inland from Mohammed Ghul the Morgani have three secretaries on either cheek and as a co-fraternity they are not in the least fanatical and are well disposed to Christians very different to the Arabs we met and very different to the dervishes with whom they are on such hostile terms while at Halaib I paid several visits to the wife and family of the Mamor or governor they were very civil always and used to kiss me they looked quite as unsettled in their airy brushwood arbors as if they had not resided their steadily for seven years there were three huts about 12 feet by 8 feet one being a kitchen there's a brushwood fence all around part having a shed for the stores and water jars the wife is a Turk and has one plane grown up daughter there was an old lady who made coffee and a black maid slightly draped in a sheet once white but now of a general deep gray pure black in some parts I liked getting coffee and ginger best the first day I had to swallow smiling, tea boiled and a little burnt all the furniture I saw was a three foot bed three Austrian chairs wood and table and a little iron one with a new and tight pink cotton cover and petticoat to the ground always very clean but the maid the kind lady thought her dwelling so superior to mine that she begged me to come and sleep in the bed with her in shelter from the wind tense she said were only fit for men I did not envy her her home in the drenching rain we had all night in half one day she wore a string round under one arm with seven or eight charms like good sized tin cushions or house wives of different colored silks we made two expeditions from Halaib the first was to the ruins now known as Sawakin Kadim which are on the coast 12 miles north of Halaib as only six camels could be obtained we went by boat ourselves leaving the camels for the baggage for this purpose we deserted the Taser and hired a smaller Katira and having gone as near as we could to land and being in considerable danger from coral reefs on which we ran suddenly nearly capsizing we took to the Hori that we had towed a stern it was very like sitting in a bath and after the Hori we had to be carried a long way we camped not far from the shore and had to endure a dreadful come-sinn and dust storm from the south with such violent wind that I was blown down and Mateos dug our beds out twice with a trowel and the next day we found the north wind nearly as bad Wyatt did not raise the sand did you not know Sawakin Kadim is like Bernice nothing but a mass of mounds but it must at some time or other have been a much larger place we excavated one of these mounds but found nothing earlier than kufik remains unless the graves which were constructed of four large blocks of matapore sunk deep into the ground may be looked upon as a more ancient form of sepulkar we opened several but unfortunately they contained nothing but bones originally this town must have been built on an island or an artificial moat must have been dug round it to protect it on the mainland side this is now silting up but is traceable all along three large cisterns for water are still in a fair state of preservation and I am told that a kufik inscription was found here some years ago there seems no doubt that this town is the one mentioned by the Arab geographers Abu Lafira and Edrisi by the name of Idaab which was a place of considerable importance between Ras Bernas and Sawakin there are no traces elsewhere along this coast of any other town consequently we can fairly place it here Abu Lafira says Idaab is a town in the land of Beja it is politically dependent on Egypt though some say it is in Absinia this is the meeting place for the merchants of Yemen and the pilgrims who leaving Egypt prefer the sea route in other respects Idaab has more the aspect of a village than a town and it is seven days march north of Sawakin where the chief of the Bediaz lives counting a days march at 25 miles this would place it near Halaib which is 170 miles north of Sawakin hither too on our maps Idaab has been placed near Mohammed goal but there are no traces of ruins there except the towers to which we shall presently elude this position for an ancient town is untenable Edrissi tells us at the extremity of the desert and on the borders of the salt sea is Idaab whence one crosses to Yeda in one day and one night Idaab has two governors one appointed by the chief of the Bedia and the other by the princes of Egypt from the fact that Idaab is mentioned by none of the earlier geographers it would appear not to have been one of the Ptolemaic settlements but a town of purely Arab origin the people at Bedia so often eluded to by these Arabian geographers seem to have had considerable power and have occupied all the Sudan and as far north as Berenice being probably the precursors of the Bisharin Amira tribes which wander now over this desert country they were the recognized guardians of the old gold mines which existed in this district and concerning which I have more to say presently and though vassals of the Egyptian tribes nevertheless they seem to have had considerable local authority and have carried on wars on their own account it is a curious fact that in the Aksumite inscriptions we came across an account of wars and victories by the old Ethiopia monarchs over the peoples of Qasa and Bega to the north of Epsinia which peoples professor D.H. Mueller identifies with the people of Qash and the Bedia eluded to by the Arab geographers In course of time the Bedia's seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth and left nothing but their tombs and a few ruined towns behind them and for some centuries it would appear that the coast of the Red Sea north of Savakin was uninhabited until in later years came fresh colonists from the Nile valley whose descendants still occupy it The tribal traditions of the district are all that we have now to rely upon regarding the immigration of new inhabitants and they state that two brothers with their families one named Amir and the other Amar came from the Nile valley near Wadi Halfa and settled along the coast of the Red Sea from them are descended the Beni-Amar and Amara tribes of Bedouin These brothers were followed in due course by four other brothers Ali, Korab, Noor and Guil from whom the tribes and sub-tribes of the Aliab, Korab Noorab and Guelior are respectively descended These tribes have never been anything but pastoral nomads living in miserable, matte huts and spreading themselves over a district at wide intervals in search of pasture for their flocks They entirely disown having anything to do with the remains of buildings and tombs found in their midst End of Chapter 24 Chapter 25 of Southern Arabia This is the LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information Please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Mirian Southern Arabia by James and Mabel Bent Chapter 25 Inland from Mersa Halaib When we returned to Halaib we encamped a preparatory to going inland Great doctoring had to be done over the hand of Ahmad Faraj, our clown He had held a large hook overboard with a bait but no line and a shark seven feet long was caught and hauled on board The shark bit the man's first finger badly Various remedies were applied by the sailors in turn tar, grease, earth and other things It wasn't a very bad state when brought to us It was quite cured eventually but we were afraid of blood poisoning When I began cleaning it most tenderly he scraped it out with a stick and his friends dipped stones in the warm water and soundly scrubbed the surrounding inflamed parts My husband prescribed a washing all over with hot water and stones He was afterwards quite a different color Our second expedition was to Shalal We took two days on our way thither passing through clouds of locusts that is to say, they were in clouds on our return but were young and in heaps when we first saw them We stayed at Shalal several days for my husband thought as we could get no further in that direction on account of the danger It was well that we and especially Captain Smith should make as many expeditions then as possible We heard so many contradictory reports but little thought how imminent the war was After our somewhat long experience of life on a dao we were delighted to become bedao once more and wander amongst the fine rocky range of mountains but we were disappointed that our guide would not take us far behind this range for fear of the dervishes After the outbreak of the war a party of dervishes came right down to Halib There's every reason to believe that had we gone far inland at this point we might have been compelled to pay the Khalifa a not over pleasant visit at Amdurman Wadi Shalal and the adjacent mountains of Shendah, Shendoa and Raida for Makaldasak, as far as camels are concerned and only difficult mountain paths lead over into the Sudan from here As far as we could see the country did not look very tempting or promise much compensation for the difficulties of transit We were taken by the Batran to a few spots where there had been ancient habitations They probably belonged to the Kufic period and were doubtless military stations to protect the small hamlets scattered at the foot of these mountains when Adab was a place of some importance from the incursion of hostile tribes from the interior All itself reaches an elevation of 4,100 feet Shendah, 4,500 feet Riad, 4,800 feet and Asortriba to the south seems though we did not get its elevation to be the highest of the group On our return to Halib we passed a Bisharin encampment consisting of half a dozen beehive huts made of matting on rounded sticks The women were weaving rough claws at one of them and were dressed in long sheets which once may have been white but now were the color of dirt They had glass beads and cowries tied to their matted locks and brass and silver rings of considerable size fastened to their noses The small children ran about naked with waistbands of leather straps on which were strung long agate and carnelium beads with cowry danglements hanging down in front They seemed very poor The old ladies to whom my husband gave pinches of tobacco were so effusive in their gratitude that for some moments he feared his generosity was to be rewarded by a kiss Our net results from the excursions from Halib were more or less of a negative character The mountain scenery was grand and the climate exquisite but from our observations we came to the conclusion that at no time was this country of much use to anybody and that it never had been thickly inhabited The existence of Idab being probably due to its position as a convenient port opposite Arabia for the inhabitants of the Nile Valley Water is and probably always has been very scarce here and except after the rains this country is little better than a desert The Bishari of the Akhmed Orab tribe who inhabit the mountains are exceedingly few in number and the Patron told us that all the way from Rasburnas just south of Shalal over which country his rule extends the whole tribe could muster only about 300 fighting men They have the Abhada to the north the Amara Bisharin to the south and apparently their relations with their neighbors are usually strained These tribes are purely pastoral and cultivate no land whatsoever They live in huts in groups of from three to six together and are scattered over the country at wide intervals They wear their hair fuzzy at the top with a row of curls hanging down the neck usually white and stiff with mutton fat They are medium sized, dark skin and some of them decidedly handsome They are gert only with a loincloth and sheet and every shepherd here carries his shield and his sword Under a good and subtle government they would undoubtedly be excellent members of society but with a califa on one side and the Egyptian government on the other their position is by no means an enviable one Their huts are very small and dingy being constructed with bent sticks on which palm leaf matting is stretched Inside they are decorated with their paraphernalia for weddings and camel traveling all elaborately decorated with kauri and other shells the most remarkable of these things being tall conical hats with long streamers used for dances at weddings entirely covered with kauri shells in pretty patterns The things they use for hanging up food are also prettily decorated with shells and strips of red and blue cloth The family occupying a hut sleep on mats in the inner part with the usual wooden african pillows and around the outer edge of the hut are collected their wooden bowls for sour milk their skins for water their incense burners and their limited number of household utensils Often when he goes off to distant pastrugas Abashiri will pack up his tent and household gods and leave them in a tree where he will find them quite safe on his return They live principally on milk and the products of their flock water being to them a far more precious article than milk They are very knowledgeable in the mountain shrubs and herbs and pointed out to us many which they eat for medicinal and other purposes but the only one of those which we appreciated was a small red gourd climbing amongst the mimosa branches resembling a tomato Kefalandra indike This they call Gorod Their usual word for gourd Also they are like the Akrethophaei whom Agatharchides places on their coast Large consumers of locusts when in season They catch them only when they have reached the flying stage and roast them in the ashes We often saw clouds of locusts in this district Devouring all the scanty herbage and literally filling the air For many years past the Egyptian authority in these parts has been nil and confined only to a few wretched forts on the coast Dervish raids from the interior and the stoppage of whatever caravan trade there ever was have contributed to the miserable condition of affairs now existing One can well understand why these miserable hounded tribes are wavering in their allegiance between the Egyptian government and the califa whom they dread and why they countenance the slave traders for the reason that they have no power to resist to them For all practical purposes it is a wretched country waterless during a great part of the year except where some deep ancient wells scattered at wide intervals over the country form centers where camels and flocks can be watered and as we traveled along we were struck by the numbers of these wells which have been quite recently abandoned but the mountains are magnificently grand sharp in outline like Mount Sarat in Spain with deep and lovely gorges formerly they abounded in mines and were celebrated for their mineral wealth and if there is ever to be a revival in this country it will be from this source that hope will come we had such strong wind when we went to see again that we feared we should not be able to start but we got away after all rising up early to be dressed before we were shaken about but we forgot to empty our basins and they emptied themselves into our beds and all the luggage banged about and the kitchen things went all over the place including the range consisting of two little stoves in paraffin cans but we got unsplendidly til we began to turn into Mersa or Khor Shannab as the Bisharing call it the Arab name is Bishbish Khor Shannab is a typical specimen of a Mersa it is cruciform and entered by a narrow passage between the reefs about 20 feet across and runs sinuously inland for about 2 miles and is never more than a quarter of a mile wide we had the second sized sail up but that had to be taken down and a smaller traded the sheet of this soon gave way and the sail went up in the air with a block and tore all across this was a frightful sight as we were among coral reefs the sailors flew about casting off garments in all directions a smaller sail tore up in a few moments and we were stuck on a reef and that got us off with some grating the captain and some others standing on the reef on the port side with water halfway up to their knees pushing with all their might there were 14 fathoms under us to starboard the little sail soon gave way at the top and fell into the water one anchor was sent out in a boat then another and when they tried to get up the first it was so entangled that they were a long time over it and one of the five flukes was broken we were kept off the reef by poles all this time that broken anchor was taken ashore and we were very thankful to be safe the flat ground for miles inland is composed of nothing but metapore and is covered with semi-fossilized seashells which have probably not been inhabited for thousands of years we walked over this for three miles before reaching the first spurs of the mountains and it is impossible to conceive a more barren or arid spot Korshanab is a well-known resort for slave trading craft small boats can easily hide in its narrow creeks and escape observation we stayed two days while the sails were mended on the shore and it was hours and hours before the anchor that was in the reef could be got up and fastened to the dry land we did try to get out to sea again but the north wind was raging so we could not do it and besides the sailors were very unwilling to start as a raven was sitting on the bow End of Chapter 25 Chapter 26 of Southern Arabia This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Southern Arabia By James and Mabel Bent Chapter 26 Mohammed Gol At Mohammed Gol to which port our down necks conducted us our prospects of getting well into the interior were much brighter and our ultimate results beyond comparison more satisfactory than they had been at Halayib Mohammed Gol is distinctly a more lively place than Halayib possessing more huts, more soldiers and actually a miniature bazaar where strange to relate we were able to buy something we wanted The houses at Mohammed Gol are larger than those at Halayib and one can stand up in some parts of nearly all of them The fort is surrounded by a very evil smelling moat and the village situated on a damp plain white with salt When we made a camp on shore later we went well beyond this plain In the summer season when the waters at the Red Sea are low traders come to Mohammed Gol for salt The salt turns are situated on the narrow spit of land called Ras Roaya Consequently, the people about here are more accustomed to the sight of Europeans and Mohammed Effendi, the governor or Mamur of the little Egyptian garrison who is young and energetic and far more in touch with the world than Ismail of Halayib He complained much of the dullness of his post and passed his weary hours in making walking sticks out of Ibex horns a craft he had learned from the Bedouin of Mount Urba who softened the horns in hot water greased them, pulled them out and flattened them with weights and polished them using them as camel sticks The governor gave us several of these sticks and also presented an Ibex horn head scratcher to me remarking as he did so and it was a nice thing to have by me when my head itched He was a little and very dark man with a pleasant, honest face and three transverse scars across his cheeks each about two inches long His secretary was yet smaller and decorated in the same way The chief of the police was a very fat, good-humoured man with two little perpendicular cuts beside each eye These are tribal marks There was great palavering about our journey into the interior The tribalers had visited the Red Sea side of the massive group of Mount Urba on holidays from Sawakin in search of sport No one had as yet been behind it and thither we intended to go The governor had summoned three shakes from the mountain into whose hands he confided us The day we first landed I thought I'd never beheld such scowling disagreeable faces but afterwards we became good friends My husband and I went ashore the second day and sat in a sort of audience arba near the Madrapoor pier The maps were drawn on the ground with camel sticks and we were quite proud that my husband was able to settle it all with no interpreter Shake Ali Debaloop the chief of the Kaleeb tribe was to take us to his district Wadi Haidi and Wadi Gabyet some way inland at the back of the Urba Mountains which group we insisted on going entirely round He was a tall fine specimen of a bishari shake with his neck terribly scarred by a burn to heal which he had been treated He is, as we learn later, a man of questionable loyalty to the Egyptian government and supposed to be more than half a dervish This may be owing to the exigences of his position, for more than half his tribe living in the Wadi Haidt are of avowed allegiance to the Khalifa and Debaloop's authority now only extends over the portion near the coast As far as we could see his intentions towards us were strictly honorable and he treated us throughout our expedition in a much more straightforward manner than either of the other two As his father was too old and infirm to accompany us, he took his place He was an exceedingly dirty and wild looking fellow with a harsh raucous voice and his statements were not always reliable We have reason to believe that his father is much interested in the slave trade and therefore not too fond of Europeans but these shakes by the coast are generally obliged to be somewhat double in their dealings and, when anything can be gained by it affects sincere friendship for the English Shake No. 3 bore the name of Hassan Bafuri and his wagdab, or chief of another branch of the kerbabs and his authority extends over the massive group of Mount Erba and Kokut He is a man who seems to prevail in telling lies and we could never believe a word he said Beside these headmen we had several minor shakes with us and two soldiers sent by the Mamua from his garrison at Muhammad Ghol to see that we were well treated Hence our caravan was of considerable dimensions at the departure from Muhammad Ghol on February 6 He of the Qilab tribe Ali Delob was the most important of them and he took one of his wives with him All had their servants and shield bearers and most of them were wild, unpre-possessing looking men with shaggy locks and lard-dorbed curls and all of them were, I believe, thorough ruffians who, as we were told afterwards would have willingly sold us to the dervishes had they thought they would have gained by the transaction These things officials told us when we reached Sawaqin but to do our guides justice that they treated us very well and in as much as we never believed the word they said the fact that they were liars made but little difference to us Some of the men had very fine profiles and one was very handsome Their hairs done something like the Bisharins that is, with a fuzz standing up on the top but the hanging part is not curled the white tallow with which they were caked made them look as if their heads were surrounded with dips I asked why the tallow was put on One said to make one strong another to make one seafar and the third reason was that the hair might not appear black We had 14 camels for ourselves and two for the police who came with us The Mamaw was in European uniform with a red shawl wound around his head and sat on a very smart inlaid saddle which came onto his waist in front and reached to his shoulder blades The chief of the police did not come he being, as he told us, far too fat We were all to fill our water skins from a remarkably fine well of particularly sweet water at Ahadi so we only took a couple of skinfalls with us End of Chapter 26