Before daylight we were on our road again, following for a little way the course of the river Sailet el-Melh. The country here had become more mountainous, one flat-topped peak being particularly noticeable. The natives call it Dhu-biyat, but I can find no mention of this name elsewhere. On the summit is a tomb, that of a certain Seyed Hasan, about whom there seemed to be traditions of his having possessed remarkable powers, but as to whose history apparent ignorance prevailed, nor can I find any records of any powerful Imam having been buried on this spot. It is probable that he was merely some local Seyed or Shereef, and that his repute has not reached the centres of Arabian civilisation. The summit of this mountain is said to be quite flat and rich in pasture, and Bedouins of the Houshabi tribe have built a village there, and graze their flocks and herds. Near this spot the valley opens out, and one enters the Beled Alajioud, a level plain of green fields, with a river flowing through its centre. Here one leaves the wandering Bedouin tribes and enters a land of fixed abodes, for houses well built of rough stone stand about the valley; and at one spot is a village perched on a slight eminence, and crowned with a square tower. This turned out to be the border village of the Aloui tribe, to the representative of whom—a village Sheikh—I presented my credentials. There was the usual group of men and women and children and dogs, the usual exchange of compliments and banter; and although at first they had appeared a little high-handed, we parted the best of friends.