camels nearly eight thousand feet above the sea-level, and on the worst possible roads, must seem strange. It is well known, of course, that the camel of Central Asia traverses mountainous country, but I doubt if many are aware that it forms also the beast of burden in the extreme highlands of the Yemen, travelling over roads which one would have thought impassable almost for a mule. Yet so it is. At length the end of the little valley was reached at an altitude of only a little under nine thousand feet above the sea-level. A slippery rocky path winds up the last few hundred yards of the ascent, which is extremely difficult to surmount, both for man and beast, for the constant traffic of centuries has polished the surface until it shines like glass. Here the beauty ends, for one has reached the plateau of central Yemen—a vast plain lying at an average altitude of about eight thousand feet above the sea, broken only by hideous ledges of black volcanic rock, which crop up here and there from its level surface. It was too early yet in the year for the young grain to show; and the scene that met our eyes, as we rested ourselves and our mules after the steep climb, was a dreary one—miles of yellow level plain, and black jagged rocks. A short but steep descent brings one to the level of the plateau, over which, with but little exception, the road passes from this spot as far as Sanaa, the capital. [Illustration: _Inscribed stone at Munkat, near Yerim._] The natives have made use of the ledges of rock, which appear in every direction, as sites for their villages, many of which are perched on the extreme summits, while others lie on the slopes. At one of these—by name Munkat—we stopped for a little while, to see the place and some curious Himyaric remains still existing therein. This is, I think, the first mention I have made of the strange people, descendants of Himyar, who formerly inhabited the Yemen; but rather than enter into any account of them and of other historical matters at this point, I have reserved these questions for separate chapters, as I have also done in the case of the geography, trade, and general description of the Yemen. It has been my wish, as far as possible, to separate the account of my journey from other and more important matter, so that each may be taken separately. In all matters historical and geographical, I have consulted, as far as has been in my power, the best authorities upon the subject; but in the account of my own travels I have thought it expedient, instead of breaking the narrative with incursions into more serious subjects, to omit, except in cases in which it may illustrate and explain more fully than would otherwise be the case, nearly all reference to historical or political affairs.