rebellion, and little but the outside walls and the graves remain to-day. Passing back through the town we visited the Jews’ quarter, which, unlike the Moslem city, is walled, the gates being locked every night from the outside. Miserable squalor and dirt existed on all sides, although the Jews themselves seemed well to do, and their houses airy and large. They are built almost entirely of mud-bricks, plastered inside and out. This material forms a hard surface, and seems to be very durable. [Illustration: _Hirran._] Our last day was spent in visiting the old fortress of Hirran, lying a mile or two to the north of Dhamar; and well worth the trouble and heat I found the expedition, for Hirran boasts many antiquities. Passing through the north quarter of Dhamar, one emerges into the dusty plateau, across which the road continues for a couple of miles or so. Hirran is clearly visible from Dhamar itself, the dark rocky hill standing out black against the light soil. One reaches the place near the south-west point of the jagged rock, where are some old tanks sunk in the solid stone, and of very considerable size. Keeping still to the west side of the hill, we shortly reached the scene of an old cemetery, the flat rock being honeycombed with graves. These were often sunk to the depth of twenty feet and more, and generally measured some seven feet in length, and two to three in breadth, but one or two were circular. They did not point in any direction, but lay scattered about the little elevated rocky flat in which they were sunk, some east and west, some north and south. Besides the empty ones, there were a great many visible which had apparently escaped the hands of man, nor could I find out why or when those that had been dug out had been spoiled. An old goatherd, the sole inhabitant of Hirran, told me that he had always remembered them thus, and during his lifetime had never seen any one digging in the graves, though lately some of the larger cave-tombs further up the rock had been searched for treasure, but only a few coins and beads, he said, had been found with the bones. [Illustration: _Cave-Tombs, Hirran._] The hill of Hirran is double-peaked, each point rising to some hundreds of feet above the level of the surrounding plain. These peaks lie almost due north and south, the rock taking a curving form between them, so that the whole forms a sort of crescent, which was formerly defended by a huge wall, still remaining, joining the lower slopes of the two extremities on the eastern side. Like the graveyard, the cave-tombs are situated on the west side of the hill, at a spot where the steep precipice, which rises to the summit, is joined by the lower boulder-strewn slopes. Although we entered all of the caves that are to-day open, there were signs of numerous others which the collection of falling material from the precipice had so blocked that considerable digging would be necessary to procure an entrance.