The early morning effect upon the flat plateau was one of great beauty, in spite of its dry arid appearance. A dull warm haze hung over the more distant desert, for such it really was at this period of the year, through which the far-away mountains shimmered in the heat, turquoise-blue in colour. As we proceeded the cultivated land became very sparse, the soil for the most part consisting of sand and stones, until, passing through a narrow gorge of rock, we entered a great circular plain enclosed by low rocky hills on all sides, no doubt the crater of some long-extinct volcano. From this point one catches a glimpse of Jibel Doran, a range of mountains of great elevation, which terminate in a strange sugar-loaf peak, unequalled in curious form by any I have seen elsewhere in the world, with the exception perhaps of “The Needle of Heaven” in the I-chang gorge of the Yangtze-Kiang, some eleven hundred miles up that river. [Illustration: JIBEL DORAN—EARLY MORNING.] At a small _café_—half a cave, and half built of rough stones—we spent an hour or two during the hottest part of the day. Quite a number of men and camels had arrived before us, and in spite of the fact that scarcely a blade of anything green was to be seen, the surroundings were by no means unpicturesque. Joining in with the caravan-men, a cool corner was found for me in the cave, and our mid-day rest passed quickly and pleasantly enough. Far above us, perched on the summit of a hill, was the large village of Athaik, its tall towers dominating the surrounding plain and giving the place the appearance of some old feudal castle. A descent led us to a slightly lower portion of the plain. The soil here was richer, but I noticed that there was no cultivation, a fact that was explained to me to be owing to the rebellion, which had deterred any investment in crops that were bound to fall a prey either to the Turks or independent robbers. To our left we could see the walled town of Resaaba, but wishing to push on to Sanaa, and as it did not lie in our road, I did not visit it. There is but little of interest, I was told, to be seen within its walls. It is, in fact, rather a very large village than a town, and bears all the characteristics of the villages of the Yemen plateau. Again, another reason deterred me from penetrating there; that I felt it advisable to give as wide a berth as possible to any places where I might be likely to run up against Turks and Turkish authorities. To have so nearly reached Sanaa, and then be turned back, would indeed have been a disappointment.