We encamped not at all far from the deep hole, and at first were too hot
and tired after our tremendous clamber to look round, 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 Dianae
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, but fortunately my husband's collar-stud came undone and they
all crowded to see his white chest amid shouts of 'Shouf Theodore!' (Look
at Theodore).
One of these people had fever and another neuralgia. We found neuralgia
pretty common in Arabia. Quassia-chips were given to each to steep in
water, but carefully tied up in different coloured cotton bags. Our way
was very uninteresting, due south to the sea at Rizat.
My husband's camel required repacking, and he and Hassan managed to lose
sight of the rest of the _kafila_. Imam Sharif 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 thirteen men. When one of them
wished to attract my attention he tapped me on the knee with sword or
stick, saying, 'Ya (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 'Fatema' and
to try called 'Ya Fatema!' I said 'My name is not "Fatema";' then they
asked, and thus they learnt our names.
They said they did not wish us to give them orders of any kind as they
were sheikhs; 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 reals, 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.
CHAPTER XXI
THE IDENTIFICATION OF ABYSSAPOLIS
We now pursued our way along the coast-line of Dhofar in an 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 dishful of the fruit, which was exceedingly refreshing.
Besides these 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, leaving behind him at Al Hafa the cares of state and the
everlasting bickerings in his harem.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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