We had read a very awe-inspiring account of this path by Lieutenant Wellsted, and so were quite disposed to believe all our camel-drivers told us of the awful dangers to be encountered. They had formed a plan whereby their Kadhoup friends might come in for some of our rupees. We were not only to pay for camels, but also for a boat. Some, at least, of the camels were sure, they said, to fall into the sea from the cliffs, and our possessions, if not our lives themselves, might be lost. They said that we ought to send our baggage by boat, even if we risked the mountain path ourselves. We assured them that we had landed in Sokotra (which they pronounce Sakoutra) to see the island, and not to circumnavigate it. Others could pass, so we could. Their last hope was in my hoped-for faintheartedness. They watched till I was alone in the tent, and, having recounted all the perils over again, said: 'Let the men go over the mountain, but you, O Bibi! will go in a boat, safely. You cannot climb, you cannot ride the camel, no one can hold you; the path is too narrow, and you will be afraid.' That being no good, old Sheikh Ali came. He was anxious, poor old man, to be spared the exertion, and eventually rode all the way, except when there was no room. He said I should go in a boat with him; he would take care of me and give me musk (which he called misk) when we reached Hadibo. He often promised misk, but I never got any; and here I may remark that I have frequently heard Maskat pronounced Miskit in Arabia amongst the Bedouin of the East. We really did feel very adventurous indeed when we started. I rode my camel a quarter of a mile to the foot of the ascent. No one else thought it worth while to mount, but I was comfortably carried over a muddy creek. The Kadhoupers did get some rupees, for we were attended by twelve men carrying bamboo poles 10 or 12 feet long. It really was a stiff climb, but we had a good deal of shade, and when we reached our highest point there was a pretty flat bit with scattered trees and grass, about half a mile, I think. The twelve men had to carry the baggage slung on the poles for a quarter of a mile or so, where the overhanging rocks made the path too narrow for loaded camels. It was quite high enough for their heads, and we had plenty of room. It was marvellous to see the camels struggling along this road, and awful to hear their groans and the shouts of the camel-men as they struggled up and down and in and out of the rocks; and the hubbub and yelling over a fallen one was simply diabolical. We had the most tremendous clambering down soon after that, the baggage being again slung on the poles, and the camels came clattering down, with many stones, and looking as if they would rush over straight into the sea.