The unveiling of Arabia. R.H.Kirnan, London, 1937 :
Yet in 1843 Adolf von Wrede, a Bavarian soldier who had lived for some time in Egypt, carried out a truly courageous exploration, penetrating from the sea to the edge of the Great Southern Desert. .............
His next excursion was to the north-west, where he reached the Wadi Amd after two days of difficult travel, and found it similar to the Wadi Duwan in its form and settlements. He followed it to the junction with Wadi Duwan, at Haura, and then bore to the west again across a high tableland beyond which in four days he reached Shabwa, on the Wadi Rasha. This valley was not so populous as the two others and was partly filled with sand. Here he ascertained that he was but a day’s journey from the desert of El Ahkaf, really the South- western Rub’ al Khali, where of old an entire army, lost on the march, was said to have perished. Von Wreae reached the borders of the desert in a six-hour journey from Shabwa, and found it to be about 1000 feet below the level of the high land. He had been told that the desert was full of “ white spots,” in which anything which happened to fall would sink and perish. The view over the grea* unknown Southern Desert struck him with melancholy and astonishment: Conceive an immense sandy plain stiewn with numberless undulating hills, which gave it the appearance of a moving sea. Not a single bird interrupts with its note the calm of death, which rests upon this tomb of the Sabaean army. I clearly perceived three spots of dazzling whiteness, the position and distance of which I measured geometrically. “That is Bahr es Saffi,” said my guide to me; “ghosts inhabit those precipices, and have covered with treacherous sand the treasures which are committed to their care; every one who approaches near them is carried down; therefore do not go.” I, of course, paid no attention to their warnings, but requested to be led to those spots in accord- 208 Reser\ oirs for \\ ater may be seen m the foreground. From “ The Southern Gates of Arabia by Freya Stark, by permission of the author Wadi Hadhramaut, looking North-east of Terim Royal Air Force official photograph. Crown copyright reserved 209 EXPLORERS IN OMAN AND HADHRAMAUT ance with the agreement I had made with my Bedouins. It took my camels full 2 hours* walk before we reached the foot of the high plateau, where we halted at sunset in the vicinity of two v enormous rocky blocks. On the following morning I summoned the Bedouins to accompany me to the places alluded to above, but they were not to be induced ; and the dread of ghosts had obtained such complete mastery over them that they scarcely ventured to speak ; I was therefore determined to go alone, and, taking with me a plummet of \ a kilo’s weight and a cord of 60 fathoms, I started on my perilous march. In 36 minutes I reached, during a complete lull of the wind, the northern and nearest spot, which is about 30 minutes long and 26 minutes broad, and which towards the middle takes by degrees a sloping form of 6 feet in depth, probably from the action of the wind. With the greatest caution I approached the border to examine the sand, which I found almost an impalpable powder; I then threw the plumb- line as far as possible ; it sank instantly, the velocity diminishing, and in 5 minutes the end of the cord had disappeared in the all- devouring tomb. I will not hazard an opinion of my own, but refer the phenomenon to the learned, who may be able to explain it, and restrict myself to having related the facts. A four days 5 march from Shabwa saw him back at Khu^aiba, whence after a short rest among friends he resolved to set out for Kabr Hud, the shrine of the Prophet Hud, a place which he believed to be of historical and geological interest. Two of the Khuraiban chief’s sons and another companion travelled with him, and in two days they arrived at Sif, where a great crowd was assembled to celebrate the feast of a revered sheikh who was buried in the neighbourhood. Sif marked the end of von Wrede’s exploration. As soon as I had arrived among the crowd they all at once fell upon me, dragged me from my camel, and disarmed me ; using me very roughly, they tied my hands behind my back and carried me, with my face covered with blood and dust, before the reigning Sultan, Mohammed Abdalla ibn ben Issa Achmudi. The whole of my captors raised a horrible cry and declared me to be an English spy exploring the country, and demanded my instantly being put to death. The Sultan being afraid of the Bedouins, on whom he, like all Sultans of the wadi , is dependent, was about to give orders for my execution, when my guides and protectors came in haste and quieted the Bedouins’ minds by means of the moral influence they had over them. In the meantime I remained con- fined to my room with my feet in fetters. I was imprisoned for 3 days, but provided with every necessary ; on the evening of the o 209
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