ON THE EXPLORATION OF HADRAMOUT IN SOUTHERN ARABIA. 357 



the days of Makrisi, the Bedouins bring caravans of salt : this impreg- 

 nates the water of the main valley with strong alkaline deposits, and tlie 

 water from the wells, especially in the centre of the valley, is very dis- 

 agreeable. This, however, is not the case in the narrower valleys, and 

 from the Wadi Adym, the Wadi Al Eyn and Dowan, come the best 

 dates and the best honey, which form two of the principal productions of 

 the country. 



In many places the main valley of the Hadramout is very wide — even 

 near Shibam it is three miles wide, and where it is entered by the collateral 

 branches considerably more. We were only able to trace its course as 

 far as Terim, but beyond that, as it slopes towards the sea of Saihut, I 

 have reason to believe it assumes magnificent proportions, but owing to 

 the hostility of the tribes in that direction we were unable to proceed, as 

 we had wished, along the whole length of it ; and even the Arabs, under 

 the rule of the Al Kaiti family, are themselves ignorant of this route, 

 always going down to the sea by the plateau roads, as the long valley 

 road is unsafe for caravans. 



Our investigations were principally confined to the main valley and 

 its arteries. The Sultan of Shibam hospitably entertained us in his 

 palace at Al Katan for three weeks, from which point we were able to 

 visit a large number of the places of interest in the vicinity. At El Meshed 

 we \'isited the ruins of a very large town at the mouth of the Wadi 

 Dowan, and brought home several inscriptions therefrom. Also at two 

 or three other spots near Shibam we got inscriptions ; but the expedition 

 which most repaid us was that up the Wadi Ser to the north of the main 

 valley, by which we wei'e able to determine the position of the great 

 central desert at this point, and also, from inscriptions, one of the old 

 caravan roads which led northwards from the frankincense country. In 

 this valley too we visited the Kabr Salah, one of the tombs held sacred 

 by the Bedouins, and particularly watched over by them as distinct from 

 the Arab shrines : it is a long tomb forty feet in length, and is one of many 

 tombs popularly supposed by the Bedouins to belong to a race of giants 

 which are to be found at several points in the Hadramout. There is no 

 question about it that the Bedouins represent an older civilisation and 

 practise an older cult than the Arabs in this district. The Sayyids and 

 Sherifs of the Arab population look down on the Bedou, referring to them 

 as heathen who only outwardly conform to the laws of Mohammedanism 

 when absolutely compelled. 



The inscriptions and archreological results of our Hadramout expedition 

 are now in the hands of the great Himyaritic scholar. Dr. D. H. Miiller, 

 of Vienna, and I have confident hopes that he will be able to produce for 

 us some interesting results. 



The map of our expedition and a survey of the country which we 

 traversed have been made by Imam Shei-if, Khan Bahadar, who was sent 

 out by the Indian Government. It is particularly valuable as being the 

 first attempt at surveying anything beyond the coast-line in this part of 

 Arabia, and I have hopes that he will accompany us again next year to 

 continue this work. 



Thei'e is a remarkable absence of mammalia in the Hadramout ; we 

 only saw a few gazelle and heard of the ibex as dwelling in the moun- 

 tains near Siwun. The fact that we constantly saw the rotting carcasses 

 of sheep proves the total absence of carnivorous beasts and birds, which is 

 doubtless due to the lack of running water. There are also very few birds 



