42 S. B. Miles —On the route between [No. 1, 
came in sight of Sehlat a village picturesquely situated on the top 
of a hill, and having at a distance a somewhat imposing appearance, though 
a closer view dispelled the illusion. It belongs to the Beni Gheith 
a petty Hinawi tribe, subordinate however to the Na’im. Here we rested 
for a short time while the camels were fed. The next village we come to 
an hour later is Mileyyeneh, and our road henceforth lies in 
the bed of Wadi Jezze as far as Hail, for we have now reached the 
foot of the hill range and commence a more steep and winding ascent. 
Just below Mileyyeneh, where the Wadi narrows considerably, is an arched 
aqueduct, of solid masonry that supplies a village, called el-Ghorak ( oiyJo. 
belonging to the Beni Gheith. I could learn nothing precise about this 
aqueduct, which is evidently of very ancient construction, from the Sheikh, 
the tradition as usual being limited to the fact of its having been con¬ 
structed by the Kafirs before Islam. Here we were overtaken by a heavy 
thunder-storm, which soon drenched us through and made the rocky path 
too slippery for the camels to venture out of a walk ; the sight, however, 
was very grand from the picturesque scenery around us ; the dark blue 
hills of the back ground, streaked by deepest black ravines and gorges, and 
with ridge uj)on ridge of lower hills in front being lighted up here and there 
by the rays of the sun, now near setting, glancing through a rent in the 
dark heavy masses of clouds above us and showing a strange contrast of 
light and shade. It was some time after dark when we reached the groves 
of the little village of Sahileh, and here the Arabs having lost 
the path and nearly brought us to grief among the water channels and 
low walls of the plantations, we were fain to wait for a villager to light us 
with a torch to our camping ground. This place belongs to the el-Kunud, 
and has two small towers for defence. The next day, starting soon after 
sunrise, we pushed on more rapidly and reached el-Bereymi at 7^ p. m. 
Travelling at first in a south-westerly direction, we pass after an hour an 
affluent on the right bank, called Wadi el-Sufan, up which 
is a village of the same name, and then the Wadi Jezze, here forming a 
loop, we cross the ’Akabat Kumashi to join it again. A few 
miles further S. S. W. brings us to Burj el-Shikeyri, just 
beyond which lies the village of Kan, (c;^) memorable for a conflict be¬ 
tween the Wahhabis and the Hadhrami troops of Seyyid Sa’id-bin-Sultan 
some sixty years ago, in which the latter were signally defeated with great 
loss, and which paved the way for the onward progress of these fanatics 
to Shinas where they again destroyed His Highness’ forces. A 
cemetery of the slain in the bed of the Wadi near Kan attests the severity 
of the contest there. The tower of Shikeyri is on a peak some 200 feet 
high on the right bank, and is joined to another tower below by a stone 
wall. It was built for the special purpose of barring the progress of the 
