Page 461 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

422 NAKAB EL HAJAR. [CH.

At six a.m. we again mounted our camels,

and passing in succession the villages of

Sahun, Gharigah, and Jewel Sheikh, arrived
at another small village, where we had been

led to anticipate we should meet the Sultan;
but finding, to our very great joy, upon in­

quiry, that he had set off the day before for
’Abban, we pushed onwards.

Several people stopped us on the road, and
saluted us, after the Arab style, with much

civility. They appeared perfectly satisfied
with the answer our guides now thought

proper to give to them, namely, that we were

proceeding to their Sultan on business. One
man only recognised us in the course of our

journey as Englishmen. He was a native of
Hydramaut, who had heard of the English at

Shaher, and was impressed with a belief that
we were proceeding to purchase Hasan Gho-

rab from ’Ab’d-ul-Wahid.

At nine hours we passed Manshrah, and
Sa’id, and arrived at Jewel Agil, one of the

largest hamlets of the group. Leaving several
other villages to the left, we now passed over

a hill about two hundred feet in height, com­
posed of a reddish-coloured sandstone. From

the summit of this, the ruins we sought were