Page 394 - Neglected Arabia 1902-1905

i6

littoral, has been fixed by an exact process, and we depend on little
more than guesses tor all points in the interior.” Not in this sense,
however, does he speak of unknown Arabia. But in the south there
•!
“lies a virgin tract obscure enough. * * ’ Between the innermost
points reached by Europeans in their attempts to penetrate it, inter-
z'eues a dark space of six hundred and fifty miles s{>an from north to
south, and eight hundred and fifty from zeest to This unseen area
covers considerably more than half a million square miles, or not much
less than half the whole superficies of Arabia.” This unknown in­
terior may hold important geographical or archceological secrets; only
men like Doughty and Haievy who can turn Bedouin for months at a
time will ever unravel them.
The book has two important lessons for the missionary. First, he
must contemplate the price that science paid to penetrate the peninsula,
and it should move him to a godly envy to endure like crosses for a
higher service. Niebuhr alone ot all his party returned to tell of :
Yemen; the rest died of fever and exposure. Huber was murdered by
Bedouins and his journal published after his death. Seetzen was mur­
dered near Taiz and Manzoni shot with his own rifle by a treacherous
companion. Bent died from the effects of the Hadramaut climate, and
Von Wrede, after suffering everything to reach the Ahkaf, returned to
Europe to be scoffed at and his story labeled a romance ! Only years
i f；i a.fter his tragic death was it corroborated. And Doughty was turned
out of Nejd sick and penniless to trudge on foot with a caravan and
to be betrayed near Mecca, escaping by the skin of his teeth.
'pi Secondly, there is much to learn from these heroes of geography,
although none of them penetrated Arabia in the spirit of Livingstone.
； “The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the chil­
!' dren of light/* A keen discernment of the Arab’s character, a fluent,
!!
：*：; accurate knowledge of his speech, a lively interest in his desert joys, a
• ••••••• heart of sympathy, and a dogged, undaunted perseverance—such were
!i
the stepping-stones to success in the penetration of Arabia for the
trophies of geography. Shall young men of such a stamp be wanting'
i! to join our Mission and help penetrate the darkness with the Light of
;! life? To read a book like this is a challenge to faith as well as a re-
buke for neglect and apathy and love of ease. Arabia must be evan-
gelized; not only penetrated by the traveler, but occupied by the mis­
il
sionary. God’s providence is even now opening the way.
•I: