I thought at first of trying to keep our several writings apart; but, to
avoid confusion of inverted commas, I decided, acting on advice, just to
put the whole thing into as consecutive a form as possible, only saying
that the least part of the writing is mine.

The bibliography is far from complete, as I can name only a few of the
many books that my husband consulted on all the districts round those
which we were going to penetrate.

As to the spelling of the Arabic, it must be remembered that it is a very
widely spread language, and there are naturally many different forms of
the same word--_e.g. ibn_, _ben_, _bin_--and such very various ways of
pronouncing the name of the Moslem prophet, that I have heard it
pronounced Memet, Mamad and Mad.

I must give hearty thanks in both our names to all who helped us on in
these journeys, and especially to Mr. Headlam, who has given me much
assistance by going through the proofs of this book. Mr. W. C. Irvine has
kindly provided the column of literary Arabic for the vocabulary.

MABEL VIRGINIA ANNA BENT.

13 Great Cumberland Place, W:
_October 13, 1899_.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Bibliography ix

SOUTHERN ARABIA

chapter
I. Manamah and Moharek 1
II. The Mounds of Ali 16
III. Our Visit to Rufa'a 30

MASKAT
IV. Some Historical Facts about Oman 45
V. Maskat and the Outskirts 63

THE HADHRAMOUT
VI. Makalla 71
VII. Our Departure into the Interior 81
VIII. The Akaba 88
IX. Through Wadi Kasr 98
X. Our Sojourn at Koton 111
XI. The Wadi Ser and Kabr Saleh 126
XII. The City of Shibahm 142
XIII. Farewell to the Sultan of Shibahm 162
XIV. Harassed by our Guides 177
XV. Retribution for our Foes 199
XVI. Coasting Eastward by Land 210
XVII. Coasting Westward by Sea 220