wide. Think, that eight horses can go abreast on the top of it.1 In this place many fruits grow the same as in our country, and there are many fountains. In this Sana there is a Sultan who has twelve sons, one of whom is called Mahometh. He is like a madman: he bites people and kills them, and then eats their flesh until his appetite is satisfied. He is four braza high, well proportioned, and of a dark brown colour.2 In this city there are found some kinds of small spices which grow in the neighbourhood. This place contains about 4,000 hearths. The houses are very handsome and resemble ours. Within the city there are many vines and gardens as with us.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING TAESA AND ZIBIT AND DAMAR, VERY LARGE CITIES OF ARABIA FELIX.

After seeing Sana I resumed my journey and went to another city called Taesa, which is distant three days' jour

3

Niebuhr says that the walls are of earth, faced with unburnt brick and surmounted by a great many small turrets. According to the narrative of the French travellers who visited Sanäa in 1712, as given by De la Roque in his Voyage de l'Arabie Heureuse, the breadth of the walls is sufficient to admit of driving eight horses abreast.

2 The then ruling Imâm was Ahmed ibn el-Imâm en-Nâsir, surnamed El-Mansûr, who was taken prisoner by Sultân 'Amir when he captured Sanäa, and died at Ta'ez under suspicion of having been poisoned. I have not succeeded in discovering any notices corroborative of Varthema's statement respecting the cannibal propensities of one of his sons. Burton remarks on the passage: "This is a tale not unfamiliar to the western world. Louis XI. of France was supposed to drink the blood of babies,―ʻpour rajeunir sa veine épuisée.' The reasons in favour of such unnatural diet have been fully explained by the infamous M. de Sade." Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah, vol. ii. p. 352, n.

3 Ta'ez is about one hundred and ten miles to the south of Sanäa. Abulfeda says that in his time (fourteenth century) it was the residence of the princes of Yemen, and describes it as a fortress situated in the midst of the mountains which overlook the Tihâma [the sea coast], and the plain of Zebîd. Above Ta'ez there is a pleasure-ground called Sahlah, to which spot the prince of Yemen has conducted a stream

ney from Sana aforesaid, and is situated in a mountain. This city is very beautiful, and abounds in all kinds of elegancies, and, above all, in a vast quantity of rose water, which is distilled here. It is reported of this city that it is extremely ancient: there is a temple there built like the Santa Maria Rotonda of Rome, and many other very ancient palaces. There are very great merchants here. These people dress like those above mentioned. They are olive coloured. Departing thence I went to another city, distant from this three days' journey, which is called Zibit ;1 a large and very

of water from the neighbouring heights. He has also erected several large buildings in a garden, and, altogether, it is a most agreeable place." Niebuhr, who gives a detailed account of the town together with a view and plan, says it is situated at the foot of a fertile mountain called Jebel Sâbir, and is surrounded by a wall of crude bricks with a slight revêtement of burnt bricks. Within the enceinte of the walls is a steep rock four hundred feet high, on which the citadel El-Kâhirah stands. Varthema's "temple" was probably the mosque of the renowned Mohammedan saint Isma'îl Mulk, which Niebuhr styles the "Cathedral of Ta'ez." There are many mosques and other public buildings both within and without the city, but most of them are in a very dilapidated condition. Baskets of rose-buds are brought from Ta’ez to Aden during the season. The place was occupied by the Egyptian forces on its evacuation by Sultân 'Amir ibn Abd el-Wahhâb, a few days before his capture and death. At present, though nominally subject to the Imâm of Sanäa, it is governed by the chief of the Sherjebi tribe who inhabit the district.

1 Zebîd, situated in one of the most fertile valleys of Yemen, was formerly the capital of the Tihâma, and a place of considerable importance; but owing to the gradual filling-up of the old port of Ghâlifkah, much of its trade was diverted to Mokha, Hodeidah, and Loheia, and it is now reduced to a second-rate town. El-Edrîsi describes it in his time as "a large city, its inhabitants are prosperous, being men of wealth and substance, and the voyagers thereto are many. There assemble merchants from the Hijâz, and Abyssinia, and Egypt, who go up in Juddah vessels. The Abyssinians bring their (rakîk) slaves thereto, and from thence are exported different kinds of Indian aromatics, Chinese and other commodities." (I was surprised to find that Gabriele Sionita, in his Latin translation of El-Edrîsi, makes merces of the Arabic rakik, which occurs in this and in another extract which I have quoted in note 1, page 86. Rakik is a common word for slave in Yemen and in Egypt.) Abul

G

excellent city, situated near the Red Sea, at half a day's journey. It is a place of very considerable extent by the Red Sea, and is supplied with an immense quantity of sugar, and has most excellent fruits; is situated on a plain between two mountains, and has no walls around it. A very great traffic is carried on here in spices of all kinds, which are brought from other countries. The dress and colour of these people is the same as of those before mentioned. Then. I departed from this place and went to another city, distant one day's journey, called Damar,1 inhabited by Moors, who are very great merchants. The said city is very fertile, and the manner of living and customs of the inhabitants are the same as of those before mentioned.

feda says Zebid is "situated in a plain, somewhat less than a day's journey from the sea. Its water is derived from wells, and it abounds in palm-trees. It is surrounded by a wall, and has eight gates." As this latter observation contradicts the statement of Varthema, it must be borne in mind that Abulfeda wrote two centuries before his time, and the more recent account of Niebuhr is sufficient to establish our traveller's general veracity. Niebuhr states that "the wall of the town is almost entirely demolished to a level with the ground, and the poor people dig into the foundations to obtain stones wherewith to build their houses." Notwithstanding the existence of a river, which during the rainy season flows in a copious stream through the valley, the same author says that the inhabitants draw water from sunken wells, and that it is of an excellent quality. Voy. en Arabie, vol. i. pp. 261-264.

Zebîd was taken from 'Amir ibn Abd el-Wahhâb by the combined Egyptian and Turkish armies on the 17th of Jumâd el-Awwal, 922 = 17th June, 1516. The excesses which they committed on the occasion, as recorded by the author of the Kurrat el Ayûn, were atrocious in the extreme. It was wrested from the conquerors not long after by the Imâm of Sanäa, and continued, nominally, a dependency of that principality until it finally fell into the hands of the Turks, together with several towns on the coast, about A.D. 1832.

1 More correctly, Dhamâr, situated about sixty miles to the east of Zebid,- -a hard day's journey, but by no means an uncommon one with the Arabs, mounted on their fleet dromedaries. Abulfeda remarks that it is a well known city, and the birth-place of many authors on the Traditions. Niebuhr, who visited it, says that it is situated in a fertile territory, and is renowned for its breed of horses. The town, which is large and well built, has no wall, but is defended by a strong fortress

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING THE SULTAN OF ALL THE ABOVE-MENTIONED CITIES, AND WHEREFORE HE

IS CALLED BY THE NAME SECHAMIR.

All these above-named cities are subject to the Sultan of the Amanni,1 that is, the Sultan of Arabia Felix, who is called Sechamir.2 Secho is the same as saint, amir, lord, and

adjoining. It contains a famous Medresseh, or College, belonging to the sect of the Zaidîeh, which was frequented by five hundred students. Voyage en Arabie, vol. i. pp. 324-5.

1 It now strikes me as most probable that Varthema's "Amanni" is merely his Italian way of writing " Yemen," which Gabriele Sionita, in his Latin version of El-Edrîsi, renders "Iaman." (For a different solution see note 2 on p. 57.)

2 We have here another remarkable coincidence strikingly confirmative of Varthema's general correctness. The reigning prince at the time was 'Amir ibn Abd el-Wahhâb ibn Daood ibn Dhâhir, etc., surnamed Edh-Dhâfir Salâh ed-Dîn, who succeeded his father Abd el-Wahhâb, generally styled El-Melek el-Mansûr, A.H. 894: A.D. 1488. In the course of a few years he wrested the greater part of Yemen from the Imâm, and eventually occupied Sanäa. His career, indeed, was an unbroken series of victories until arrested, first by the Egyptian expedition in 1515, and then by the Turks, who invaded Yemen the year following. He was overtaken as a fugitive, on his way to seek shelter in the castle of Dhamarmar, by a detachment of the Egyptian army with which he had had a fierce engagement on the preceding day, and was murdered by them in cold blood on the 24th of Rabiäa el-Âkhir, 923 = 12th May, 1517. His head they carried to Sanäa, and exhibited it before the walls; whereupon the people surrendered at discretion, and opened the gates to the Egyptian commander.

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The following account of the various public monuments erected by 'Âmir ibn Abd el-Wahhâb is from the Kurrat el-Ayun :-" He built the Great Mosque in the city of Zebîd, which excels all others, and expended thereon enormous wealth. Also the Medresseh [College] called EdhDhâfirîch, opposite the Dâr el-Kebîr, in the same city. Also the Medresseh of Sheikh Isma'îl ibn Ibrahîm el-Jabraty, and the tomb of the Fakîh Abi-bekr ibn 'Ali el-Haddad, outside the town, near the Bâb el-Kartab. Also two Medressehs at Ta'ez, to which place he also brought a stream of water. Also the Great Mosque and a Masjid at El-Makrânah. Also a Medresseh at Radâä el-'Arsh. Also a Masjid at Aden, to which place he also conducted the water [from the country beyond] as far as the outer gate, and built a large reservoir in the town itself, and

the reason why they call him holy is this, that he never put any one to death excepting in war. You must know that in my time he had 15,000 or 16,000 men in chains, and to all he gave two quattrini per man for their expenses daily, and thus he left them to die in prison when they deserved death. He also has 16,000 slaves whom he maintains, and they are all black.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING APES, AND SOME ANIMALS LIKE LIONS, VERY HOSTILE TO MAN.

Departing from this place I went to the above-mentioned city of Aden for five days. In the middle of the route I found a most terrible mountain, in which we saw more than

another at the village of 'Aik; besides innumerable other mosques, reservoirs, wells, and dams, wherever they were needed, and in detached hamlets. He it was who laid down the aqueduct to Aden from a distant place, which cost him immense treasures. Other pious acts without number are attributed to him,...and no passage of his life is censurable except his interference with the Fakîhs and their endowments. And I think this was the cause of his downfal, and therefore counsel all sovereigns who may rule over the affairs of the Mussulmans, and all others who may have anything to do with them, not to meddle with the pious endowments, or with the Ulema, for I have never heard of any doing so who was not punished, either in his person, his property, or his family."

I find that 'Amir ibn Abd el-Wahhab was styled "Sheikh" prior to his succession to the principality, and although Arabian historians denominate him subsequently as "Sultân," it is highly probable that he continued to be styled, generally, "Sheikh 'Amir." The word Sheikh means primarily an aged man, an elder; thence, a chief or ruler, a learned man, or one renowned for piety.

Varthema's statement that 'Amir never put any one to death except in war, is contradicted by the narrative of his life contained in the Kurrat el-Ayan; though, as compared with his predecessors, and especially with the Egyptian and Turkish pashas who succeeded him, he was a remarkably lenient ruler. The "slaves" mentioned above were chiefly Abyssinians, and formed the principal part of the standing army.