ARABIA FELIX

Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia

By: Bertram THOMAS
O.B.E. [MIL.]; formerly Wazir to H.H. the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, sometimes
Political Officer in Iraq, and Assistant British Representative in Trans-Jordan.
Founder's Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, Burton Memorial
Medallist of the Royal Asiatic Society;  Gold Medallist of the Royal
Geographical Society of Antwerp; and Cullum Gold Medal
of  the  American Geographical Society.

With a Forward by: T. E. LAWRENCE  (T.E.S.)

Containing also:
MAPS, CHARTS, DIAGRAMS
&
Illustrations Complementary to the Text

LONDON:   FIRST EDITION,  1932

London: JONATHAN CAPE, First Edition, 1932. Cloth hardback, gilt spine title, 24x18cm, 397 pages, 81 illustrations, 55x40 cm folded coloured map. Corner rubbed, map has some cuts without any lose, otherwise book in very good condition.

SCARCE FIRST EDITION of 1932

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From T. E. Lawrence Forward ...

    " Few men are able to close an epoch.  We cannot know the first man who walked the inviolate earth for newness' sake: but Thomas is the last; and he did his journey in the antique way, by pain of his camel's legs, single-handed, at his own time and cost.  He might have flown an aeroplane, sat in a car or rolled over in a tank.  Instead he has snatched, at the twenty-third hour, feet's last victory and set us free.   .."

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From Introduction ...

"   ARABIA FELIX!  Strange that the epithet 'Happy' should grace a part of the earth's surface, most of it barren wilderness where, since the dawn of history, man has ever been at war with his environment and his neighbour.  Yet there can be no mistaking the classical geographers.  To Strabo, Pliny, and Ptolemy, the term Arabia Felix served for the entire peninsula south of Syria desert (Arabia Deserta) and the Mountains about Sinai (Arabia Petraea).

    Yet Arabia has remained the forbidden land.  Throughout the centuries scarce twenty European explorers have been able usefully to penetrate to her inhospitality heart.  For this there are two main reasons.  First, lack of rain and the merciless heat of the Arabian desert,  secondly the religion of these desert men, at least in practice, is fanatical and exclusive...

    As a Minister of the Council of the State of Oman, my name came to be known throughout south-east Arabia; it was because I was the Sultan's Wazir and because of the cordial relations existing between the Ruler and myself that I was brought into personal touch with the most influential Arabs of that part.  . .."

A Qatar Group.
The Shaikh (centre): my Host, Shaikh Mohammad bin 'Abdul Latif Al Mana' (right) and Salith

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Contents ...

Forward

Preface

Introduction

Chapter I.    A Propitious Start and an Early Check.
Embarkation  -  Disembarkation  -  The need for secrecy  - Trouble in the Interior  -  My plans unfolded  -  My envoys leave.

Chapter II.    At Dhufar: Anarchy, Treachery and Hospitality.
The settled tribes of Dhufar  -  History of Dhufar  -  Tribal anarchy  -  Hegemony of Sultan established  -  Arrival of a tyrant  -  A tyrant rules and his sons are murdered  -  Order restored  -  Arab instability  -  A visit to Salala  -  A social function  -  Giant ancestors  -  The price of freedom  -  A negro dance  -  The Bathing Chorus.

Chapter III.    Skull-Measuring and Devil-Dancing.
Racial types  -  Pre-Islamic civilisations  -  A father’s skull  - Taking head-measurements  -  Social distinctions  -  A war­rior’s pride, and his needs  -  The Governor of Dhufar  -  The ‘unco guid’ in Arabia  -   Exorcism - Negro customs  -   Insti­tutions of slavery  -  Mourning ceremonies  -  The dance of the slave girls  -  The climax  -  The evil spirit is exorcised.

Chapter IV.    In the Qara Mountains: 'Ain ar Rizat.
Hunting prospects  -  Preparation of specimens  -  Earlier civil­isations  -  Ancient graves  -  A son of the free  -  Offerings to spirits  -  Pagan cults  -  Lying, picking and stealing  -  A courageous collector  -  Evil spirits  -  Sitting up for hyena.

Chapter V.    In the Qara Mountains.  Ancient Survivals and the Blood Sacrifice.
Ibn Battuta’s views  -  Hadoram and Hazramaveth  -  Forest-clad mountains  -  Unruly camels  -  Peril from snakes  -  Rock caves  -  An offer of marriage  -  A pleasant valley  -  A tribal dance  -  A hyena slain  -  Costly mourning ceremonies  -  An Arab ‘wake’  -  Local laws of inheritance  -  The wife’s duties and rights.

Chapter VI.    The Qara Mountains.  Hyenas, Faith Cures and Circumcision.
Poisonous snakes  -  Food customs  -  The riding camel of a witch  -  The gazelle and the hyena  -  The offence of the ape   -  Demands on my medicine chest -  Restitution of conjugal rights  -  A cure for varicose veins  -  The cautery  -  Theft and pillage  -  Tribesmen and non-tribesmen  -  The camel of Salih bin Hut  -  The origin of the Qara  -  Christian tra­ditions  -  Sons of Adam  -  Female circumcision  -  Hair cus­toms  -  Female adornments  -  An old lady’s hand-bag  -  Flirtation punished  -  Social conventions  -  love lyrics.

Chapter VII.    The Qara Mountains.  Exorcising the Evil Eye and Ordeal by Fire.
Camping in the mountains  -  Camels and cattle  -  Sheep and goats  -  Exorcism of the Evil Eye  -  Veterinary methods  - The Qara at Khiyunt  -  Local law and custom  -  Atone­ment for blood  -  The law of hospitality  -  The oath on the Qur’an  -  The ordeal by fire  -  The furnace of affliction  - Belief in witchcraft  -  Gossip with a murderer.

Chapter VIII.    The Qara Mountains.  Farewell.
Matriarchal customs  -  A case of snake-bite  -  A case for a physician  -  Lying up for panther  -  The sacrifice of blood  - Marriage customs, divorce, remarriage and married women’s property  -  Betrothal customs  -  The Bait Qutun trouble  -  Camp at Fuzah  -  Murder in cold blood  -  The psychology and ethics of the blood-feud  -  Morning at Arbot.

Chapter IX.    Dhufar.  The Eleventh Hour.
The Sultan’s yacht arrives  -  Discussions with Shaikh Salih  - The Wali intervenes  -  Shaikh Salih agrees  -  Computations and calculations  -  The attitude of the Murra.

Chapter X.    Over the Hills and Far Away.
The first night’s camp  -  Camel management  -  Diana Oraculum  -  The cave of Sahaur  -  Lehez  -  The penalty of theft   -   A damp night  -  In the Qara Mountains  -  A discussion on religious customs  -  The frankincense tree  -  Frankincense groves  -  Innocent salacity  -  Hanun and Ghabartan  -  The Place of Tombstones  -  Ancient monuments, inscriptions and religious cults  -  Ghudun and Sa’atan  -  Astronomical observations  -  Chronometers  -  Ista  -  My first oryx  -  The Virgin and the Unicorn  -  Beetles and lizards.

A Group Of Qara Tribesmen

Chapter XI.    Nejd.  Life in the Southern Steppe.
The fort of Shisur  -  War and death  -  A desert raid  -  The southern steppe  -  Mugshin  -  Umm al Hait  -  The wadis of the steppe  -  Tribal distribution  -  The life of the steppe  - The practice of cautery  -  Exorcism  -  Animal life  -  Disappearance of ostriches  -  Lizards, edible and inedible.

Chapter XII.    Along the Southern Fringe of the Sands.
On tenterhooks  -  A thunderstorm  -  Water in a thirsty land  -  A love lyric  -  A smoking party  -  The joys of the smoker  -  The simple life  -  Astronomical observations  - Camp at Nukhdat Fasad  -  Care for camels  -  Religious practices of the desert  -  A discussion on religion  -  The im­portance of headdress  -  A hungry camp at Mitan  -  The road to Ubar  -  Stories of Ubar  -  Arabia and the Ice Age.

Chapter XIII.    Across the Mountains Sands of Uruq-Adh-Dhahiya.
Tired camels  -  Cold nights  -  Baking bread  -  Bread and indigestion  -  The hare and the gazelle  -  The bellowing of the sands  -  Wheezing sands  -  The great dunes  -  A false alarm  -  The art of desert raiding  -  The laws of desert war Soft sands  -  Khor Dhahiya  -  Christmas dinner  -  Exhausted camels  -  Welcome water  -  The lore of the tracker  -  We join forces with Shaikh Salih.

Chapter XIV.    A Geographical Note on Rub'Al Khali.
The southern and eastern edges  -  Dwellers in the sands  - Altitudes in the central sands  -  Depression in the sands  - The question of quicksands.

Chapter XV.    Through the Sands of Dakaka.  The Second Realy of Camels.
Table etiquette  -  Hamad bin Hadi and his party  -  Pay day and settling day in the desert  -  Man and mount  -  A bride and her dowry  -  Table talk and table manners  -  The sands of Dakaka  -  Hamad bin Hadi  -  The ritual and practice of exorcism  -  The result  -  The hare, the women and the Prophet  -  Man and the camel  -  Man and nature  -  Man and the elements  -  Camel’s flesh, rice, dates and milk  -  A practical joke.

Chapter XVI.    At the Water-Hole of Shanna.  The Halt before the Northward Dash.
Camel for dinner  -  Casting lots for meat  -  A novel tonic  - The Valley of Images  -  Traditions of the Bani Hillal  -  My plans take shape  -  Unwanted guests  -  The hospitality of Bu Zaid  -  His prowess  -  Fresh arrivals  -  Musellim’s appeal  - Talib the Murri  -  Puritans of the desert.

Chapter XVII.    The Northward Dash.
Departure from Shanna  -  Bu Zaid and his wife  -  Bu Zaid and his son  -  Homely remedies  -  A desert home and its furnishing  -  Purging waters  -  The skill of a guide  -  Death in the desert  -  A Theseus of the sands  -  At Buwah  -  Umm Malissa  -  The Sa’ar  -  The story of a raid.

Chapter XVIII.    Through the Central Sands.
A scene of desolation  -  Animal life in deserts  -  Badawin as companions  -  Parasitic vermin in the desert  -  The love of Bu Zaid for Aliya  -  Umm Quraiyin and Sanam  -  Rama­dhan begins at Farajja  -  Observance of the Fast  -  The calendar of the sands  -  Archa~ological remains  -  The Bu Zaid trio and a jinn  -  Bu Zaid and the governor  -  Bu Zaid and the slave girl  -  The skill of the tracker  -  Detective work in Muscat  -  The culprit detected  -  The tracks of the wild  -  A Murra camp  -  Sandstorms in Ubaila  -  Sand in my instruments  -  The homing instinct of the camel  -  A pasture bewitched  -  Khiyut al Buraidan  -  Banaiyan.

Chapter XIX.    A Retrospect.
Geological structure  -  Orographical features  -  Distribution of vegetation and water  -  Desert economy  -  Distribution of camels  -  Camel saddles  -  Differences of dialect  -  Practice of polygamy  -  Marital customs  -  Tribal politics  -  The sup­remacy of Ibn Sa’ud  -  The politics of the southern steppe  - The Sa’ar menace.

Chapter XX.    Banaiyan to the Sea.  The Last Stage.
An Arab in Erewhon  -  The story of Dhiyab and the donkeys and the camels  -  Dhiyab and the jinn and Dalaiyan the slave  -  Calvinists of the desert  -  Jiban and Lizba  -  Talib takes charge  -  Mattins  -  Loading up, the morning start and in the saddle  -  Trials of strength  -  The story of the spider  -  ‘It is written’  -  Bu Zaid heroics  -  Bu Zaid, Alan and Dhiyab  -  The stars in their courses  -  ‘Thalassa  -  Thai­assa’  -  A new lake, Sabkha Amra  -  The Arab and his camel  -  Moderation in fasting  -  ‘Still they rule  -  thank God!’  -  Desert generosity  -  Journey’s end.

List Of Appendices ...

I.   Anthropological
‘The Racial Characters Of The Southern Arabs,’ By Sir Arthur Keith, F.R.S., Hunterian Professor, Royal College Of Surgeons, And Wilton Marion Krogman, Ph.D.

II. Zoological
By Dr. William Thomas Calman, F. Keeper Of Zoology, British Museum, And With Notes On Natural History Collections By Members Of The Staff.

Author’s Appendices
III.     List Of Regional Sands And Water-Holes: And Topographical Terms.
IV.     List Of Flora
V.      List Of Camel Brands
VI.     List Of Arab Chants Index

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A Slave Dance

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Illustrations ...

• Sands Of Arabia Felix

• A Coco-Nut Grove At Dhufar: An Ill-Assorted Pair At The Well

• The Sultan’s Fort

• A Street Scene In Dhufar

• A Group Of Shahara Tribesmen

• A Group Of Yaf’i Tribesmen

• A Group Of Qara Tribesmen

• A Group Of Rashid And Murra Tribesmen

• A Slave Dance

• Ruins Of Balid

• A Shahari And Snake

• In The Qara Mountains: Looking Down Into Wadi Nihaz

• Qara Mountains: Rock Caves

• Qara Mountains: Rock Caves

• Qara Mountains: The Dahaq

• Our First Hyena: The Skin For The Museum: The Flesh For ‘All Al Dhab’an (On Right)

• Hair Customs (Girls)

• Hair Custom (Married Woman)

• Hair Custom (Uncircumcised Boy)

• A Group Of Mountain Men

• Below Khiyunt  -  Typical Meadows

• Exorcism Of Evil Eye

• The Spring Of Khiyunt

• Looking Down Into Wadi Arbot From Fuzah

• In The Bed Of Wad! Arbot

• Shaikh Salih Bin Kalut

• A Frankincense Tree

• Trilith Inscriptions

• Trilith Monuments

• A Group Of Mountain Men

• A Son Of The Steppe: A Bait Imani

• The Wild-Date Grove Of Mugshin

• An Upper Wadi Course

• A Middle Wadi Course

• A Fringe Of The Southern Sands

• Halt To Graze In The Hungry Southern Borderlands

• A Son Of The Sands

• The Ridges Of The Dunes

• A Gypsum Patch In The Southern Sands

• Watering At Khor Dhahiya

• Marching In The Mighty Uruq-Adh-Dhahiya

• Marching In Dakaka

• Typical Dakaka Sands

• Slaughtering A Dying Camel For The Pot

• My Murra Guides, Hamad Bin Hadi And Talib

• In North-Western Dakaka

• A Small Murra Encampment

• Typical Suwahib Sands

• A New (?) Fox (sp.fennec)

• An Eagle’s Nest

• Typical Sands Of Sanam

• Halt For Prayer

• In Cold And Hungry Ubaila

• Haluwain: An Aqal Water-Hole

• A New Lake: Sabkhat Amra

• Our Last Watering At Na’aija

• The Shaikh Of Qatar’s Fort At Doha

• A Qatar Group. The Shaikh (Centre): My Hosts Shaii Muhammad Bin ‘Abdul Latif Al Mana’ (Right) And Salih

• My Party

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Qara And Albino                                                                      A Group Of Mahra

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Illustrations for Appendix I. ... (By  Sir .Arthur Keith, F.R.S., M.D., etc., And Dr. W. M. Krogman, Ph.D.)

• A Chart Showing Comparative Size And Shape Of Heads Of Natives Of North And South Arabia.

• An Omani (In Profile)

• An Omani (Full Face)

• An Armenian (In Profile)

• A Madrasee (In Profile)

• The Hasik Skull (In Profile)

• The Oman! Skull (In Profile)

• The Hasik Skull (Vertical)

• The Omani Skull (Vertical)

• A Yaf’i (In Profile)

• A Yaf’i (Full Face)

• Qara And Albino

• A Group Of Mahra

• A Group Of Shahara

• A Cephalic Chart To Show The Position Of The Various South Arabian Tribes Measured By Capt. B. Thomas

• Hamumi And Kathiri

• A Masha’i (In Profile)

• A Masha’i (Full Face)

• A Kathiri (In Profile)

• A Kathiri (Full Face)

• A Group Of Shahara And Kathir Children

• A Group Of Shahara And Kathir Children

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Hair Customs (Girls)                                                          Hair Custom (Married Woman)

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Maps ...

• The Rub’ Al Khali.

• Sketch Map Of The Qara Mountains.

• Chart Showing Distribution Of Tribes Measured.

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~ Click to enlarge map ~

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Maps ...

• The Rub' al Khali.   (55cmx42cm).

• Sketch map of the Qara Mountains

The Shaikh Of Qatar’s Fort At Doha

~ Click on Picture to Read ~

A Yaf’i    (In Profile)                                                  A Yaf’i    (Full Face)

~ Click on Picture to Read ~

A Group Of Yaf'i Tribesmen

~ Click on Picture to Read ~

A Group Of Rashid And Murra Tribesmen

~ Click on Picture to Read ~

Halt for Prayer

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