'Southern Arabia, by Theodore Bent, F.R.G.S., F.S.A., Author of 'The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland' 'The Sacred City of the Ethiopians' 'The Cyclades, Or Life Among the Insular Greeks' etc. and Mrs Theodore Bent' [‎94] (135/552)

94 THE HADHEAMOUT
Not far from Khaila, we saw a fine village which we
were told was inhabited by Arabs of pure blood, so we sent
a polite message to the seyyid, or head-man of the place, to
ask if we might pay him our respects. His reply was to the
effect that if we paid thirty dollars we might come and pass
four hours in the town. Needless to say we declined the
invitation with thanks, and on the morrow when we marched
down the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. A1 Aisa we gave the abode of this hospitable
seyyid a wide berth, particularly as the soldiers told us it
was not safe, for the Arabs meant to kill us.
Leaving Khaila, where we remained two nights and saw
the New Year in, we passed a good many towered villages :
Larsmeh was one, Hadouf another, also Subak and others.
We passed che mouth of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Doan, which runs parallel
to Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. A1 Aisa, and has two branches, only the largest
having the name Doan. The mouth is about three miles
below Khaila; five miles more brought us to Sief, where
we halted for a night. It is also inhabited by pure Arabs,
who treated us with excessive rudeness. It is a very
picturesque spot, perched on a rock, with towers and turrets
constructed of sun-dried brick; only here, as elsewhere in
these valleys, the houses being so exactly the same colour as
the rocks behind them, they lose their effect. The rich
have evidently recognised this difficulty and whitewash
their houses, but in the poorer villages there is no white
wash, and consequently nothing to make them stand out
from their surroundings.
One can pretty well judge of the wealth of the owners of
the various towers and castles by the amount of whitewash.
Some have only the pinnacles white, and some can afford to
trim up the windows and put bands round the building.
At Sief several men came once or twice and begged my
husband to let me go out that the women might see me, but
when I went out they would not allow me to approach or