Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-01-25
! AT AN ARABIAN COURT.
Ben. K. Miller Describes a Visit that
He Paid to the Sultan
of Label,

Down in the southwestern portion of
the Arabian peninsula, nesting contented-
ly in one of the pretty, luxuriant oasis
of the Dahna, or great sandy desert, IS
one of the most interesting OF the many
little empires that go to make up Arabia,
| a spot where the influence of England is
of little effect. Label is but few miles
from the bounds of the desert and less
| than days ride from Alden.
Hundreds of tourists stop regular
| ~ at Alden, but nearly all of
them go away again little knowing
| that they have been within a few miles
| Of one Of the most interesting places in
| southern Arabia.
| On the return trip from South Africa,
| B. *. Miller, Jr., who arrived in MllWau-
kee a few days ago, stopped at Alden and
visited Label. Of all the many places
visited in his tour, Mr.. Miller says that
attractive and entertaining. In writing
of Label Mr.. Miller says:
a Visit to Label.
"Many tourists touch at Alden; three
| hours suffice to see the wonderful tanks
built to store the infrequent rains and
then the sooner the ship leaves for Egypt
or, perchance, for India, so much the
better. Few care to penetrate, into
| Arabia: the desert is distant scarcely ten
miles and it means hardship to travel
| through it. The fact that few went
! was most persuasive to my companion
| and me- Both of us had some time to
! Kill in Alden; we had seen the tanks,
| climbed the mountain and seen the temple
! of silence where the Parsee leaves his
dead to be devoured by vultures; even the
camels were commonplace and the yarl-
| GUS natives were no longer novel. Where
should we go? Somewhere surely, but
where? Finally it occurred to us that
we would pay visit to Il. IT,, the sultan
OF Label. We sent for our Arabian
guide and shortly he appeared, wearing
| the green turban which indicates trip
to Mecca and entities him to be called
| Hadji In Difference to his fuency, we
always addressed him as Hadji Bahia.
| He was a most amusing liar, but as ne
had never been to Lahej we were unable
to put him in charge of our caravan. al.
! though he would have been most useful
| as a composer of Oriental fairy tales OF
us wherewith to impress the Sultan. We
| finally found a Somali boy who spoke
English and Arabic and what was better
| still had been to Label and knew the
way. To him we con6ded our plans and
most faithfully he executed them. By
| evening we had procured our scanty sup,
plies, chiefly soda water, beer, bread and
J a tin Of crackers.
| after a hasty breakfast at 3 a. m.
we took our carriage to drive to the des,
ert. On account of the heat. hard travel
in the middle of the day is extremely
dangerous. Soon the drive is over, our
| packs are upon the camels and we pre-
pare to mount My camel not only had a
| single rope around his nose and by which
to steer. but unlike the other two had
! light line tied through one nostrll l
! got on and both lines were handed to
me. What the second was for | had no
| idea 1t occurred to me that perhaps
he was vicious-a bitter, kicker or run
away, and that in some mysterious way
| this extra rein was to control his antics.
Later l found out. The signal to. start
is given and with two or three fore-and-
| aft motions, my beast is upon his feet
and more wonderful still l am still
aboard and we are away. Passing
| through the little town, we are soon out
| on the desert. But it would weary you
almost as much as it did us if | should
attempt to describe the hot, dusty jour
ney through the dreary sand and waste.
| Once / tried the effect of the lifeline
and gave it a sharp pull, twitching the
camels nose rather painfully. Is it a
camel / am riding, or a bolt of lightning?
How shall | stop him? How many miles
will he run before he is dead OF l am?
! That / am being run away with is clear
enough but the stupid brute understands
does little good. Finally he tires and
| slows up and we went on as before.
| An Oasis.
Everything, however, has an end,
and we see Label in the distance, miles
away but nevertheless it really exists
! and we have been on the right road.
| The desert ceases and we have come to
the oasis. Hundreds Of green fields,
each surrounded by a low mud wall are
luXuriant in green showing that irliga-
ton is necessary. In the distance can be
and glistening white. 1t is surrounded
by odd-shaped, mud-colored buildings in
terspersed with rude, thatch-covered
huts. On one side is the mosque, with
it's tiny minaret and bell-shaped dclnes,
all Of a beautiful golden yellow. 1t is
extremely Oriental and picturesque.
Threading our way between the fields
we arrive at the city and make our way
to the bungalow reserved for distin-
guished visitors. Here we outspan and
send our Samali boy (AchmeD with our
compliments and visiting cards to the Sui
| tan. Soon he returns and announces
that the Sultan has heard with pleasure
| of our arrival and sends salaam, also a
| cook, sweeper, water carrier, guard and
what is more important still some eggs
and chickens for lunch. After tiffin we
determine to demand an audience. Ere
ceded by Achmet, who is stripped to the
waist and decked out in all his finery we
approach the palace. Inside the main
door is a rather dark guard room in
which are about a dozen retainers, hcav-
lily armed with guns, spears, swords,
daggers, etc. Each one is q walking
arsenal and each looks at us with ap-
parent suspicion. After waiting q few
minutes we are notified that his 'lighness
| will receive us and we ascend q narrow
staircase at each turn Of which is a
stand of arms ready for instant use.
In the Audience Room.
''In moment we are at the door of the
audience chamber. The room is long,
down the center is a sort of bank upon
which are placed magnificent hubble-bub-
bles which are being smoked by the
Sultan and his suite. On one side the
Sultan is seated on the floor leanirg ON
TPi iziioE shrewd cunninglook Arab; fur fur
Their along and on both sides are other