The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-28

or such food as we may be able to
take with us. Shall I be armed? Yes,
l shall take my Brownings with me,
as well as guns, and / am a good shot
with both. No, / have never killed "a
man, yet. though | have shot big game.
but ] was quite prepared to fight for
my life when l was captured In Ger
man southwest Africa by the Ovambos,
who did not find one of my revolvers.
But | am hoping to 'wheedle' my way
through Arabia, like woman, you
KNOW The countess smiled.
But it will be most difficult from
the very first" she went on. "The
Turks. who hold all the coast of
Arabia, are far from friendly to trav-
elers-they even object to simple as
Economical Instruments, which they de-
clare insult their religion and the sun,
but it is the Arab shieks that / have
most to fear The first one that one
meets is delightfully."- friendly, travellers
declare. He fetes the stranger and
sends him along to the next shiek. but
ahead Of him he sends a messenger
asking the neighborhoing chief to muir
der the European. and this chief COM
plies, oh yes All of the last three ex-
plorers who attempted to penetrate
into Arabia MI. Bent, Captain Haines
and Baron Wrede. We're turned back
by these shieks, who told them frank =
~ that they would kill them If they
attempted TO go further, and many.
many others have lost heir lives But
| shall not
Il should tell you by the way, that
unlike Captain Haines, who started
from Alden, and Mr.. Bent, who began
at Oman, in other words from tho
south. / shall begin from the north.
Arranging my caravan at Jedda, on the
Red sea, ] shall make my real start
at Bishah and so go on. at the rate. 1
Of ..Att Il.
Jalib-el- -Takhtakh, the last known
town before one enters the great des-
ert. Then. If I succeed in getting
across, / hope to come out at Mascat,
on the Cuff of Oman. And / shall get
across. / know 1t. / know the dan
gers but know I shall pass through
them. And what an achievement BY
woman. tool Think of those buried
cities that they say are there The
wonderful Inscriptions that tell the
history of long dead races, The treas
ures in ore and minerals, that may be
hidden awaiting discovererw
1t would be hard TO exaggerate the per-
lis the countess is counting so bithely.
The hard-bitten explorers. scientists and
eustodians of the "outposts" OF the en-
pire who gather together in the roooms
of the Royal Geographical Society are
not in the habit of using hyperbole or
making mountains of little hills yet here
atS lew Oh the comments on the dlfIi-
culties of exploration in Arabia which
find in an address that was delivered
to his fellow royal geographers, a while
ago, by D. G. Hogarth one of the great
authorities on the east
Dorothy Ulla Won Lncke, TO give the
countess her maiden name. was born
in Russia, at Stakawitch, near Moscow
where her late husbands estates are
located. Her father, a large landowner
had literary tastes and love for travel
and sent his daughter to England to
be educated, after which she studied
In Germany. devoting herself especial
ly to languages, with tho result that
she now speaks French. German, Eng
lish, Italian and Spanish, besides Slav,
and. as has been stated, Arabic.
Her husband, Count Nolitor, whom
she married when she was 21 was, be-
sides great landlord. one of the lar
gest horse breeders in Russia. and for
years supplied most of the steeds used