Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-24
by AUBREY REEGERT.

BY AUBREY REEGERT.
~ Ne day ! NJ, Leland BuX: OF
in the LOBBY Of the House
ut tomnons. and. in 10
~ minutes conversation, we
decided tiIpt sc would try 10
yea, : "a IL. "arit5 = the ancient
AANN :iX an Of tn moi"rn frnN-
'~ce - '",u~n ~ tNst time hardly
any En-'i lIn.n had been 70 s;an#..
and It sriN had the mystery. if not the
glory. that ho."~~ed % il when the
Queen Of Shnba held her court upon
itS noun aims.
We recognized that nur chances OF
getting ther- We're Slich'. for the
Arabs wcra unakin- fr""n Wy upon
the Turks who We're lighting losing
campaicn. and We could look for no
help from the foreign Office: but we
thought that the "ttempt was worth
making.
We. met again in Cairo. in the full
glare OF Egyptian August. and set
sail on Il Greek boat. To some tray
elers-and am one Of them-the
fascination of the Red Sea is com
penSation for its wicked soul
Tho hurrying steamship or the drift
Ing dhow seems itself part Of the
stationary panorama. From the
mira ges Of SueZ To the binding white
ness Of the salt works of Alden there
i nothing that is ordinary: the grim
Islands OF the Twelve Apostles tof
what gospel can they have been the
apostles but the wrerkine OF slave
ships and the death Of men by rhirst?)
stand sterile and forbiudinr: savage
mountains surround the desert that
is still the home of the knights of
Araby.
When darkness has left the sea
fairy dawn may show the impeccaN,e
Island of I\amaran. with all its ny
gienic properties. where English eN-
lies wash. steriliZe and are forgotten:
OF heyond kamaran the tiny Island
of Perrin. between the Gate of Tears
the British link between Asia and
Africa.
We crossed over to Massowah.
where struggled pearls were pressed
upon us, at a price. We had calm
and rough weather: the Red Sea I'm
August was like itself. and so WAS
the Greek cooking oil. Finally we
landed from wilderness of yellow
waters into the confusion Of Hodeidah
We had had trouble on the Red
Sea now we were to have trouble
on the red land II began at once in
the custom house. where the oficisls
tried to take my typewriter from
me An indescriba bic scrimmaRe fol
lowed. and the rumor Of our coming
went all about the town.
HODEDIAH is town Of tall gray
II walls Of madrepore. with iatticed
windows and lines ~ waited huts.
cut by sandy paths. where the bare
feet of hurrying natives make no
sound Near the center OF the town
an unfortunate man was chained 10
the ground. We protested that his
chain should he taken from him. and
were told that he cared for il more
than anything on earth.
He had been tied to that one spot
for ~ years.
The crime for which he suffered WAS
forgotten: the punishment II punish
nent il could still he called remained
in force. Now. however. the poor man
was bereft of his wits. and had be
come almost a saint. As well as a
spectacle few planks had been
erected between him and the trihula
ton Of the sun. and we'll cooked meals
were served 10 him. ! saw his dauRh-
ter-in-law and his relatives eat these.
and take many offerings on his behalf.
After "a hours we went to pay our
respects TO the Mulesarrif Of Hodeidah.
a long CONVEX ation in Turkish FOL
lowed between the Mute sarrif and the
Stambuul Tprk. the uDshot or which
was that neither Ahmed FeiZi, com
mander-in chief of the Yemen. nor the
Sublime Porte would he willing to
let us travel 10 Sanaa. But a length
he promised that in course Of time the
escort should he provided.
We began the day % oIu deDa rture
III clock in the morning with I'M
ending preparations. The heat. even
at that early hour. seemed 10 us dis
graceful. and we lsfI. finally. very
late, at 9 o'clock. with an escort Of ! 80
men
We marched with changes Of escorts
and mounts all that day and all that
night and all the next day and the
best part of the next night. until our
senses failed US from weariness Al
the end of this 40 hours march We ha I'd
three hours sleep.
The Turkish captain. Buxton and ]
were shown into rce'<ins hole. where
three infected straw tr"stles huddled
together These ". dragged outside
from the living smell. and. stretching
ourselves upon them. We fell into In
slant and complete sleep. 4 moment
passed. and AL the SIX famed with
lightning; q flashing waterfall Of rain
drenched US to the skin. We awoke
and groaned and turned and slept.
At Ia III the people were unIrlenoIS.
the women. picturesque and pretty.
wore the sugar-loaf hats Of medieval
witches.
We rode on first through the low
living Tehemah, with its eyer-shiftinE
sand. and cften as we rode sleep came
so close thai the Arabs on their cam
els seemed shadows IS they passed.
Then we began 10 climb the upands.
An enutnluus moon shone out upon
clouds uf an almost insufferable bril-.
lance. and like the ISraelites. we
were led 10y q column of silver fire.
7 EAVING the low-lying. fever ha unit
~ ed Lar behind US, we rode
swiftly into the mountains. From Me-
nahka at length. we rode to the high.
est point Of our journey. Belt es Sa-
iaam, the House Of Peace, ruined and
dis-nantled camp 5000 feet above the
sea. whose condition belied it's name.
We had come up dressed in tropical
khaki and now where We had to sleep
we suddenly met piercing cold. | had
always believed that f1eas could not
live at that height or in that atmos-
phere. but we spent night or tor
ture in bitter wind. and in sand that
was infested with millions OF feas.
the camp-followers alike OF the Turk
and the Arab armies.
But II the night was unhappy, the
dawn was magnificent. When the
sun rose the moon was stu In the