Evening star., 1936-11-11
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
MARGARET GERMOND.
THE SOUTHERN GATES OF ARABIA.
BY Freya Stark. New York: e. p.
Dllftnn A. Ca

THE SOUTHERN GATES OF ARABIA.
BY Freya Stark. New York: e. p.
Dutton g. Co.
Arab sailing ships, as ancient in form
as the buried ruins of the forgotten port
Of Cana, pass unwittingly by the market
Of ghosts, hugging the twisted volcanic
shore when the monsoon drops to VIM
ter quiet, on their way to the wharves
of Alden. Here, in sheds dim with
aromatic dust and impalpable spicy
perfume, where pale bars of sunlight lie
on the half-transparent gums, women
bend their veiled heads over the shallow
baskets. and with small. hennaed fingers
sort out the various grades"
Poetry, frankincense and the lure of
a caravan route lost in the sands of the
desert and Of time, as embodied in these
sentences, is the essence of an enthrall-
ing book by gifted writer who has
brought back from the mysterious depths
of an uncharted world the story Of one
of the oldest trades known to man. Be-
fore the dawn of history fragrant gums
drawn from the incense trees OF Arabia
were being transported in lively trade
over well-worn trails to crafty the
fastidious desire of ancient civilizations
for exotic perfumes, frankincense and
myrrh.
A lessening of the demand in recent
times for the fragrant gums OF the
Arabian trees has caused shrinkage
of the western frontier Of the incense
region from the ancient trading posts
from which relays of bedouin and
hni fhrnIIOh dQfllac
of the hills, over the plateau steppe
to inland valleys and the eastern lands
of Yemen, till they reached their markets
through the deserts north Of Mekka, and
the Arabian incense smoked on altars
of Damascus, Jerusalem, Thebes,
Ninevah or Rome" The trees still grow.
however and are harvested regularly in
the Hadhramaut valleys, though the
privilege of reaping is not restricted as
in the time Of Pliny, whose description,
quoted by Miss Stark, sets forth that
mot over three thousand families have
a right to that privilege by hereditary
succession. For this reason these per-
sons are called sacred, and are not
allowed, while pruning the trees or
gathering the harvest, to receive any
pollution, either by intercourse with
women or contact with the dead; by
these religious observances it is that the
price OF the commodity Is SO enhanced"
Miss Stark has a passion for exploring
rivers and roads. Imagination stalls at
the hope of finding any road in all the
world more fascinating than the famous
incense route of Arabia. In yielding to
the temptation to try to reach Shabwa
by way of the Hadhramaut, two routes
were considered. One would take her
through the four Arabian empires which
grew rich in the ancient days on their
respective portions of the great highway,
or, If that plan proved impossible, she
would return from the region OF Shabwa
to the dead port of Cana along what
must "once have been the main thor
oughfare through the hills"
From the point of view of the author
it may seem unfortunate that neither
of these plans materialized. Overtaken
by illness at point from which Shabwa
was only three days distant, she was
obliged to forego the main objective of
her journey and return by plane to
Alden for medical care. But from the
point of view of those who remember
valleys of the Assassins" and who are
now to enjey this exquisite descriptive
narrative of travel and the warm human
record of associations and friendships
among the various tribes along the
journey from Makalla to Tarim, there
is the hope that Miss Stark will again
yield to the same temptation and carry
out either or both of her original plans
that onnthar 6eIiohtfill bNCLr will
be forthcoming.
Sailing from Alden, Miss Stark landed
at Makalla. and from there started
northward and eastward into the hills
with bedouin and donkeys. She had
heard a great deal about the hostility
of some of the tribes and also about
the dangers to which any traveller, and
especially woman accompanied only
by bedouin, would be subjected. But
undiscouraged and determined, she Or
ganized her outfit to suit herself, trust.
ing in the belief that all human beings
possess an mate quality which responds
generously to sincere friendlineSS. In
this trust she was not disappointed
Through the Wadi Himen and across the
naked desolation of the Jol plateau and
along the Wadi Hadhramaut from one
town to another she was received cor
daily and Hospitality and made welcome
in the homes of the people. She has
a formula for making friends, which
failed her only once along her route
through Arabia. In only one community
one which is notoriously hostile to
strangerS-was she refused hospitality.
1t was an experience calculated to strike
fear into a less courageous heart. But
fear is an experience with which she has
little acquaintance.
II felt" she says, "as I have often
felt before, that to sit over the fire
with ones fellows in the evening, when
the days work is over and the talking
begins, is the only sure way of keeping
harmony and friendship. I never had
any difficulties with my bedouin and
found nothing but friendliness and an
anxiety to serve in every way, and I
attribute this chiefly to the fact that
we had our meals together and that,
except for the outraged soldier. had
no other servant of my own" The out
ragged soldier, by the way, is one who
was assigned by the Sultan of Makalla
to escort her at least part of the way.
and who proved to be well-meaning
nuisance with dictatorial ambitions.
It was in the homes and among the
families that Miss Stark grounded her
faith in her ability to discover the
Arabia which few travellers know how
to find MvSterio,IS Arabia hidden with