We behaved with the greatest temerity in entering these ruins; no one now living had been in before we did. The building is the abode of jinni, and no one who goes in is ever able to come out by the same door. We were so fortunate as to be able to do so. On the road we saw a stone, and were told that a jinni (or ghinni as they are called in Southern Arabia) was bringing this to help to build the fort when he was met by another jinni who said, 'Why do you bring stones when the fort is finished?' so he dropped it in disgust.
Jinni are able to get sufficiently near to heaven to hear the conversation of the angels, and there are various incantations to make them reveal the whereabouts of hidden treasures. One called darb el mendel, carried on with a handkerchief, is much in vogue.
Maaber nestles under a big pointed rock on the highland, which sticks up aloft, and to which we heard that the Kafirs used to tie their horses. Bottles were stuck into the graves as ornaments, and built on to the tops of buildings.
We rested beneath a b'dom-tree, which showered its little fruits on us, and made as many inquiries as possible in a crowd of starers who were all very polite.
We heard that Wadi Shekhavi is the end of Wadi Mosila. It runs parallel to, and is almost as large as, the Wadi Hadhramout. Ghail Benzamin is the principal town in it.
At last, feeling that our work and our researches were as thoroughly done as in our power lay, we arose and turned our faces toward England.
