NIEBUHR’S TRAVELS IN YEMEN.
IN 1760 the Danish government decided to send an expedition to Arabia and
India, for the purpose of geographical exploration. The command was
given to Carsten Niebuhr, a native of Hanover, and a civil engineer.
Four other gentlemen, an artist, a botanist, a physician, and an
astronomer, were associated with him in the undertaking; yet, by a
singular fatality, all died during the journey, and Niebuhr returned
alone, after an absence of nearly seven years, to publish the first
narrative of travel based on scientific observation.
The party sailed from Copenhagen for Smyrna in January, 1761, visited
Constantinople, and then proceeded to Egypt, where they remained nearly a
year. After a journey to Sinai, they finally succeeded in engaging
passage on board a vessel carrying pilgrims from Suez to Jedda, and
sailed from the former port in October, 1762. They took the precaution
of adopting the Oriental dress, and conformed, as far as possible, to the
customs of the Mussulman passengers; thus the voyage, although very
tedious and uncomfortable, was not accompanied with any other danger than
that from the coral reefs along the Arabian shore. The vessel touched at
Yambo, the port of Medina, and finally reached Jedda, after a voyage of
nineteen days.
The travellers entered Jedda under strong apprehensions of ill-treatment
from the inhabitants, but were favorably disappointed. The people, it
seemed, were already accustomed to the sight of Christian merchants in
their town, and took no particular notice of the strangers, who went
freely to the coffee-houses and markets, and felt themselves safe so long
as they did not attempt to pass through the gate leading to Mecca. The
Turkish Pasha of the city received them kindly, and they were allowed to
hire a house for their temporary residence.
After waiting six weeks for the chance of a passage to Mocha, they
learned that an Arabian vessel was about to sail for Hodeida, one of the
ports of Yemen. The craft, when they visited it, proved to be more like
a hogshead than a ship; it was only seven fathoms long, by three in
breadth. It had no deck; its planks were extremely thin, and seemed to
be only nailed together, but not pitched. The captain wore nothing but a
linen cloth upon his loins, and his sailors, nine in number, were black
slaves from Africa or Malabar. Nevertheless, they engaged passage,
taking the entire vessel for themselves alone; but when they came to
embark, it was filled with the merchandise of others. The voyage proved
to be safe and pleasant, and in sixteen days they landed at Loheia, in
Yemen.
The governor of this place was a negro, who had formerly been a slave.
He received the travellers with the greatest kindness, persuaded them to
leave the vessel, and gave them a residence, promising camels for the
further journey by land. Although they were somewhat annoyed by the
great curiosity of the inhabitants, their residence was so agreeable, and
offered the naturalists so many facilities for making collections, that
they remained nearly four months. “We had one opportunity,” says
Niebuhr, “of learning their ideas of the benefits to be derived from
medicine. Mr. Cramer had given a scribe an emetic which operated with
extreme violence. The Arabs, being struck at its wonderful effects,
resolved all to take the same excellent remedy, and the reputation of our
friend’s skill thus became very high among them. The Emir of the port
sent one day for him; and, as he did not go immediately, the Emir soon
after sent a saddled horse to our gate. Mr. Cramer, supposing that this
horse was intended to bear him to the Emir, was going to mount him, when
he was told that this was the patient he was to cure. We luckily found
another physician in our party; our Swedish servant had been with the
hussars in his native country, and had acquired some knowledge of the
diseases of horses. He offered to cure the Emir’s horse, and succeeded.
The cure rendered him famous, and he was afterward sent for to human
patients.”
Having satisfied themselves by this time that there was no danger in
travelling in Yemen, they did not wait for the departure of any large
caravan, but, on February 20, 1763, set out from Loheia, mounted on
asses, and made their way across the _Tehama_, or low country, toward the
large town of Beit el-Fakih, which stands near the base of the
coffee-bearing hills. They wore dresses somewhat similar to those of the
natives, a long shirt, reaching nearly to the feet, a girdle, and a
mantle over the shoulders. The country was barren, but there were many
villages, and at intervals of every few miles they found coffee-houses,
or, rather, huts, for the refreshment of travellers. After having
suffered no further inconvenience than from the brackish water, which is
drawn from wells more than a hundred feet deep, they reached Beit
el-Fakih in five days.
Here they were kindly received by one of the native merchants, who hired
a stone house for them. The town is seated upon a well-cultivated plain;
it is comparatively modern, but populous, and the travellers, now
entirely accustomed to the Arabian mode of life, felt themselves safe.
The Emir took no particular notice of them, a neglect with which they
were fully satisfied, since it left them free to range the country in all
directions. Niebuhr, therefore, determined to make the place the
temporary headquarters of the expedition, and to give some time to
excursions in that part of Yemen. “I hired an ass,” says he, “and its
owner agreed to follow me as my servant on foot. A turban, a great coat
wanting the sleeves, a shirt, linen drawers, and a pair of slippers, were
all the dress that I wore. It being the fashion of the country to carry
arms in travelling, I had a sabre and two pistols hung by my girdle. A
piece of old carpet was my saddle, and served me likewise for a seat, a
table, and various other purposes. To cover me at night, I had the linen
cloak which the Arabs wrap about their shoulders, to shelter them from
the sun and rain. A bucket of water, an article of indispensable
necessity to a traveller in these arid regions, hung by my saddle.”
After a trip to the seaport of Hodeida, Niebuhr visited the old town of
Zebid, built on the ruins of an older city, which is said to have once
been the capital of all the low country. Zebid is situated in a large
and fertile valley, traversed during the rainy season by a considerable
stream, by which a large tract of country is irrigated. There are the
remains of an aqueduct built by the Turks, but the modern town does not
cover half the space of the ancient capital. Zebid, however, is still
distinguished for its academy, in which the youth of all that part of
Yemen study such sciences as are now cultivated by the Mussulmans.
Niebuhr’s next trip was to the plantations of the famous Mocha coffee,
whither the other members of the party had already gone, during his visit
to Zebid. After riding about twenty miles eastward from Beit el-Fakih,
he reached the foot of the mountains. He thus describes the region:
“Neither asses nor mules can be used here. The hills are to be climbed
by steep and narrow paths; yet, in comparison with the parched plains of
the Tehama, the scenery seemed to me charming, as it was covered with
gardens and plantations of coffee-trees.
“Up to this time I had seen only one small basaltic hill; but here whole
mountains were composed chiefly of those columns. Such detached rocks
formed grand objects in the landscape, especially where cascades of water
were seen to rush from their summits. The cascades, in such instances,
had the appearance of being supported by rows of artificial pillars.
These basalts are of great utility to the inhabitants; the columns, which
are easily separated, serve as steps where the ascent is most difficult,
and as materials for walls to support the plantations of coffee-trees
upon the steep declivities of the mountains.
[Picture: Coffee hills of Yemen]
“The tree which affords the coffee is well known in Europe; so that I
need not here describe it particularly. The coffee-trees were all in
flower at Bulgosa, and exhaled an exquisitely agreeable perfume. They
are planted upon terraces, in the form of an amphitheatre. Most of them
are only watered by the rains that fall, but some, indeed, from large
reservoirs upon the heights, in which spring-water is collected, in order
to be sprinkled upon the terraces, where the trees grow so thick together
that the rays of the sun can hardly enter among their branches. We were
told that those trees, thus artificially watered, yielded ripe fruit
twice in the year; but the fruit becomes not fully ripe the second time,
and the coffee of this crop is always inferior to that of the first.
“Stones being more common in this part of the country than in the Tehama,
the houses—as well of the villages as those which are scattered
solitarily over the hills—are built of this material. Although not to be
compared to the houses of Europe for commodiousness and elegance, yet
they have a good appearance; especially such of them as stand upon the
heights, with amphitheatres of beautiful gardens and trees around them.
“Even at this village of Bulgosa we were greatly above the level of the
plain from which we had ascended; yet we had scarcely climbed half the
ascent to Kusma, where the Emir of this district dwells, upon the
loftiest peak of the range of mountains. Enchanting landscapes there
meet the eye on all sides.
“We passed the night at Bulgosa. Several of the men of the village came
to see us, and after they retired we had a visit from our hostess, with
some young women accompanying her, who were all very desirous to see the
Europeans. They seemed less shy than the women in the cities; their
faces were unveiled, and they talked freely with us. As the air is
fresher and cooler upon these hills, the women have a finer and fairer
complexion than in the plain. Our artist drew a portrait of a young girl
who was going to draw water, and was dressed in a shirt of linen,
checkered blue and white. The top and middle of the shirt, as well as
the lower part of the drawers, were embroidered with needlework of
different colors.”
Having met with no molestation so far, Niebuhr determined to make a
longer excursion into the southern interior of Yemen, among the
mountains, to the important towns of Udden and Taas. The preparations
were easily made. The travellers hired asses, the owners accompanying
them on foot as guides and servants. As a further disguise they assumed
Arabic names, and their real character was so well concealed that even
the guides supposed them to be Oriental Christians—not Europeans.
Entering the mountains by an unfrequented road, they found a barren
region at first, but soon reached valleys where coffee was cultivated.
The inhabitants, on account of the cooler nights, sleep in linen bags,
which they draw over the head, and thus keep themselves warm by their own
breathing.
After reaching Udden, which Niebuhr found to be a town of only three
hundred houses, the hill-country became more thickly settled. Beside the
roads, which had formerly been paved with stones, there were frequent
tanks of water for the use of travellers, and, in exposed places, houses
for their shelter in case of storms. The next important place was
Djobla, a place of some importance in the annals of Yemen, but with no
antiquities, except some ruined mosques. A further march of two days
brought the party to the fortified city of Taas, but they did not venture
within its walls, not having applied to the Emir for permission. They
returned to their quarters at Beit el-Fakih, by way of Haas, another
large town at the base of the mountains, having made themselves
acquainted with a large portion of the hill-country of Arabia Felix.
The journey to Mocha lasted three days, over a hot, barren plain, with no
inhabitants except in the wadys or valleys, which are well watered during
the rainy season. Their arrival at Mocha was followed by a series of
annoyances, first from the custom-house officials, and then from the
Emir, who conceived a sudden prejudice against the travellers, so that
they were in danger of being driven out of the city. An English
merchant, however, came to their assistance, a present of fifty ducats
mollified the Emir, and at the end of a very disagreeable week they
received permission to stay in the city. From heat and privation they
had all become ill, and in a short time one of the party died.
Niebuhr now requested permission to proceed to Sana, the capital of
Yemen. This the Emir refused, until he could send word to the Imâm; but,
after a delay of a month, he allowed the party to go as far as Taas,
which they reached in four days, and where they were well received. The
refreshing rains every evening purified the air, and all gradually
recovered their health, except the botanist, who died before reaching
Sana.
Taas stands at the foot of the fertile mountain of Sabber, upon which,
the Arabs say, grow all varieties of plants and trees to be found in the
world. Nevertheless they did not allow the travellers to ascend or even
approach it. The city is surrounded with a wall, between sixteen and
thirty feet high, and flanked with towers. The patron saint of the place
is a former king, Ismael Melek, who is buried in a mosque bearing his
name. No person is allowed to visit the tomb since the occurrence of a
miracle, which Niebuhr thus relates: “Two beggars had asked charity of
the Emir of Taas, but only one of them had tasted of his bounty. Upon
this the other went to the tomb of Ismael Melek to implore his aid. The
saint, who, when alive, had been very charitable, stretched his hand out
of the tomb and gave the beggar a letter containing an order on the Emir
to pay him a hundred crowns. Upon examining this order with the greatest
care it was found that Ismael Melek had written it with his own hand and
sealed it with his own seal. The governor could not refuse payment; but
to avoid all subsequent trouble from such bills of exchange, he had a
wall built, inclosing the tomb.”
The Emir of Taas so changed in his behavior toward the travellers, after
a few days, that he ordered them to return to Mocha. Finding all their
arguments and protests in vain, they were about to comply, when a
messenger arrived from Mocha, bringing the permission of the Imâm of
Yemen for them to continue their journey to Sana. They set out on June
28th, and, after crossing the mountain ranges of Mharras and Samara, by
well-paved and graded roads, reached, in a week, the town of Jerim, near
the ruins of the ancient Himyaritic city of Taphar, which, however, they
were unable to visit on account of the illness of Mr. Forskal, the
botanist of the expedition. This gentleman died in a few days; and they
were obliged to bury him by night, with the greatest precaution.
From Jerim it is a day’s journey to Damar, the capital of a province.
The city, which is seated in the midst of a fertile plain, and is without
walls, contains five thousand well-built houses. It has a famous
university, which is usually attended by five hundred students. The
travellers were here very much annoyed by the curiosity of the people,
who threw stones at their windows in order to force them to show
themselves. There is a mine of native sulphur near the place, and a
mountain where cornelians are found, which are highly esteemed throughout
the East.
Beyond Damar the country is hilly, but every village is surrounded with
gardens, orchards, and vineyards, which are irrigated from large
artificial reservoirs built at the foot of the hills. On reaching Sana
the travellers were not allowed to enter the city, but conducted to an
unfurnished house without the walls, where they were ordered to wait two
days in entire seclusion, until they could be received by the Imâm.
During this time they were not allowed to be visited by anyone. Niebuhr
thus describes their interview, which took place on the third day:
“The hall of audience was a spacious square chamber, having an arched
roof. In the middle was a large basin, with some _jets d’eau_, rising
fourteen feet in height. Behind the basin, and near the throne, were two
large benches, each a foot and a half high; upon the throne was a space
covered with silken stuff, on which, as well as on both sides of it, lay
large cushions. The Imâm sat between the cushions, with his legs crossed
in the Eastern fashion; his gown was of a bright green color, and had
large sleeves. Upon each side of his breast was a rich filleting of gold
lace, and on his head he wore a great white turban. His sons sat on his
right hand, and his brothers on the left. Opposite to them, on the
highest of the two benches, sat the Vizier, and our place was on the
lower bench.
“We were first led up to the Imâm, and were permitted to kiss both the
back and the palm of his hand, as well as the hem of his robe. It is an
extraordinary favor when the Mohammedan princes permit any person to kiss
the palm of the hand. There was a solemn silence through the whole hall.
As each of us touched the Imâm’s hand a herald still proclaimed, ‘God
preserve the Imâm!’ and all who were present repeated these words after
him. I was thinking at the time how I should pay my compliments in
Arabic, and was not a little disturbed by this noisy ceremony.
“We did not think it proper to mention the true reason of our expedition
through Arabia; but told the Imâm that, wishing to travel by the shortest
ways to the Danish colonies, in the East Indies, we had heard so much of
the plenty and security which prevailed through his dominions, that we
had resolved to see them with our own eyes, so that we might describe
them to our countrymen. The Imâm told us we were welcome to his
dominions, and might stay as long as we pleased. After our return home
he sent to each of us a small purse containing ninety-nine _komassis_,
two and thirty of which make a crown. This piece of civility might,
perhaps, appear no compliment to a traveller’s delicacy. But, when it is
considered that a stranger, unacquainted with the value of the money of
the country, obliged to pay every day for his provisions, is in danger of
being imposed upon by the money-changers, this care of providing us with
small money will appear to have been sufficiently obliging.”
“The city of Sana,” says Niebuhr, “is situated at the foot of Mount
Nikkum, on which are still to be seen the ruins of a castle, which the
Arabs suppose to have been built by Shem. Near this mountain stands the
citadel; a rivulet rises upon the other side, and near it is the Bostan
el-Metwokkel, a spacious garden, which was laid out by the Imâm of that
name, and has been greatly embellished by the reigning Imâm. The walls
of the city, which are built of bricks, exclude this garden, which is
inclosed within a wall of its own. The city, properly so called, is not
very extensive; one may walk around it in an hour. There are a number of
mosques, some of which have been built by Turkish Pashas. In Sana are
only twelve public baths, but many noble palaces, three of the most
splendid of which have been built by the reigning Imâm. The materials of
these palaces are burnt bricks, and sometimes even hewn stones; but the
houses of the common people are of bricks which have been dried in the
sun.
“The suburb of Bir el-Arsab is nearly adjoining the city on the east
side. The houses of this village are scattered through the gardens,
along the banks of a small river. Fruits are very plenteous; there are
more than twenty kinds of grapes, which, as they do not all ripen at the
same time, continue to afford a delicious refreshment for several months.
The Arabs likewise preserve grapes by hanging them up in their cellars,
and eat them almost through the whole year. Two leagues northward from
Sana is a plain named Rodda, which is overspread with gardens and watered
by a number of rivulets. This place bears a great resemblance to the
neighborhood of Damascus. But Sana, which some ancient authors compare
to Damascus, stands on a rising ground, with nothing like florid
vegetation about it. After long rains, indeed, a small rivulet runs
through the city; but all the ground is dry through the rest of the year.
However, by aqueducts from Mount Nikkum the town and castle of Sana are,
at all times, supplied with abundance of excellent fresh water.”
After a stay of a week the travellers obtained an audience of leave,
fearing that a longer delay might subject them to suspicions and
embarrassments. Two days afterward the Imâm sent each of them a complete
suit of clothes, with a letter to the Emir of Mocha, ordering him to pay
them two hundred crowns as a farewell present. He also furnished them
with camels for the journey. Instead of returning by the same road they
determined to descend from the hill-country to their old headquarters at
Beit el-Fakih, and thence cross the lowland to Mocha.
For two days they travelled over high, rocky mountains, by the worst
roads they found in Yemen. The country was poor and thinly inhabited,
and the declivities only began to be clothed with trees and terraced into
coffee plantations as they approached the plains. The poorer regions are
not considered entirely safe by the Arabs, as the people frequently
plunder defenceless travellers; but the party passed safely through this
region, and reached Beit el-Fakih after a week’s journey from Sana.
Niebuhr and his companions reached Mocha early in August, and toward the
end of that month sailed in an English vessel for Bombay, after a stay of
ten months in Yemen. The artist of the expedition and the Swedish
servant died on the Indian Ocean, and the physician in India, a few
months afterward, leaving Niebuhr the sole survivor of the six persons
who left Copenhagen three years before. After having sent home the
journals and collections of the expedition he continued his travels
through the Persian Gulf, Bagdad, Armenia, and Asia Minor, finally
reaching Denmark in 1767. The era of intelligent, scientific
exploration, which is now rapidly opening all parts of the world to our
knowledge, may be said to have been inaugurated by his travels.