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We were very thankful for a large pot of coffee and ginger, sent by a sultan, and a fat lamb. The princes ventured to leave us in charge of Abdullah-bin-Abdurrahman, and abode in the tower. Sultan Haidar went home from here. The tableland of Mis'hal is approached by three akabas: Sauda, to 2,000 feet; Beva, to 2,500 feet; Hadda, to 2,750 feet.
Hardly a green thing was to be seen, and altogether the whole place looked dreary and desolate; but we were much interested in this day's journey among the great scarred and seamed volcanic mountains. We ascended 650 feet very difficult indeed, travelling about seven miles in four hours; the steepest part is called Akaba Sauda.
We had a very pleasant camp among trees, and had a steep scramble to the ruins. An enthusiastic geologist would have enjoyed our next day's journey immensely; we went through such a strange weird volcanic valley not a wadi, but a sheb, narrower and shallower. The road is called Tarik Sauda.
Formerly, the standard of value at Berberah was two cubits of the blue cotton-stuff called Sauda; this is now converted into four pice of specie. Dollars form the principal currency; rupees are taken at a discount. Traders pay according to degree, the lowest being one per cent., taken from Muscat and Suri merchants.
Besides small presents of cloth, dates, tobacco and rice to his friends, he had six cubits of Sauda Wilayati or English indigo-dyed calico for women's fillets, and two of Sauda Kashshi, a Cutch imitation, a Shukkah or half Tobe for his daughter, and a sheep for himself, together with a large bundle of tobacco.
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