Public-domain ebook
by Bent, J. Theodore (James Theodore); Bent, Theodore, Mrs.
Language: en6,617 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Travel Writing·History - Other
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #21569.
The work is a travel‑record of the Bent couple’s 1889 expedition to the southern Arabian coast and the islands of Bahrain, written after the death of James Theodore Bent by his wife, Mabel Virginia Anna Bent. It begins with a personal note of grief and a promise to compile the observations they gathered, prices of camels, soldiers’ wages, and the minutiae of daily life, into a single volume for future travelers. The opening pages explain that much of the material derives from the late Mr. Bent’s articles, lectures, and notebooks, supplemented by the author’s own journal entries and a modest bibliography. The book then proceeds through a detailed itinerary, from the landing at Manamah and the description of its bustling bazaars to the exploration of forts, dunes, and mountain ranges, each chapter marked by the places they visited and the people they encountered.
The narrative voice is that of a late‑Victorian explorer, blending earnest scientific observation with vivid, sometimes humorous, anecdotes about interpreters, local customs, and the logistics of travel in a remote region. The prose reflects the period’s penchant for exhaustive detail, illustrated by numerous plates and maps, while retaining a conversational tone that reveals the author’s personal involvement. Readers who enjoy historic geography, nineteenth‑century exploration literature, or richly described accounts of Arabian culture and landscape will find this book a rewarding window into a world on the edge of modern mapping.
The opening · free to read
If my fellow-traveller had lived, he intended to have put together in book form such information as we had gathered about Southern Arabia. Now, as he died four days after our return from our last journey there, I have had to undertake the task myself. It has been very sad to me, but I have been helped by knowing that, however imperfect this book may be, what is written here will surely be a help to those who, by following in our footsteps, will be able to get beyond them, and to whom I so heartily wish success and a Happy Home-coming, the best wish a traveller may have. It is for their information that I have included so many things about the price of camels, the payment of soldiers and so forth, and yet even casual readers may care to know these details of explorers' daily lives.
Much that is set down here has been published before, but a good deal is new.
My husband had written several articles in the Nineteenth Century, and by the kindness of the editor I have been able to make use of these; also I have incorporated the lectures he had given before the Royal Geographical Society and the British Association. The rest is from his note-books and from the 'Chronicles' that I always wrote during our journeys.
I thought at first of trying to keep our several writings apart; but, to avoid confusion of inverted commas, I decided, acting on advice, just to put the whole thing into as consecutive a form as possible, only saying that the least part of the writing is mine.
The bibliography is far from complete, as I can name only a few of the many books that my husband consulted on all the districts round those which we were going to penetrate.
As to the spelling of the Arabic, it must be remembered that it is a very widely spread language, and there are naturally many different forms of the same word--_e.g. ibn_, ben, _bin_--and such very various ways of pronouncing the name of the Moslem prophet, that I have heard it pronounced Memet, Mamad and Mad.
I must give hearty thanks in both our names to all who helped us on in these journeys, and especially to Mr. Headlam, who has given me much assistance by going through the proofs of this book. Mr. W. C. Irvine has kindly provided the column of literary Arabic for the vocabulary.
MABEL VIRGINIA ANNA BENT.
13 Great Cumberland Place, W: October 13, 1899.
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
