'Routes in Arabia' [‎483] (516/852)

483
R oute N o ." 128 (6)— contd.
At m. 5 is another slight descent, still winding round Jabal
Minar, and then up a rise to the Salami pass at m. 7, the highest
point of the Sana'a-Hodeida road, 9,350 feet above sea level.
On the left, 100 feet above the road, is the watch tower of Bait-
as- Salami ; south-south-west of this point, two miles oil on
a salient ridge is the block-house of Minar which commands Suq-
al-Khamis. Five miles away to the north rise the tall flat-topped
scarps of Nabi Shaib [J. Hadkur, marked at 10,300 feet on
Hunter's map (''),] said by local folk to be the highest mountain
in Yemen. I estimate it at 11,000 foot from comparison with
known heights within sight. Oa top is a Turkish post and
signalling station which can communicate direct with Sana 1 a
or Manakhah in clear weather.
From the Salami pass the road descends, still in a general
north-east direction over a surface that gets worse and worse
until Bo'an is reached at m. 11 (8,900 feet).
Bo'an is a collection of small, empty, stone huts used as shops
)!t market day (Thursday) ; there is also a coffee house and a
caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). for travellers. It lies in a valley of the same name
on the right bank of a running brook known as Asfarah, flow
ing down in a general easterly direction from the hills just
traversed.
Bo'an bridge, of well-pointed masonry, spans this brook,
and from this point vehicular traffic is possible to Sana'a. High
on tho right of the road on a hill south of the village and about
500 feet above it stands Bo'an caracol, a defensible sarai
commanding the road in both directions.
Leaving Bo'an the route runs north-east over an excellent
road, a continuation of which has already been traced west
wards up the Bo'an valley. It yet lacks a surface and is pre.
sumably the work of French engineers as an alternative route
over the main ridge to Suq-al-Khamis. Further work on it has
been abandoned.
The road from Bo'an to Sana'a might be traversed by an
automobile and shows care and attention, being well drained
and its surface kept in good repair. It winds considerably as
it has to traverse the far-flung spurs that run down from Nabi
Shaib and here form steep and broken ground on the left, and on
the right lies a very uneven plateau of barren stony ground
through which various ravines from Nabi Shaib have cut their
way; in such valleys thert is a certain amount of cultivation.