File 1202/1912 'Arabia:- Travellers. Capt. F. F Hunter. Herr Runkiar (Danish Expedition). Capt Shakespear.' [‎100v] (205/358)

of tho oxpGclitioii will be Englishmen. First Lieutencint Envidsen will map the country
It is owned by Sultans, and, although the trade routes to the East have passed roun
jt for centuries, is entirely unknown. In olden times theie was a certain ci\ disation i.
those parts—that of Sheba (Queen of Sheba). No doubt traces will be found by th
expedition m inscriptions, rums, &c., which may also piove impoitant. Studei^
Eaunkiaer has made a speciality of the study of commercial geography, which hr
taken so great an extension in Germany. He is quite young, but very efficient an
intelligent. He will study the people, their habits, customs, and specially thei.
trade, and the field which the latter may offer foiyEuropean enterprise. All that par
of Arabia is a sort of colonial, warehouse, providing coffee, dates, and other southen
fruits ; and generally articles which we and others require without any steps having
ever been taken to enter into closer relations with the country. ^ «
“ The steamers of the East Asiatic Company pass close by on their regular routes.
Here, as in so many other places on this globe, there is an opening for Danish energy
and enterprise. * .
“ The expedition will in all probability sail for Aden m a steamer of the East
Asiatic Company, and will start, at earliest, on the 1st October in order to be home
again in the spring of 1912. That is the best time to go. From Aden the expedition
will proceed to Muscat, and push from there into the interior. The committee’s work
is supported by the subscriptions of private well-wishers.
“ We hope to secure real work for Danish interests. A small country which
dispatches a small and modest expedition can, perhaps, do more useful work than the
costly and pretentious arrangements of a great country.”
We annex a map of the regions near the Persian Gulfwhere the expedition
dispatched by the Expeditions Committee of the Geographical Society will reclaim
new ground—Oman and Hadramaut. The interior is, according to geographers, a
desert, but probably contains great oases and remains of an ancient civilisation dating
back to 500 years B.c. The members of the expedition, First-Lieutenant Davidsen
and student Eaunkiaer, will travel on camels and asses. The travellers start in
October and expect to return in May 1912 (see article).
* Not reproduced.