James Theodore Bent

“Hospitality is the one and only virtue of the Arab; it is the outcome of the solitude of their lives and the grand feature of the race.”

“Southern Arabia is, from a geographical and ethnological point of view, one of the most interesting corners of the globe.”

“The modern Greek is a curious anomaly; he is a pagan in many of his superstitions, a Turk in many of his customs.”

“Great Zimbabwe is the most mysterious and complex of all the ruins.”

“Nowhere is the proverbial insecurity of riches more keenly felt than in Arabia; the rich man of to-day is the beggar of to-morrow.”

“The object of our journey to Mashonaland was to investigate the ruins of the great Zimbabwe, about which so many mysterious tales have been told.”

“Every island has its own peculiarity of costume, and the student of dress may here find a rich field for his labours.”

“The old-world charm of everything is intense, and this is the greatest charm of all.”

“The Bedouin is a curious mixture of honesty and the reverse; he is a gentleman and a savage.”

“To the archaeologist, Southern Arabia is a field of intense interest.”

“The genuineness of the Sabæan inscriptions which we brought from Arabia has been universally acknowledged.”

“The inhabitants of Socotra are a curious mixed race, with a language of their own.”

“Mashonaland is a fine country, and one which has undoubtedly a great future before it.”

“A land of mystery, of which the ancients knew so much, and the moderns so little.”

“The camel is the pivot on which the existence of the Bedouin turns.”