Then in the nineteenth century came a regular succession of ex-blorers, some on official missions, some for reasons of archwology or natural history, and others (and this is true of all of them in part) for the simple love of adventure. For to penetrate Arabia remained a considerable adventure; it needed great powers of endurance and tact and, whether the journey was undertaken in disguise or not, linguistic skill and a thorough knowledge of Arab ways. The Hedjaz, more accessible from the west, was naturally better and more quickly known than the interior. Aden, the Hadramut, Bahrain, Muscat, passed under British control or influence. But the heart of the peninsula remained fiercely independent, and at Hiyel and Riyad arose two powerful, ' usually hostile dynasties.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.