The town appeared to be a small one of not much over two thousand inhabitants, all of whom were engaged in agricultural pursuits and in camel-breeding.

The herds of camels, however, they gathered, for the most part were kept at outlying settlements on the farther side of the cone-shaped mountain.

As they were unable to talk the language the only person from whom they could gain knowledge was Harut, who spoke to them in his broken English and told them much what he had told me, namely that the upper mountain was a sacred place that might only be visited by the priests, since any uninitiated person who set foot there came to a bad end.

They had not seen any of these priests in the town, where no form of worship appeared to be practised, but they had observed men driving small numbers of sheep or goats up the flanks of the mountain towards the forest.
Of what went on upon this mountain and who lived there they remained in complete ignorance.

It was a case of stalemate.