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diff --git a/41960-h/41960-h.htm b/41960-h/41960-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a167f10 --- /dev/null +++ b/41960-h/41960-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9349 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Travels in Arabia, by Bayard Taylor</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Travels in Arabia, by Bayard Taylor, Edited +by Thomas Stevens + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Travels in Arabia + + +Author: Bayard Taylor + +Editor: Thomas Stevens + +Release Date: February 1, 2013 [eBook #41960] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN ARABIA*** +</pre> +<p>This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/fpb.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Night march on the Arabian Desert" +title= +"Night march on the Arabian Desert" +src="images/fps.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center">ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF TRAVEL</p> +<h1>TRAVELS IN ARABIA</h1> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">COMPILED AND +ARRANGED BY</span><br /> +BAYARD TAYLOR</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">REVISED +BY</span><br /> +THOMAS STEVENS</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">NEW YORK<br /> +CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS<br /> +1898</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pageii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. ii</span><span class="smcap">Copyright</span> +1881, 1892, <span class="smcap">by</span><br /> +CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">TROW +DIRECTORY</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">PRINTING AND +BOOKBINDING COMPANY</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">NEW +YORK</span></p> +<h2><a name="pageiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +iii</span>REVISER’S NOTE</h2> +<p>The continuance of Bayard Taylor’s Library of Travel in +the popular favor is one of the accepted facts of the literary +world. So much so, indeed, that a revision of his works on +the part of another is to be permitted only on certain conditions +of reserve, and by reason of events that have transpired since +the death of the distinguished traveller.</p> +<p>Travellers and authors die; but the tribes, nations, and races +visited by them continue on, making war or peace, changing +frontiers, setting up or pulling down dynasties.</p> +<p>The whole political complexion of a country may be changed in +a decade. Though the people of Arabia, the genuine +Bedouins, are believed to have changed little or nothing in their +mode of life since the days of the Shepherd Kings of +Abraham’s time, waves of political and religious agitation +have occasionally rippled over one part or another of the ancient +peninsula. Seemingly they make as little permanent +impression on the undercurrent of Bedouin life, as do the waves +of the sea on its immutable whole, so that the accounts of the +earlier chroniclers of Arabian life and manners agree in a +singular manner with the descriptions of contemporary +visitors. For this reason, no less than for the respect and +admiration <a name="pageiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +iv</span>entertained by the reviser for Mr. Taylor’s +conscientiousness and judgment as a traveller and compiler, and +his literary excellence as an author, this volume remains, +practically, as fully the work of its original editor as +before.</p> +<p>By way of bringing it up to date, however, Chapter XVII. has +been added, and such slight revision of preceding chapters has +been made as was found necessary, consistent with the scope and +intention of the new edition.</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Thomas +Stevens</span>.</p> +<h2><a name="pagev"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +v</span>CONTENTS.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Sketch of Arabia; its Geographical +Position and Ancient History</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Early Explorers of Arabia</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page8">8</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER III.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Niebuhr’s Travels in +Yemen</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page14">14</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Burckhardt’s Journey to Mecca +and Medina</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page29">29</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Wellsted’s Explorations in +Oman</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page40">40</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Wellsted’s Discovery of an +Ancient City in Hadramaut</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page55">55</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Burton’s Pilgrimage</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page62">62</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagevi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. vi</span>CHAPTER +VIII.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s Travels in Central +Arabia: from Palestine to the Djowf</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IX.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Residence in the Djowf</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page107">107</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER X.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Crossing the Nefood</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page127">127</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XI.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s Travels—Life in +Ha’yel</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page138">138</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XII.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s Travels—Journey +to Bereydah</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page176">176</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIII.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s Travels—Journey +to Ri’ad the Capital of Nedjed</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page201">201</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIV.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Adventures in Ri’ad</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page217">217</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XV.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s Travels—His +Escape to the Eastern Coast</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page240">240</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVI.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s Travels—Eastern +Arabia</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page259">259</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVII.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Lady Blunt’s pilgrimage to +Nejd</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page279">279</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. vii</span>LIST +OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Night March In The Desert</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Frontispiece</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="GutSmall">FACING +PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Coffee Hills of Yemen</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page19">19</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">View of El-Medina</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page39">39</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">A valley in Oman</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page51">51</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The ruins of Nakab El-Hadjar, in +Hadramaut</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page59">59</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">View of Medina from the +West</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page69">69</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Camp at Mount Arafat</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page77">77</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Costume of Pilgrims to +Mecca</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page81">81</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">William Gifford Palgrave</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page84">84</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">An Arab Chief</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page105">105</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Captain Burton as a Pilgrim</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page129">129</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The village of +El-Suwayrkiyah</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page184">184</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">An arab encampment</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page190">190</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Death on the desert</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page208">208</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>CHAPTER +I.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Sketch of Arabia: Its +Geographical Position, and Ancient History</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Peninsula of Arabia, forming +the extreme southwestern corner of Asia, is partly detached, both +in a geographical and historical sense, from the remainder of the +continent. Although parts of it are mentioned in the oldest +historical records, and its shores were probably familiar to the +earliest navigators, the greater portion of its territory has +always remained almost inaccessible and unknown.</p> +<p>The desert, lying between Syria and the Euphrates is sometimes +included by geographers as belonging to Arabia, but a line drawn +from the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Euphrates (almost +coinciding with the parallel of 30° N.) would more nearly +represent the northern boundary of the peninsula. As the +most southern point of the Arabian coast reaches the latitude of +12° 40′, the greater part of the entire territory, of +more than one million square miles, lies within the +tropics. In shape it is an irregular rhomboid, the longest +diameter, from Suez to the Cape <a name="page2"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 2</span>El-Had, in Oman, being 1,660, and from +the Euphrates to the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, 1,400 miles.</p> +<p>The entire coast region of Arabia, on the Red Sea, the Indian +Ocean, and the Gulfs of Oman and Persia, is, for the most part, a +belt of fertile country, inhabited by a settled, semi-civilized +population. Back of this belt, which varies in width from a +few miles to upwards of a hundred, commences a desert table-land, +occasionally intersected by mountain chains, and containing, in +the interior, many fertile valleys of considerable extent, which +are inhabited. Very little has been known of this great +interior region until the present century.</p> +<p>The ancient geographers divided Arabia into three +parts,—<i>Arabia Petræa</i>, or the Rocky, comprising +the northwestern portion, including the Sinaitic peninsula, +between the Gulfs of Suez and Akaba; <i>Arabia Deserta</i>, the +great central desert; and <i>Arabia Felix</i>, the Happy, by +which they appear to have designated the southwestern part, now +known as Yemen. The modern Arabic geography, which has been +partly adopted on our maps, is based, to some extent, on the +political divisions of the country. The coast region along +the Red Sea, down to a point nearly half way between Djidda and +the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, and including the holy cities of +Medina and Mecca, is called the Hedjaz. Yemen, the capital +of which is Sana, and the chief sea-ports Mocha, Hodeida, and +Loheia, embraces all the southwestern portion of the +peninsula. The southern coast, although divided into +various little chiefdoms, is known under the <a +name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>general name of +Hadramaut. The kingdom of Oman has extended itself along +the eastern shore, nearly to the head of the Persian Gulf. +The northern oases, the seat of the powerful sect of the +Wahabees, are called Nedjed; and the unknown southern interior, +which is believed to be almost wholly desert, inhabited only by a +few wandering Bedouins, is known as the Dahna or Akhaf.</p> +<p>Arabia has been inhabited by the same race since the earliest +times, and has changed less, in the course of thousands of years, +than any other country of the globe, not excepting China. +According to Biblical genealogy, the natives are descended from +Ham, through Cush; but the Bedouins have always claimed that they +are the posterity of Ishmael. Some portions of the country, +such as Edom, or Idumæa, Teman and Sheba, (the modern +Yemen,) are mentioned in the Old Testament; but neither the +Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, nor Egyptian monarchies succeeded +in gaining possession of the peninsula. Alexander the Great +made preparations for a journey of conquest, which was prevented +by his death, and Trajan was the only Roman emperor who +penetrated into the interior.</p> +<p>The inhabitants were idolaters, whose religion had probably +some resemblance to that of the Phoenicians. After the +destruction of Jerusalem, both Jews and Christians found their +way thither, and made proselytes. There were Jews in +Medina, Mecca, and Yemen; and even the last Himyaritic king of +the latter country became a convert to Mosaic faith. Thus +the strength of the ancient religion was <a +name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 4</span>already +weakened when Mohammed was born (<span +class="GutSmall">A.D.</span> 570); and there are strong evidences +for the conjecture that the demoralization of both Jews and +Christians, resulting from their long enmity, was the chief cause +which prevented Mohammed from adopting the belief of the +latter. At the time of his birth, the civilization of the +dominant Arab tribes was little inferior to that of Europe or the +Eastern Empire. There was already an Arabic literature; and +the arts and sciences of the ancient world had found their way +even to the oases of Nedjed.</p> +<p>The union of the best and strongest elements in the race, +which followed the establishment of the new religion, gave to men +of Arabian blood a part to play in the history of the +world. For six hundred years after Mohammed’s death +Islam and Christendom were nearly equal powers, and it is +difficult, even now, to decide which contributed the more to the +arts from which modern civilization has sprung. Arabia +flourished, as never before, under the Caliphs; yet it does not +appear that the life of the inhabitants was materially changed, +or that any growth, acquired during the new importance of the +country, became permanent. Its commerce was restricted to +the products of its narrow belt of fertile shore; an arid desert +separated it from Bagdad and Syria; none of the lines of traffic +between Europe and the East Indies traversed its territory, and +thus it remained comparatively unknown to the Christian +world.</p> +<p>After the downfall of the Caliphate the tribes relapsed into +their former condition of independent <a name="page5"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 5</span>chiefdoms, and the old hostilities, +which had been partially suppressed for some centuries, again +revived. In the sixteenth century the Turks obtained +possession of Hedjaz and Yemen; the Portuguese held Muscat for a +hundred and fifty years, and the Persians made some temporary +conquests, but the vast interior region easily maintained its +independence. The deserts, which everywhere intervene +between its large and fertile valleys and the sea-coast, are the +home of wandering Bedouin tribes, whose only occupation is +plunder,—whose hand is against every man’s, and every +man’s hand against them. Thus they serve as a +body-guard even to their own enemies.</p> +<p>The long repose and seclusion of Central Arabia was first +broken during the present century. It may be well to state, +very briefly, the circumstances which led to it, since they will +explain the great difficulty and danger which all modern +explorers must encounter. Early in the last century, an +Arabian named Abd el-Wahab, scandalized at what he believed to be +the corruption of the Moslem faith, began preaching a +Reformation. He advocated the slaughter or forcible +conversion of heretics, the most rigid forms of fasting and +prayer, the disuse of tobacco, and various other changes in the +Oriental habits of life. Having succeeded in converting the +chief of Nedjed, Mohammed Ibu-Savod, he took up his residence in +Derreyeh, the capital, which thenceforth became the rendezvous +for all his followers, who were named <i>Wahabees</i>. They +increased to such an extent that their authority became supreme +<a name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>throughout +Central Arabia, and the successor of Ibu-Savod was able to call +an army of 100,000 men into the field, and defy the Ottoman +power.</p> +<p>In the year 1803 the Wahabees took and plundered Mecca, and +slew great numbers of the pilgrims who had gathered there. +A second expedition against Medina failed, but the annual caravan +of pilgrims was robbed and dispersed. Finally, in 1809, the +Sultan transferred to Mohammed Ali, of Egypt, the duty of +suppressing this menacing religious and political +rebellion. The first campaign in Arabia was a failure; the +second, under Ibrahim Pasha, was successful. He overcame +the Wahabees in 1818, captured Derreyeh, and razed it to the +ground. In 1828 they began a second war against Turkey, but +were again defeated. Since then they have refrained from +any further aggressive movement, but their hostility and bigotry +are as active as ever. The Wahabee doctrine flatters the +clannish and exclusive spirit of the race, and will probably +prevent, for a long time, any easy communication between Arabia +and the rest of the world.</p> +<p>The greater part of our present knowledge of Arabia has been +obtained since the opening of this century. The chief +seaports and the route from Suez to Mt. Sinai were known during +the Middle Ages, but all else was little better than a +blank. Within the last fifty or sixty years the mountains +of Edom have been explored, the rock-hewn city of Petra +discovered, the holy cities of Medina and Mecca visited by +intelligent Europeans; Yemen, Hadramaut, and Oman partly +traversed; and, last of all, <a name="page7"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 7</span>we have a very clear and satisfactory +account of Nedjed and the other central regions of Arabia, by the +intrepid English traveller, Mr. Palgrave.</p> +<p>Thus, only the southern interior of the peninsula remains to +be visited. The name given to it by the Arabs, <i>Roba +el-Khaly</i>, “the abode of emptiness,” no doubt +describes its character. It is an immense, undulating, +sandy waste, dotted with scarce and small oases, which give water +and shelter to the Bedouins, but without any large tract of +habitable land, and consequently without cities, or other than +the rudest forms of political organization.</p> +<h2><a name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>CHAPTER +II.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Early Explorers of +Arabia</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the habit of travel began to +revive in the Middle Ages, its character was either religious or +commercial, either in the form of pilgrimages to Rome, Palestine, +(whenever possible), and the shrines of popular saints, or of +journeys to the Levant, Persia and the Indies, with the object of +acquiring wealth by traffic, the profits of which increased in +the same proportion as its hazards. From the time of +Trajan’s expedition to Arabia, (in <span +class="GutSmall">A.D.</span> 117) down to the sixteenth century, +we have no report of the history or condition of the country +except such as can be drawn from the earlier Jewish and Christian +traditions and the later Mohammedan records.</p> +<p>The first account of a visit to Arabia which appears to be +worthy of credence, is that given by Ludovico Bartema, of +Rome. After visiting Egypt, he joined the caravan of +pilgrims at Damascus, in 1503, in the company of a Mameluke +captain, himself disguised as a Mameluke renegade. After +several attacks from the Bedouins of the desert, the caravan +reached Medina, which he describes as containing three hundred +houses. Bartema gives a very correct <a +name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>description of +the tomb of the Prophet, and scoffs at the then prevalent belief +that the latter’s coffin is suspended in the air, between +four lodestones.</p> +<p>He thus describes an adventure which befell his company the +same evening after their visit to the mosque. “At +almost three of the night, ten or twelve of the elders of the +sect of Mohammed entered into our caravan, which remained not +past a stone’s cast from the gate of the city. These +ran hither and thither, crying like madmen with these words: +‘Mohammed, the messenger and apostle of God, shall rise +again! O Prophet, O God, Mohammed shall rise again! +Have mercy on us, God!’ Our captain and we, all +raised with this cry, took weapon with all expedition, suspecting +that the Arabs were come to rob our caravan. We asked what +was the cause of that exclamation, and what they cried? For +they cried as do the Christians when suddenly any marvellous +thing chanceth. The elders answered: ‘Saw you not the +lightning which shone out of the sepulchre of the Prophet +Mohammed?’ Our captain answered that he saw nothing, +and we also being demanded, answered in like manner. Then +said one of the old men: ‘Are you slaves?’ This +to say bought men, meaning thereby, Mamelukes. Then said +our captain: ‘We are indeed Mamelukes.’ Then +again the old man said: ‘You, my lords, cannot see heavenly +things, as being <i>neophiti</i>, that is, newly come to the +faith, and not yet confirmed in our religion.’ It is +therefore to be understood that none other shining came out of +the sepulchre than a certain flame, which the priests caused to +come out <a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +10</span>of the open place of the tower, whereby they would have +deceived us.”</p> +<p>Leaving Medina, the caravan travelled for three days over a +“broad plain,” all covered with white sand, in manner +as small as flour. Then they passed a mountain, where they +heard “a certain horrible noise and cry,” and after +journeying for ten days longer, during which time they twice +fought with “fifty thousand Arabians,” they reached +Mecca, of which Bartema says: “The city is very fair, and +well inhabited, and containeth in round form six thousand houses +as well builded as ours, and some that cost three or four +thousand pieces of gold: it hath no walls.”</p> +<p>Bartema describes the ceremonies performed by the pilgrims, +with tolerable correctness. His fellowship with the +Mamelukes seems to have been a complete protection up to the time +when the caravan was ready to set out on its return to Damascus, +and the members of the troop were ordered to accompany it, on +pain of death. Then he managed to escape by persuading a +Mohammedan that he understood the art of casting cannon, and +wished to reach India, in order to assist the native monarchs in +defending themselves against the Portuguese. Reaching Jedda +in safety, Bartema sailed for Persia, visiting Yemen on the way; +made his way to India, and after various adventures, returned to +Europe by way of the Cape of Good Hope.</p> +<p>The second European who made his way to the holy cities was +Joseph Pitts, an Englishman, who was captured by an Algerine +pirate, as a sailor-boy <a name="page11"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 11</span>of sixteen, and forced by his master +to become a Mussulman. After some years, when he had +acquired the Arabic and Turkish languages, he accompanied his +master for a pilgrimage to Mecca, by way of Cairo, Suez and the +Red Sea. Here he received his freedom; but continued with +the pilgrims to Medina, and returned to Egypt by land, through +Arabia Petræa. After fifteen years of exile, he +succeeded in escaping to Italy, and thence made his way back to +England.</p> +<p>Pitts gives a minute and generally correct account of the +ceremonies at Mecca. He was not, of course, learned in +Moslem theology, and his narrative, like that of all former +visitors to Mecca, has been superseded by the more intelligent +description of Burckhardt; yet it coincides with the latter in +all essential particulars. His description of the city and +surrounding scenery is worth quoting, from the quaint simplicity +of its style.</p> +<p>“First, as to Mecca. It is a town situated in a +barren place, (about one day’s journey from the Red Sea), +in a valley, or rather in the midst of many little hills. +It is a place of no force, wanting both walls and gates. +Its buildings are, as I said before, very ordinary, insomuch that +it would be a place of no tolerable entertainment, were it not +for the anniversary resort of so many thousand Hagges (Hadjis), +or pilgrims, on whose coming the whole dependence of the town (in +a manner) is; for many shops are scarcely open all the year +besides.</p> +<p>“The people here, I observed, are a poor sort of people, +very thin, lean and swarthy. The town is <a +name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>surrounded +for several miles with many thousands of little hills, which are +very near one to the other. I have been on the top of some +of them near Mecca, where I could see some miles about, yet was +not able to see the farthest of the hills. They are all +stony-rock and blackish, and pretty near of a bigness, appearing +at a distance like cocks of hay, but all pointing towards +Mecca. Some of them are half a mile in circumference, but +all near of one height. The people here have an odd and +foolish sort of tradition concerning them, viz., That when +Abraham went about building the Beat-Allah (Beit-Allah, or +‘House of God’), God by his wonderful providence did +so order it, that every mountain in the world should contribute +something to the building thereof; and accordingly every one did +send its proportion, though there is a mountain near Algier which +is called Corradog, <i>i.e.</i>, Black Mountain, and the reason +of its blackness, they say, is because it did not send any part +of itself towards building the temple at Mecca. Between +these hills is good and plain travelling, though they stand one +to another.</p> +<p>“There is upon the top of one of them a cave, which they +term Hira, <i>i.e.</i>, Blessing, into which, they say, Mahomet +did usually retire for his solitary devotions, meditations and +fastings; and here they believe he had a great part of the +Alcoran brought him by the angel Gabriel. I have been in +this cave, and observed that it is not at all beautified, at +which I admired.</p> +<p>“About half a mile out of Mecca is a very steep hill, +and there are stairs made to go to the top of it, <a +name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 13</span>where is a +cupola, under which is a cloven rock; into this, they say, +Mahomet when very young, viz., about four years of age, was +carried by the angel Gabriel, who opened his breast and took out +his heart, from which he picked some black blood specks, which +was his original corruption; then put it into its place again, +and afterward closed up the part; and that during this operation +Mahomet felt no pain.”</p> +<p>The next account of the same pilgrimage is given by Giovanni +Tinati, an Italian, who deserted from the French service on the +coast of Dalmatia, and became an Albanian soldier. Making +his way to Egypt, after various adventures, he became at last a +corporal in Mohammed Ali’s body-guard, and shared in +several campaigns against the Wahabees. He did not, +however, penetrate very far inland from the coast, and his visit +to Mecca was the result of his desertion from the Egyptian army +after a defeat. His narrative contains nothing which has +not been more fully and satisfactorily stated by later +travellers.</p> +<p>By this time, however, the era of careful scientific +exploration had already commenced, and the descriptions which +have since then been furnished to us are positive contributions +to our knowledge of Arabia. With the exception of the +journey of Carsten Niebuhr, which embraces only the Sinaitic +Peninsula and Yemen, the important explorations—all of +which are equally difficult and daring—have been made since +the commencement of this century.</p> +<h2><a name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +14</span>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Niebuhr’s Travels in +Yemen</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> 1760 the Danish government +decided to send an expedition to Arabia and India, for the +purpose of geographical exploration. The command was given +to Carsten Niebuhr, a native of Hanover, and a civil +engineer. Four other gentlemen, an artist, a botanist, a +physician, and an astronomer, were associated with him in the +undertaking; yet, by a singular fatality, all died during the +journey, and Niebuhr returned alone, after an absence of nearly +seven years, to publish the first narrative of travel based on +scientific observation.</p> +<p>The party sailed from Copenhagen for Smyrna in January, 1761, +visited Constantinople, and then proceeded to Egypt, where they +remained nearly a year. After a journey to Sinai, they +finally succeeded in engaging passage on board a vessel carrying +pilgrims from Suez to Jedda, and sailed from the former port in +October, 1762. They took the precaution of adopting the +Oriental dress, and conformed, as far as possible, to the customs +of the Mussulman passengers; thus the voyage, although very +tedious and uncomfortable, was not accompanied with any other +danger than that from the coral reefs along the Arabian +shore. The vessel touched at Yambo, the <a +name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 15</span>port of +Medina, and finally reached Jedda, after a voyage of nineteen +days.</p> +<p>The travellers entered Jedda under strong apprehensions of +ill-treatment from the inhabitants, but were favorably +disappointed. The people, it seemed, were already +accustomed to the sight of Christian merchants in their town, and +took no particular notice of the strangers, who went freely to +the coffee-houses and markets, and felt themselves safe so long +as they did not attempt to pass through the gate leading to +Mecca. The Turkish Pasha of the city received them kindly, +and they were allowed to hire a house for their temporary +residence.</p> +<p>After waiting six weeks for the chance of a passage to Mocha, +they learned that an Arabian vessel was about to sail for +Hodeida, one of the ports of Yemen. The craft, when they +visited it, proved to be more like a hogshead than a ship; it was +only seven fathoms long, by three in breadth. It had no +deck; its planks were extremely thin, and seemed to be only +nailed together, but not pitched. The captain wore nothing +but a linen cloth upon his loins, and his sailors, nine in +number, were black slaves from Africa or Malabar. +Nevertheless, they engaged passage, taking the entire vessel for +themselves alone; but when they came to embark, it was filled +with the merchandise of others. The voyage proved to be +safe and pleasant, and in sixteen days they landed at Loheia, in +Yemen.</p> +<p>The governor of this place was a negro, who had formerly been +a slave. He received the travellers with the greatest +kindness, persuaded them to leave <a name="page16"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 16</span>the vessel, and gave them a +residence, promising camels for the further journey by +land. Although they were somewhat annoyed by the great +curiosity of the inhabitants, their residence was so agreeable, +and offered the naturalists so many facilities for making +collections, that they remained nearly four months. +“We had one opportunity,” says Niebuhr, “of +learning their ideas of the benefits to be derived from +medicine. Mr. Cramer had given a scribe an emetic which +operated with extreme violence. The Arabs, being struck at +its wonderful effects, resolved all to take the same excellent +remedy, and the reputation of our friend’s skill thus +became very high among them. The Emir of the port sent one +day for him; and, as he did not go immediately, the Emir soon +after sent a saddled horse to our gate. Mr. Cramer, +supposing that this horse was intended to bear him to the Emir, +was going to mount him, when he was told that this was the +patient he was to cure. We luckily found another physician +in our party; our Swedish servant had been with the hussars in +his native country, and had acquired some knowledge of the +diseases of horses. He offered to cure the Emir’s +horse, and succeeded. The cure rendered him famous, and he +was afterward sent for to human patients.”</p> +<p>Having satisfied themselves by this time that there was no +danger in travelling in Yemen, they did not wait for the +departure of any large caravan, but, on February 20, 1763, set +out from Loheia, mounted on asses, and made their way across the +<i>Tehama</i>, or low country, toward the large town of <a +name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>Beit +el-Fakih, which stands near the base of the coffee-bearing +hills. They wore dresses somewhat similar to those of the +natives, a long shirt, reaching nearly to the feet, a girdle, and +a mantle over the shoulders. The country was barren, but +there were many villages, and at intervals of every few miles +they found coffee-houses, or, rather, huts, for the refreshment +of travellers. After having suffered no further +inconvenience than from the brackish water, which is drawn from +wells more than a hundred feet deep, they reached Beit el-Fakih +in five days.</p> +<p>Here they were kindly received by one of the native merchants, +who hired a stone house for them. The town is seated upon a +well-cultivated plain; it is comparatively modern, but populous, +and the travellers, now entirely accustomed to the Arabian mode +of life, felt themselves safe. The Emir took no particular +notice of them, a neglect with which they were fully satisfied, +since it left them free to range the country in all +directions. Niebuhr, therefore, determined to make the +place the temporary headquarters of the expedition, and to give +some time to excursions in that part of Yemen. “I +hired an ass,” says he, “and its owner agreed to +follow me as my servant on foot. A turban, a great coat +wanting the sleeves, a shirt, linen drawers, and a pair of +slippers, were all the dress that I wore. It being the +fashion of the country to carry arms in travelling, I had a sabre +and two pistols hung by my girdle. A piece of old carpet +was my saddle, and served me likewise for a seat, a table, and +various other purposes. To cover me at night, I had the +linen cloak which the <a name="page18"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 18</span>Arabs wrap about their shoulders, to +shelter them from the sun and rain. A bucket of water, an +article of indispensable necessity to a traveller in these arid +regions, hung by my saddle.”</p> +<p>After a trip to the seaport of Hodeida, Niebuhr visited the +old town of Zebid, built on the ruins of an older city, which is +said to have once been the capital of all the low country. +Zebid is situated in a large and fertile valley, traversed during +the rainy season by a considerable stream, by which a large tract +of country is irrigated. There are the remains of an +aqueduct built by the Turks, but the modern town does not cover +half the space of the ancient capital. Zebid, however, is +still distinguished for its academy, in which the youth of all +that part of Yemen study such sciences as are now cultivated by +the Mussulmans.</p> +<p>Niebuhr’s next trip was to the plantations of the famous +Mocha coffee, whither the other members of the party had already +gone, during his visit to Zebid. After riding about twenty +miles eastward from Beit el-Fakih, he reached the foot of the +mountains. He thus describes the region: “Neither +asses nor mules can be used here. The hills are to be +climbed by steep and narrow paths; yet, in comparison with the +parched plains of the Tehama, the scenery seemed to me charming, +as it was covered with gardens and plantations of +coffee-trees.</p> +<p><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +19</span>“Up to this time I had seen only one small +basaltic hill; but here whole mountains were composed chiefly of +those columns. Such detached rocks formed grand objects in +the landscape, especially where cascades of water were seen to +rush from their summits. The cascades, in such instances, +had the appearance of being supported by rows of artificial +pillars. These basalts are of great utility to the +inhabitants; the columns, which are easily separated, serve as +steps where the ascent is most difficult, and as materials for +walls to support the plantations of coffee-trees upon the steep +declivities of the mountains.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p19b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Coffee hills of Yemen" +title= +"Coffee hills of Yemen" +src="images/p19s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>“The tree which affords the coffee is well known in +Europe; so that I need not here describe it particularly. +The coffee-trees were all in flower at Bulgosa, and exhaled an +exquisitely agreeable perfume. They are planted upon +terraces, in the form of an amphitheatre. Most of them are +only watered by the rains that fall, but some, indeed, from large +reservoirs upon the heights, in which spring-water is collected, +in order to be sprinkled upon the terraces, where the trees grow +so thick together that the rays of the sun can hardly enter among +their branches. We were told that those trees, thus +artificially watered, yielded ripe fruit twice in the year; but +the fruit becomes not fully ripe the second time, and the coffee +of this crop is always inferior to that of the first.</p> +<p>“Stones being more common in this part of the country +than in the Tehama, the houses—as well of the villages as +those which are scattered solitarily over the hills—are +built of this material. Although not to be compared to the +houses of Europe for commodiousness and elegance, yet they have a +good appearance; especially such of them as stand upon the <a +name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>heights, with +amphitheatres of beautiful gardens and trees around them.</p> +<p>“Even at this village of Bulgosa we were greatly above +the level of the plain from which we had ascended; yet we had +scarcely climbed half the ascent to Kusma, where the Emir of this +district dwells, upon the loftiest peak of the range of +mountains. Enchanting landscapes there meet the eye on all +sides.</p> +<p>“We passed the night at Bulgosa. Several of the +men of the village came to see us, and after they retired we had +a visit from our hostess, with some young women accompanying her, +who were all very desirous to see the Europeans. They +seemed less shy than the women in the cities; their faces were +unveiled, and they talked freely with us. As the air is +fresher and cooler upon these hills, the women have a finer and +fairer complexion than in the plain. Our artist drew a +portrait of a young girl who was going to draw water, and was +dressed in a shirt of linen, checkered blue and white. The +top and middle of the shirt, as well as the lower part of the +drawers, were embroidered with needlework of different +colors.”</p> +<p>Having met with no molestation so far, Niebuhr determined to +make a longer excursion into the southern interior of Yemen, +among the mountains, to the important towns of Udden and +Taas. The preparations were easily made. The +travellers hired asses, the owners accompanying them on foot as +guides and servants. As a further disguise they assumed +Arabic names, and their real character was so <a +name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 21</span>well +concealed that even the guides supposed them to be Oriental +Christians—not Europeans. Entering the mountains by +an unfrequented road, they found a barren region at first, but +soon reached valleys where coffee was cultivated. The +inhabitants, on account of the cooler nights, sleep in linen +bags, which they draw over the head, and thus keep themselves +warm by their own breathing.</p> +<p>After reaching Udden, which Niebuhr found to be a town of only +three hundred houses, the hill-country became more thickly +settled. Beside the roads, which had formerly been paved +with stones, there were frequent tanks of water for the use of +travellers, and, in exposed places, houses for their shelter in +case of storms. The next important place was Djobla, a +place of some importance in the annals of Yemen, but with no +antiquities, except some ruined mosques. A further march of +two days brought the party to the fortified city of Taas, but +they did not venture within its walls, not having applied to the +Emir for permission. They returned to their quarters at +Beit el-Fakih, by way of Haas, another large town at the base of +the mountains, having made themselves acquainted with a large +portion of the hill-country of Arabia Felix.</p> +<p>The journey to Mocha lasted three days, over a hot, barren +plain, with no inhabitants except in the wadys or valleys, which +are well watered during the rainy season. Their arrival at +Mocha was followed by a series of annoyances, first from the +custom-house officials, and then from the Emir, who conceived a +sudden prejudice against the travellers, <a +name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>so that they +were in danger of being driven out of the city. An English +merchant, however, came to their assistance, a present of fifty +ducats mollified the Emir, and at the end of a very disagreeable +week they received permission to stay in the city. From +heat and privation they had all become ill, and in a short time +one of the party died.</p> +<p>Niebuhr now requested permission to proceed to Sana, the +capital of Yemen. This the Emir refused, until he could +send word to the Imâm; but, after a delay of a month, he +allowed the party to go as far as Taas, which they reached in +four days, and where they were well received. The +refreshing rains every evening purified the air, and all +gradually recovered their health, except the botanist, who died +before reaching Sana.</p> +<p>Taas stands at the foot of the fertile mountain of Sabber, +upon which, the Arabs say, grow all varieties of plants and trees +to be found in the world. Nevertheless they did not allow +the travellers to ascend or even approach it. The city is +surrounded with a wall, between sixteen and thirty feet high, and +flanked with towers. The patron saint of the place is a +former king, Ismael Melek, who is buried in a mosque bearing his +name. No person is allowed to visit the tomb since the +occurrence of a miracle, which Niebuhr thus relates: “Two +beggars had asked charity of the Emir of Taas, but only one of +them had tasted of his bounty. Upon this the other went to +the tomb of Ismael Melek to implore his aid. The saint, +who, when alive, had been very charitable, stretched his hand out +of the tomb and <a name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +23</span>gave the beggar a letter containing an order on the Emir +to pay him a hundred crowns. Upon examining this order with +the greatest care it was found that Ismael Melek had written it +with his own hand and sealed it with his own seal. The +governor could not refuse payment; but to avoid all subsequent +trouble from such bills of exchange, he had a wall built, +inclosing the tomb.”</p> +<p>The Emir of Taas so changed in his behavior toward the +travellers, after a few days, that he ordered them to return to +Mocha. Finding all their arguments and protests in vain, +they were about to comply, when a messenger arrived from Mocha, +bringing the permission of the Imâm of Yemen for them to +continue their journey to Sana. They set out on June 28th, +and, after crossing the mountain ranges of Mharras and Samara, by +well-paved and graded roads, reached, in a week, the town of +Jerim, near the ruins of the ancient Himyaritic city of Taphar, +which, however, they were unable to visit on account of the +illness of Mr. Forskal, the botanist of the expedition. +This gentleman died in a few days; and they were obliged to bury +him by night, with the greatest precaution.</p> +<p>From Jerim it is a day’s journey to Damar, the capital +of a province. The city, which is seated in the midst of a +fertile plain, and is without walls, contains five thousand +well-built houses. It has a famous university, which is +usually attended by five hundred students. The travellers +were here very much annoyed by the curiosity of the people, who +threw stones at their windows in order to force them <a +name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 24</span>to show +themselves. There is a mine of native sulphur near the +place, and a mountain where cornelians are found, which are +highly esteemed throughout the East.</p> +<p>Beyond Damar the country is hilly, but every village is +surrounded with gardens, orchards, and vineyards, which are +irrigated from large artificial reservoirs built at the foot of +the hills. On reaching Sana the travellers were not allowed +to enter the city, but conducted to an unfurnished house without +the walls, where they were ordered to wait two days in entire +seclusion, until they could be received by the Imâm. +During this time they were not allowed to be visited by +anyone. Niebuhr thus describes their interview, which took +place on the third day:</p> +<p>“The hall of audience was a spacious square chamber, +having an arched roof. In the middle was a large basin, +with some <i>jets d’eau</i>, rising fourteen feet in +height. Behind the basin, and near the throne, were two +large benches, each a foot and a half high; upon the throne was a +space covered with silken stuff, on which, as well as on both +sides of it, lay large cushions. The Imâm sat between +the cushions, with his legs crossed in the Eastern fashion; his +gown was of a bright green color, and had large sleeves. +Upon each side of his breast was a rich filleting of gold lace, +and on his head he wore a great white turban. His sons sat +on his right hand, and his brothers on the left. Opposite +to them, on the highest of the two benches, sat the Vizier, and +our place was on the lower bench.</p> +<p>“We were first led up to the Imâm, and were <a +name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>permitted to +kiss both the back and the palm of his hand, as well as the hem +of his robe. It is an extraordinary favor when the +Mohammedan princes permit any person to kiss the palm of the +hand. There was a solemn silence through the whole +hall. As each of us touched the Imâm’s hand a +herald still proclaimed, ‘God preserve the +Imâm!’ and all who were present repeated these words +after him. I was thinking at the time how I should pay my +compliments in Arabic, and was not a little disturbed by this +noisy ceremony.</p> +<p>“We did not think it proper to mention the true reason +of our expedition through Arabia; but told the Imâm that, +wishing to travel by the shortest ways to the Danish colonies, in +the East Indies, we had heard so much of the plenty and security +which prevailed through his dominions, that we had resolved to +see them with our own eyes, so that we might describe them to our +countrymen. The Imâm told us we were welcome to his +dominions, and might stay as long as we pleased. After our +return home he sent to each of us a small purse containing +ninety-nine <i>komassis</i>, two and thirty of which make a +crown. This piece of civility might, perhaps, appear no +compliment to a traveller’s delicacy. But, when it is +considered that a stranger, unacquainted with the value of the +money of the country, obliged to pay every day for his +provisions, is in danger of being imposed upon by the +money-changers, this care of providing us with small money will +appear to have been sufficiently obliging.”</p> +<p>“The city of Sana,” says Niebuhr, “is +situated at <a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +26</span>the foot of Mount Nikkum, on which are still to be seen +the ruins of a castle, which the Arabs suppose to have been built +by Shem. Near this mountain stands the citadel; a rivulet +rises upon the other side, and near it is the Bostan +el-Metwokkel, a spacious garden, which was laid out by the +Imâm of that name, and has been greatly embellished by the +reigning Imâm. The walls of the city, which are built +of bricks, exclude this garden, which is inclosed within a wall +of its own. The city, properly so called, is not very +extensive; one may walk around it in an hour. There are a +number of mosques, some of which have been built by Turkish +Pashas. In Sana are only twelve public baths, but many +noble palaces, three of the most splendid of which have been +built by the reigning Imâm. The materials of these +palaces are burnt bricks, and sometimes even hewn stones; but the +houses of the common people are of bricks which have been dried +in the sun.</p> +<p>“The suburb of Bir el-Arsab is nearly adjoining the city +on the east side. The houses of this village are scattered +through the gardens, along the banks of a small river. +Fruits are very plenteous; there are more than twenty kinds of +grapes, which, as they do not all ripen at the same time, +continue to afford a delicious refreshment for several +months. The Arabs likewise preserve grapes by hanging them +up in their cellars, and eat them almost through the whole +year. Two leagues northward from Sana is a plain named +Rodda, which is overspread with gardens and watered by a number +of rivulets. This place bears a great resemblance to the +neighborhood of Damascus. But <a name="page27"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 27</span>Sana, which some ancient authors +compare to Damascus, stands on a rising ground, with nothing like +florid vegetation about it. After long rains, indeed, a +small rivulet runs through the city; but all the ground is dry +through the rest of the year. However, by aqueducts from +Mount Nikkum the town and castle of Sana are, at all times, +supplied with abundance of excellent fresh water.”</p> +<p>After a stay of a week the travellers obtained an audience of +leave, fearing that a longer delay might subject them to +suspicions and embarrassments. Two days afterward the +Imâm sent each of them a complete suit of clothes, with a +letter to the Emir of Mocha, ordering him to pay them two hundred +crowns as a farewell present. He also furnished them with +camels for the journey. Instead of returning by the same +road they determined to descend from the hill-country to their +old headquarters at Beit el-Fakih, and thence cross the lowland +to Mocha.</p> +<p>For two days they travelled over high, rocky mountains, by the +worst roads they found in Yemen. The country was poor and +thinly inhabited, and the declivities only began to be clothed +with trees and terraced into coffee plantations as they +approached the plains. The poorer regions are not +considered entirely safe by the Arabs, as the people frequently +plunder defenceless travellers; but the party passed safely +through this region, and reached Beit el-Fakih after a +week’s journey from Sana.</p> +<p>Niebuhr and his companions reached Mocha early in August, and +toward the end of that month sailed in an English vessel for +Bombay, after a stay of ten <a name="page28"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 28</span>months in Yemen. The artist of +the expedition and the Swedish servant died on the Indian Ocean, +and the physician in India, a few months afterward, leaving +Niebuhr the sole survivor of the six persons who left Copenhagen +three years before. After having sent home the journals and +collections of the expedition he continued his travels through +the Persian Gulf, Bagdad, Armenia, and Asia Minor, finally +reaching Denmark in 1767. The era of intelligent, +scientific exploration, which is now rapidly opening all parts of +the world to our knowledge, may be said to have been inaugurated +by his travels.</p> +<h2><a name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +29</span>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Burckhardt’s Journey +to Mecca and Medina</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Burckhardt</span>, to whom we are indebted +for the first careful and complete description of the holy cities +of Arabia, was a native of Lausanne, in Switzerland. After +having been educated in Germany, he went to London with the +intention of entering the English military service, but was +persuaded by Sir Joseph Banks to apply to the African Association +for an appointment to explore the Sahara, and the then unknown +negro kingdoms of Central Africa. His offer was accepted, +and after some preparation he went to Aleppo, in Syria, where he +remained for a year or two, engaged in studying Arabic and +familiarizing himself with Oriental habits of life.</p> +<p>His first journeys in Syria and Palestine, which were only +meant as preparations for the African exploration, led to the +most important results. He was the first to visit the +country of Hauran—the Bashan of Scripture—lying +southeast of Damascus. After this he passed through Moab, +east of the Dead Sea, and under the pretence of making a +pilgrimage to the tomb of Aaron on Mount Hor, discovered the +rock-hewn palaces and temples of Petra, which had been for many +centuries lost to the world.</p> +<p><a name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +30</span>Burckhardt reached Cairo in safety, and after vainly +waiting some months for an opportunity of joining a caravan to +Fezzan, determined to employ his time in making a visit to Upper +Egypt and Nubia. Travelling alone, with a single guide, he +succeeded in reaching the frontiers of Dongola, beyond which it +was then impossible to proceed. He therefore returned to +Assouan, and joined a small caravan, which crossed the Nubian +Desert to Ethiopia, by very nearly the same route which Bruce had +taken in returning from Abyssinia. He remained some time at +Shendy, the capital of Ethiopia, and then, after a journey of +three months across the country of Takka, which had never before +been visited by a European, reached the port of Suakin, on the +Red Sea. Here he embarked for Jedda, in Arabia, where he +arrived in July, 1814.</p> +<p>By this time his Moslem character had been so completely +acquired that he felt himself free from suspicion. +Accordingly he decided to remain and take part in the pilgrimage +to Mecca and Medina, which was to take place that year, in +November. His funds, however, were nearly exhausted, and +the Jedda merchants refused to honor an old letter of credit upon +Cairo, which he still carried with him. In this emergency +he wrote to the Armenian physician of Mohammed Ali, who was at +that time with the Pasha at the city of Tayf (or Tayef), about +seventy miles southeast of Mecca. Mohammed Ali happening to +hear of this application, immediately sent a messenger with two +dromedaries, to summon Burckhardt to visit him. It seems +most probable <a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +31</span>that the Pasha suspected the traveller of being an +English spy, and wished to examine him personally. The +guide had orders to conduct the latter to Tayf by a circuitous +route, instead of by the direct road through Mecca.</p> +<p>Burckhardt set out without the least hesitation, taking care +to exhibit no suspicion of the Pasha’s object, and no +desire to see the holy city. But the guide himself proposed +that they should pass through Mecca in order to save travel; the +journey was hurried, however, and only a rapid observation was +possible. Pushing eastward, they reached, on the third +night, the Mountain of Kora, which divides the territory of Mecca +from that of Tayf. Burckhardt was astonished at the change +in the scenery, produced by the greater elevation of the interior +of Arabia above the sea. His description is a striking +contrast to that of the scenery about Mecca.</p> +<p>“This,” he says, “is the most beautiful spot +in the Hedjaz, and more picturesque and delightful than anything +I had seen since my departure from Lebanon, in Syria. The +top of Djebel Kora is flat, but large masses of granite lie +scattered over it, the surface of which, like that of the granite +rocks near the second cataract of the Nile, is blackened by the +sun. Several small rivulets descend from this peak and +irrigate the plain, which is covered with verdant fields and +large shady trees beside the granite rocks. To those who +have only known the dreary and scorching sands of the lower +country of the Hedjaz, this scene is as surprising as the keen +air which blows here is refreshing. Many of the fruit-trees +of Europe are <a name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +32</span>found here: figs, apricots, peaches, apples, the +Egyptian sycamore, almonds, pomegranates; but particularly vines, +the produce of which is of the best quality. After having +passed through this delightful district for about half an hour, +just as the sun was rising, when every leaf and blade of grass +was covered with a balmy dew, and every tree and shrub diffused a +fragrance as delicious to the smell as was the landscape to the +eye, I halted near the largest of the rivulets, which, although +not more than two paces across, nourishes upon its banks a green +alpine turf, such as the mighty Nile, with all its luxuriance, +can never produce in Egypt.”</p> +<p>Burckhardt had an interview with Mohammed Ali on the evening +of his arrival in Tayf. His suspicions were confirmed: the +Kadi (Judge) of Mecca and two well-informed teachers of the +Moslem faith were present, and although the Pasha professed to +accept Burckhard’s protestations of his Moslem character, +it was very evident to the latter that he was cunningly tested by +the teachers. Nevertheless, when the interview was over, +they pronounced him to be not only a genuine Moslem, but one of +unusual learning and piety. The Pasha was forced to submit +to this decision, but he was evidently not entirely convinced, +for he gave orders that Burckhardt should be the guest of his +physician, in order that his speech and actions might be more +closely observed. Burckhardt took a thoroughly Oriental way +to release himself from this surveillance. He gave the +physician so much trouble that the latter was very glad, at the +end of ten days, to procure from the Pasha permission for <a +name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>him to return +to Mecca, in order to get rid of him. Burckhardt thereupon +travelled to the holy city in company with the Kadi himself.</p> +<p>At the valley of Mohram, nearly a day’s journey from +Mecca, Burckhardt changed his garb for the <i>ihram</i>, or +costume worn by the pilgrims during their devotional +services. It consists of two pieces of either linen, +cotton, or woollen cloth; one is wrapped around the loins, while +the other is thrown over the shoulder in such a manner as to +leave the right arm entirely bare. On reaching Mecca he +obeyed the Moslem injunction of first visiting the great mosque +and performing all the requisite ceremonies before transacting +any worldly business. When this had been accomplished he +made a trip to Jedda for the purpose of procuring supplies, which +were necessary for the later pilgrimage to Medina, and then +established himself comfortably in an unfrequented part of Mecca, +to await the arrival of the caravan of pilgrims from +Damascus.</p> +<p>Burckhardt describes the great mosque of Mecca, which is +called the <i>Beit Allah</i>, or “House of God,” as +“a large quadrangular building, in the centre of which +stands the Kaaba, an oblong, massive structure eighteen paces in +length, fourteen in breadth, and from thirty-five to forty feet +in height. It is constructed of gray Mecca stone, in large +blocks of different sizes, joined together in a very rough +manner, and with bad cement. At the northeast corner of the +Kaaba, near the door, is the famous Black Stone, which forms part +of the sharp angle of the building at four or five feet above the +ground. It is an <a name="page34"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 34</span>irregular oval of about seven inches +in diameter, with an undulating surface, composed of about a +dozen smaller stones of different sizes and shapes, well joined +together with a small quantity of cement, and perfectly +smoothed. It is very difficult to determine accurately the +quality of this stone, which has been worn to its present surface +by the millions of touches and kisses it has received. It +appears to me like a lava, containing several small extraneous +particles. Its color is now a deep reddish brown, +approaching to black. It is surrounded on all sides by a +border, composed of a substance which I took to be a close cement +of pitch and gravel; this border serves to support its detached +pieces. Both the border and the stone itself are encircled +by a silver band.”</p> +<p>Toward the end of November the caravans from Syria and Egypt +arrived, and at the same time Mohammed Ali, so that the +<i>hadj</i>, or pilgrimage, assumed a character of unusual pomp +and parade. The Pasha’s <i>ihram</i> consisted of two +of the finest Cashmere shawls; the horses and camels belonging to +himself and his large retinue, with those of the Pasha of +Damascus and other Moslem princes, were decorated with the most +brilliant trappings. On arriving, the pilgrims did not halt +in Mecca, but continued their march to the Sacred Mountain of +Arafat, to the eastward of the city. A camp, several miles +in extent, was formed upon the plain, at the foot of the +mountain, and here Burckhardt joined the immense crowd, in order +to take his share in the ceremonies of the following day.</p> +<p>In the morning he climbed to the top of Arafat, <a +name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 35</span>which is an +irregular, isolated mass of granite, rising only about two +hundred feet above the plain. Overlooking thus the entire +camp, he counted more than three thousand tents, and estimated +that at least twenty-five thousand camels and seventy thousand +human beings were there collected together. “The +scene,” he says, “was one of the most extraordinary +which the earth affords. Every pilgrim issued from his tent +to walk over the plain and take a view of the busy crowds +assembled there. Long streets of tents, fitted up as +bazaars, furnished them with all kinds of provisions. The +Syrian and Egyptian cavalry were exercised by their chiefs early +in the morning, while thousands of camels were seen feeding upon +the dry shrubs of the plain all around the camp. The Syrian +pilgrims were encamped upon the south and southwest sides of the +mountain; the Egyptians upon the southeast. Mohammed Ali, +and Soleyman, Pasha of Damascus, as well as several of their +followers, had very handsome tents; but the most magnificent of +all was that of the wife of Mohammed Ali, the mother of Toossoon +Pasha and Ibrahim Pasha, who had lately arrived from Cairo with a +truly royal equipage, five hundred camels being necessary to +transport her baggage from Jedda to Mecca. Her tent was in +fact an encampment, consisting of a dozen tents of different +sizes, inhabited by her women; the whole enclosed by a wall of +linen cloth, eight hundred paces in circuit, the single entrance +to which was guarded by eunuchs in splendid dresses. The +beautiful embroidery on the exterior of this linen palace, with +the various colors displayed in every part of it, <a +name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>constituted +an object which reminded me of some descriptions in the Arabian +tales of the Thousand and One Nights.”</p> +<p>Burckhardt also gives an interesting description of the sermon +preached on Mount Arafat, the hearing of which is an +indispensable part of the pilgrimage: unless a person is at least +present during its delivery, he is not entitled to the name of +<i>hadji</i>, or pilgrim. The great encampment broke up at +three o’clock in the afternoon, and Mount Arafat was soon +covered from top to bottom. “The two Pashas, with +their whole cavalry drawn up in two squadrons behind them, took +their posts in the rear of the deep line of camels of the +pilgrims, to which those of the people of Hedjaz were also +joined; and here they waited in solemn and respectful silence the +conclusion of the sermon. Farther removed from the preacher +was the Scherif of Mecca, with his small body of soldiers, +distinguished by several green standards carried before +him. The two <i>mahmals</i>, or holy camels, which carry on +their backs the high structure which serves as the banner of +their respective caravans, made way with difficulty through the +ranks of camels that encircled the southern and eastern sides of +the hill, opposite to the preacher, and took their station, +surrounded by their guards, directly under the platform in front +of him. The preacher, who is usually the Kadi of Mecca, was +mounted upon a finely caparisoned camel, which had been led up +the steps: it was traditionally said that Mohammed was always +seated when he addressed his followers, a practice in which he +was imitated by all the Caliphs who came to the <a +name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>pilgrimage, +and who from this place addressed their subjects in person. +The Turkish gentleman of Constantinople, however, unused to +camel-riding, could not keep his seat so well as the hardy +Bedouin prophet, and the camel becoming unruly, he was soon +obliged to alight from it. He read his sermon from a book +in Arabic, which he held in his hands. At intervals of +every four or five minutes he paused and stretched forth his arms +to implore blessings from above, while the assembled multitudes +around and before him waved the skirts of their <i>ihrams</i> +over their heads and rent the air with shouts of <i>Lebeyk</i>, +<i>Allah</i>, <i>huma lebeyk</i>!—‘Here we are at Thy +bidding, oh God!’ During the waving of the +<i>ihrams</i> the sides of the mountain, thickly crowded as it +was by the people in their white garments, had the appearance of +a cataract of water; while the green umbrellas, with which +several thousand pilgrims sitting on their camels below were +provided, bore some resemblance to a verdant plain.”</p> +<p>Burckhardt performed all the remaining ceremonies required of +a pilgrim; but these have been more recently described and with +greater minuteness by Captain Burton. He remained in Mecca +for another month, unsuspected and unmolested, and completed his +observations of a place which the Arabs believed they had safely +sealed against all Christian travellers.</p> +<p>Leaving Mecca with a small caravan of pilgrims, on January 15, +1815, he reached Medina after a journey of thirteen days, during +which he narrowly escaped being slain by the Bedouins.</p> +<p><a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +38</span>Burckhardt was attacked with fever soon after his +arrival at Medina, and remained there three months. The +ceremonies prescribed for the pilgrims who visit the city are +brief and unimportant; but the description of the tomb of +Mohammed is of sufficient interest to quote. “The +mausoleum,” he says, “stands at the southeastern +corner of the principal mosque, and is protected from the too +near approach of visitors by an iron railing, painted green, +about two-thirds the height of the pillars of the colonnade which +runs around the interior of the mosque. The railing is of +good workmanship, in imitation of filigree, and is interwoven +with open-worked inscriptions of yellow bronze, supposed by the +vulgar to be of gold, and of so close a texture that no view can +be obtained of the interior except by several small windows, +about six inches square, which are placed in the four sides of +the railing, about five feet above the ground. On the south +side, where are the two principal windows, before which the +devout stand when praying, the railing is plated with silver, and +the common inscription—‘There is no god but God, the +Evident Truth!’—is wrought in silver letters around +the windows. The tomb itself, as well as those of Abu Bekr +and Omar, which stand close to it, is concealed from the public +gaze by a curtain of rich silk brocade of various colors, +interwoven with silver flowers and arabesques, with inscriptions +in characters of gold running across the midst of it, like that +of the covering of the Kaaba. Behind this curtain, which, +according to the historian of the city, was formerly changed +every six years, and is now renewed by the Porte <a +name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 39</span>whenever the +old one is decayed, or when a new Sultan ascends the throne, none +but the chief eunuchs, the attendants of the mosque, are +permitted to enter. This holy sanctuary once served, as the +temple of Delphi did among the Greeks, as the public treasury of +the nation. Here the money, jewels, and other precious +articles of the people of Hedjaz were kept in chests, or +suspended on silken ropes. Among these was a copy of the +Koran in Cufic characters; a brilliant star set in diamonds and +pearls, which was suspended directly over the Prophet’s +tomb; with all sorts of vessels filled with jewels, earrings, +bracelets, necklaces, and other ornaments sent as presents from +all parts of the empire. Most of these articles were +carried away by the Wahabees when they sacked and plundered the +sacred cities.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p39b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"View of El-Medina" +title= +"View of El-Medina" +src="images/p39s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Burckhardt reached Yambo (the port of Medina), at the end of +April, and, after running great danger from the plague, succeeded +in obtaining passage to the Peninsula of Sinai, whence he slowly +made his way back to Cairo. Here he waited for two years, +vainly hoping for the departure of a caravan for Central Africa, +and meanwhile assisting Belzoni in his explorations at +Thebes. In October, 1817, he died, and the people who knew +him only as Shekh Abdallah, laid his body in the Moslem +burying-ground, on the eastern side of Cairo.</p> +<h2><a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +40</span>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Wellsted’s +Explorations in Oman</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Perhaps</span> the most satisfactory +account of the interior of Oman—the southeastern portion of +Arabia—has been given by Lieutenant Wellsted. While +in the Indian Navy he was employed for several years in surveying +the southern and eastern coasts of Arabia. Having become +somewhat familiar with the language and habits of the people, he +conceived the idea of undertaking a journey to Derreyeh, in +Nedjed, the capital of the Wahabees, which no traveller had then +reached. The governor of Bombay gave him the necessary +leave of absence, and he landed at Muscat in November, 1835.</p> +<p>The Sultan, Sayid Saeed, received the young Englishman with +great kindness, promised him all possible aid in his undertaking, +and even arranged for him the route to be travelled. He was +to sail first to the port of Sur, south of Muscat, thence +penetrate to the country inhabited by the Beni-Abu-Ali tribe, and +make his way northward to the Jebel Akhdar, or Green Mountains, +which were described to him as lofty, fruitful, and +populous. Having thus visited the most interesting portions +of Oman, he was then to be at liberty, if the way was open, to +take the northern route through the Desert toward Nedjed. +<a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>The Sultan +presented him with a horse and sword, together with letters to +the governors of the districts through which he should pass.</p> +<p>At Sur, which is a small, insignificant village, with a good +harbor, the mountains of the interior approach the sea, but they +are here divided by a valley which furnishes easy access to the +country beyond them. After a journey of four days Wellsted +reached the tents of the tribe of Beni-Abu-Ali, at a point to +which the English troops had penetrated in 1821, to punish the +tribe for acts of piracy. Although no Englishman had +visited them since that time, they received him with every +demonstration of friendship. Sheep were killed, a feast +prepared, a guard of honor stationed around the tent, and, in the +evening, all the men of the encampment, 250 in number, assembled +for the purpose of exhibiting their war-dance. Wellsted +thus describes the scene: “They formed a circle within +which five of their number entered. After walking leisurely +around for some time, each challenged one of the spectators by +striking him gently with the flat of his sword. His +adversary immediately leaped forth and a feigned combat +ensued. They have but two cuts, one directly downward, at +the head, the other horizontal, across the legs. They parry +neither with the sword nor shield, but avoid the blows by leaping +or bounding backward. The blade of their sword is three +feet in length, thin, double-edged, and as sharp as a +razor. As they carry it upright before them, by a peculiar +motion of the wrist they cause it to vibrate in a very remarkable +manner, which has a <a name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +42</span>singularly striking effect when they are assembled in +any considerable number. It was part of the entertainment +to fire off their matchlocks under the legs of some one of the +spectators who appeared too intent on watching the game to +observe their approach, and any signs of alarm which incautiously +escaped the individual added greatly to their mirth.”</p> +<p>In the evening a party of the Geneba Bedouins came in from the +desert, accompanied by one of their chiefs. The latter +readily consented that Wellsted should accompany him on a short +journey into his country, and they set out the following +morning. It was December, and the morning air was cold and +pure; the party swept rapidly across the broad, barren plains, +the low hills, dotted with acacia trees, and the stony channels +which carried the floods of the rainy season to the sea. +After a day’s journey of forty-four miles they encamped +near some brackish wells. “You wished,” said +the chief to Wellsted, “to see the country of the Bedouins; +<i>this</i>,” he continued, striking his spear into the +firm sand, “<i>this</i> is the country of the +Bedouins.” Neither he nor his companions wore any +clothing except a single cloth around the loins. Their +hair, which is permitted to grow until it reaches the waist, and +is usually well plastered with grease, is the only covering which +protects their heads from the sun.</p> +<p>The second day’s journey brought Wellsted to a small +encampment, where the chief’s wives were abiding. +They conversed with him, unveiled, gave him coffee, milk, and +dates, and treated him with all the hospitality which their +scanty means allowed. <a name="page43"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 43</span>The Beni Geneba tribe numbers about +three thousand five hundred fighting men; they are spread over a +large extent of Southern Arabia, and are divided into two +distinct classes—those who live by fishing, and those who +follow pastoral pursuits. A race of fishermen, however, is +found on all parts of the Arabian coast. In some districts +they are considered a separate and degraded people, with whom the +genuine Bedouins will neither eat, associate, nor intermarry; but +among the Beni Geneba this distinction does not exist.</p> +<p>Wellsted might have penetrated much farther to the westward +under the protection of this tribe, and was tempted to do so; but +it seemed more important to move northward, and get upon some one +of the caravan tracks leading into Central Arabia. He +therefore returned to the camp of the Beni-Abu-Ali, where the +friendly people would hardly suffer him to depart, promising to +build a house for him if he would remain a month with them. +For two days he travelled northward, over an undulating region of +sand, sometimes dotted with stunted acacias, and reached a +district called Bediah, consisting of seven villages, each seated +in its little oasis of date palms. One striking feature of +these towns is their low situation. They are erected in +artificial hollows, which have been excavated to the depth of six +or eight feet. Water is then conveyed to them in +subterranean channels from wells in the neighboring hills, and +the soil is so fertile that irrigation suffices to produce the +richest harvest of fruit and vegetables. A single step +carries the traveller from the glare and sand of <a +name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>the desert +into a spot teeming with the most luxuriant vegetation, and +embowered by lofty trees, whose foliage keeps out the sun. +“Some idea,” says Wellsted, “may be formed of +the density of this shade by the effect it produces in lessening +the terrestrial radiation. A Fahrenheit thermometer which +within the house stood at 55°, six inches from the ground +fell to 45°. From this cause and the abundance of water +they are always saturated with damp, and even in the heat of the +day possess a clammy coldness.”</p> +<p>On approaching Ibrah, the next large town to the north, the +country became hilly, and the valleys between the abrupt +limestone ranges increased in fertility. Wellsted thus +describes the place: “There are some handsome houses in +Ibrah; but the style of building is quite peculiar to this part +of Arabia. To avoid the damp and catch an occasional beam +of the sun above the trees, they are usually very lofty. A +parapet surrounding the upper part is turreted, and on some of +the largest houses guns are mounted. The windows and doors +have the Saracenic arch, and every part of the building is +profusely decorated with ornaments of stucco in bas-relief, some +in very good taste. The doors are also cased with brass, +and have rings and other massive ornaments of the same metal.</p> +<p>“Ibrah is justly renowned for the beauty and fairness of +its females. Those we met on the streets evinced but little +shyness, and on my return to the tent I found it filled with +them. They were in high glee at all they saw; every box I +had was turned over for their inspection, and whenever I +attempted to remonstrate against their proceedings they stopped +<a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 45</span>my mouth +with their hands. With such damsels there was nothing left +but to laugh and look on.”</p> +<p>Travelling two days farther in the northward, Wellsted reached +the town of Semmed, where he found a fine stream of running +water. The Shekh’s house was a large fort, the rooms +of which were spacious and lofty, but destitute of +furniture. Suspended on pegs protruding from the walls were +the saddles, cloths, and harness of the horses and camels. +The ceilings were painted in various devices, but the floors were +of mud, and only partially covered with mats. Lamps formed +of shells, a species of murex, were suspended by lines from the +ceiling. On returning to the tent, after this visit, the +traveller found, as usual, a great crowd collected there, but +kept in order by a boy about twelve years of age. He had +taken possession of the tent, as its guardian, and allowed none +to enter without his permission. He carried a sword longer +than himself, and also a stick, with which he occasionally laid +about him. It is a part of the Arab system of education to +cease treating boys as children at a very early age, and they +acquire, therefore, the gravity and demeanor of men.</p> +<p>Beyond this place Wellsted was accompanied by a guard of +seventy armed men, for the country was considered insecure. +For two days and a half he passed many small villages, separated +by desert tracts, and then reached the town of Minnà, near +the foot of the Green Mountains. +“Minnà,” he says, “differs from the +other towns in having its cultivation in the open fields. +As we crossed these, with <a name="page46"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 46</span>lofty almond, citron, and orange +trees yielding a delicious fragrance on either hand, exclamations +of astonishment and admiration burst from us. ‘Is +this Arabia?’ we said; ‘this the country we have +looked on heretofore as a desert?’ Verdant fields of +grain and sugar-cane stretching along for miles are before us; +streams of water, flowing in all directions, intersect our path; +and the happy and contented appearance of the peasants agreeably +helps to fill up the smiling picture. The atmosphere was +delightfully clear and pure; and, as we trotted joyously along, +giving or returning the salutations of peace or welcome, I could +almost fancy that we had at last reached that ‘Araby the +Blessed’ which I had been accustomed to regard as existing +only in the fictions of our poets.</p> +<p>“Minnà is an old town, said to have been erected +at the period of Narhirvan’s invasion; but it bears, in +common with the other towns, no indications of antiquity; its +houses are lofty, but do not differ from those of Ibrah or +Semmed. There are two square towers, about one hundred and +seventy feet in height, nearly in the centre of the town; at +their bases the breadth of the wall is not more than two feet, +and neither side exceeds in length eight yards. It is +therefore astonishing, considering the rudeness of the materials +(they have nothing but unhewn stones and a coarse but apparently +strong cement), that, with proportions so meagre, they should +have been able to carry them to their present elevation. +The guards, who are constantly on the lookout, ascend by means of +a rude ladder, formed by placing bars of wood <a +name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span>in a diagonal +direction in one of the side angles within the interior of the +building.”</p> +<p>The important town of Neswah, at the western base of the Jebel +Akdar, or Green Mountains, is a short day’s journey from +Minnà. On arriving there Wellsted was received in a +friendly manner by the governor, and lodged, for the first time +since leaving Muscat, in a substantial house. He was +allowed to visit the fortress, which, in that region, is +considered impregnable. He was admitted by an iron door of +great strength, and, ascending through a vaulted passage, passed +through six others equally massive before reaching the +summit. The form of the fort is circular, its diameter +being nearly one hundred yards, and to the height of ninety feet +it has been filled up by a solid mass of earth and stones. +Seven or eight wells have been bored through this, from several +of which they obtain a plentiful supply of water, while those +which are dry serve as magazines for their shot and +ammunition. A wall forty feet high surrounds the summit, +making the whole height of the fortress one hundred and fifty +feet. It is a work of extraordinary labor, and from its +appearance probably of considerable antiquity; but no certain +intelligence could be obtained on this point.</p> +<p>On Christmas-day Wellsted left Neswah on an excursion to the +celebrated Green Mountains. The Shekh of Tanuf, the first +village where he encamped, endeavored in every possible way to +dissuade him from undertaking the journey; but his resolute +manner and a few gifts overcame the difficulty. Mounted on +strong asses, the party commenced ascending a <a +name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 48</span>precipitous +ridge by a track so narrow that they seemed at times to be +suspended over precipices of unknown depth. On the second +day they reached the village of Seyk. “By means of +steps,” he says, “we descended the steep side of a +narrow glen, about four hundred feet in depth, passing in our +progress several houses perched on crags or other acclivities, +their walls built up in some places so as to appear but a +continuation of the precipice. These small, snug, +compact-looking dwellings have been erected by the natives one +above the other, so that their appearance from the bottom of the +glen, hanging as it were in mid-air, affords to the spectator a +most novel and interesting picture. Here we found, amid a +great variety of fruits and trees, pomegranates, citrons, +almonds, nutmegs, and walnuts, with coffee-bushes and +vines. In the summer, these together must yield a delicious +fragrance; but it was now winter, and they were leafless. +Water flows in many places from the upper part of the hills, and +is received at the lower in small reservoirs, whence it is +distributed all over the face of the country. From the +narrowness of this glen, and the steepness of its sides, only the +lower part of it receives the warmth of the sun’s rays for +a short period of the day; and even at the time of our arrival we +found it so chilly, that, after a short halt, we were very happy +to continue our journey.”</p> +<p>They halted for the night at a village called Shirazi, in the +heart of the mountains, the highest peaks of which here reach a +height of 6,000 feet above the sea. The inhabitants belong +to a tribe called the Beni Ryam, who are considered infidels by +the people of <a name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +49</span>Neswah because they cultivate the grape for the purpose +of making wine. The next day the Arabs who formed +Wellsted’s escort left him, and he had considerable +difficulty in returning to Neswah by another road. From +this point he had intended starting for Central Arabia, but the +funds which he expected did not arrive from Muscat, the British +agent there having refused to make the necessary advances. +Wellsted thereupon applied directly to the Sultan, Sayd Saeed, +for a loan, and while waiting an answer, made an excursion into +the desert, fifty miles to the westward of Neswah. With a +view to familiarize himself with the manners and domestic life of +the Bedouins, he mixed with them during this trip, living and +sleeping in their huts and tents. On all occasions he was +treated with kindness, and often with a degree of hospitality +above rather than below the means of those who gave it.</p> +<p>Although the Sultan of Muscat was willing to furnish the +necessary supplies, and arrangements had been made which Wellsted +felt sure would have enabled him to penetrate into the interior, +he was prevented from going forward by a violent fever, from the +effects of which he remained insensible for five days. +Recovering sufficiently to travel, his only course was to return +at once to the sea-coast, and on January 22, 1836, he left Neswah +for the little port of Sib, where he arrived after a slow journey +of eight days. He relates the following incident, which +occurred at Semayel, the half-way station: “Weary and faint +from the fatigue of the day’s journey, in order to enjoy +the freshness of the evening breeze I had <a +name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span>my carpet +spread beneath a tree. An Arab passing by paused to gaze +upon me, and, touched by my condition and the melancholy which +was depicted on my countenance, he proffered the salutation of +peace, pointed to the crystal stream which sparkled at my feet, +and said: ‘Look, friend, for running water maketh the heart +glad!’ With his hands folded over his breast, that +mute but most graceful of Eastern salutations, he bowed and +passed on. I was in a situation to estimate sympathy; and +so much of that feeling was exhibited in the manner of this son +of the desert, that I have never since recurred to the incident, +trifling as it is, without emotion.”</p> +<p>A rest of four weeks at Sib recruited the traveller’s +strength, and he determined to make another effort to reach +Central Arabia. He therefore applied to the Sultan for an +escort to Bireimah, the first town of the Wahabees, beyond the +northern frontier of Oman. The Sultan sent a guide, but +objected to the undertaking, as word had just arrived that the +Wahabees were preparing to invade his territory. Wellsted, +however, was not willing to give up his design without at least +making the attempt. He followed the coast, north of Muscat, +as far as the port of Suweik, where he was most hospitably +received by the wife of the governor, Seyd Hilal, who was +absent. “A huge meal, consisting of a great variety +of dishes, sufficient for thirty or forty people, was prepared in +his kitchen, and brought to us, on large copper dishes, twice a +day during the time we remained. On these occasions there +was a great profusion of blue and gilt chinaware, cut glass +dishes, and decanters containing sherbet instead of +wine.”</p> +<p><a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +51</span>“The Shekh,” Wellsted continues, +“after his return, usually spent the evening with us. +On one occasion he was accompanied by a professional storyteller, +who appeared to be a great favorite with him. +‘Whenever I feel melancholy or out of order,’ said +he, ‘I send for this man, who very soon restores me to my +wonted spirits.’ From the falsetto tone in which the +story was chanted, I could not follow the thread of the tale, +and, upon my mentioning this to him, the Shekh very kindly sent +me the manuscript, of which the reciter had availed +himself. With little variation I found it to be the +identical Sindbad the Sailor, so familiar to the readers of the +Arabian Nights. I little thought, when first I perused +these fascinating tales in my own language, that it would ever be +my lot to listen to the original in a spot so congenial and so +remote.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p51b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"A valley in Oman" +title= +"A valley in Oman" +src="images/p51s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Leaving Suweik on March 4th, Wellsted was deserted by his +camel-men at the end of the first day’s march, but +succeeded in engaging others at a neighboring village. The +road, which at first led between low hills, now entered a deep +mountain-gorge, inclosed by abrupt mountains of rock several +thousand feet in height.</p> +<p>For two days the party followed this winding defile, where the +precipices frequently towered from three to four thousand feet +over their heads. Then, having passed the main chain, the +country became more open, and they reached the village of Muskin, +in the territory of the Beni Kalban Arabs. Their <a +name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 52</span>progress +beyond this point was slow and tedious, on account of the country +being divided into separate districts, which are partly +independent of each other. At the next town, Makiniyat, the +Shekh urged them to go no farther, on account of the great risk, +but finally consented to furnish an escort to Obri, the last town +to the northward which acknowledges the sway of Muscat. +This was distant two days’ journey—the first through +a broad valley between pyramidal hills, the second over sandy +plains, which indicated their approach to the Desert.</p> +<p>Obri is one of the largest and most populous towns in +Oman. The inhabitants devote themselves almost exclusively +to agriculture, and export large quantities of indigo, sugar, and +dates. On arriving Wellsted went immediately to the +residence of the Shekh, whom he found to be a very different +character from the officials whom he had hitherto +encountered. “Upon my producing the +Imâm’s letters,” says he, “he read them, +and took his leave without returning any answer. About an +hour afterward he sent a verbal message to request that I should +lose no time in quitting his town, as he begged to inform me, +what he supposed I could not have been aware of, that it was then +filled with nearly two thousand Wahabees. This was indeed +news to us; it was somewhat earlier than we anticipated falling +in with them, but we put a good face on the matter, and behaved +as coolly as we could.”</p> +<p>The next morning the Shekh returned, with a positive refusal +to allow them to proceed farther. Wellsted demanded a +written refusal, as evidence which <a name="page53"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 53</span>he could present to the Sultan, and +this the Shekh at once promised to give. His object was +evidently to force the traveller away from the place, and such +was the threatening appearance of things that the latter had no +wish to remain. The Wahabees crowded around the party in +great numbers, and seemed only waiting for some pretext to +commence an affray. “When the Shekh came and +presented me with the letter for the Sultan,” says +Wellsted, “I knew it would be in vain to make any further +effort to shake his resolution, and therefore did not attempt +it. In the meantime news had spread far and wide that two +Englishmen, with a box of ‘dollars,’ but in reality +containing only the few clothes that we carried with us, had +halted in the town. The Wahabees and other tribes had met +in deliberation, while the lower classes of the townsfolk were +creating noise and confusion. The Shekh either had not the +shadow of any influence, or was afraid to exercise it, and his +followers evidently wished to share in the plunder. It was +time to act. I called Ali on one side, told him to make +neither noise nor confusion, but to collect the camels without +delay. In the meantime we had packed up the tent, the crowd +increasing every minute; the camels were ready, and we mounted on +them. A leader, or some trifling incident, was now only +wanting to furnish them with a pretext for an onset. They +followed us with hisses and various other noises until we got +sufficiently clear to push briskly forward; and, beyond a few +stones being thrown, we reached the outskirts of the town without +further molestation. I had often <a name="page54"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 54</span>before heard of the inhospitable +character of the inhabitants of this place. The neighboring +Arabs observe that to enter Obri a man must either go armed to +the teeth, or as a beggar with a cloth, and that not of decent +quality, around his waist. Thus, for a second time, ended +my hopes of reaching Derreyeh from this quarter.”</p> +<p>Wellsted was forced to return to Suweik, narrowly escaping a +Bedouin ambush on the way. As a last attempt he followed +the coast as far as Schinas, near the mouth of the Straits of +Ormuz, and thence despatched a messenger to the Wahabees at +Birsimah. This plan also failed, and he then returned to +India. He has given us, however, the only authentic account +of the scenery and inhabitants of the interior of Oman, and his +travels are thus an important contribution to our knowledge of +Arabia.</p> +<p>It is a sufficient commentary on the exclusive character of +Interior Arabia, and the difficulties that bar the way there to +free and thorough exploration, that, although Lieutenant +Wellsted’s journey was in 1835, we still (1892) have to +turn to his very interesting narrative for almost all we know of +the interior of Oman.</p> +<h2><a name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +55</span>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Wellsted’s Discovery +of an Ancient City in Hadramaut</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">While</span> employed in the survey of the +southern coast of Arabia in the spring of 1835, Lieutenant +Wellsted was occupied for a time near the cape called Ras +el-Aseïda, in Hadramaut, about one hundred miles east of +Aden. On this cape there is a watch-tower, with the +guardian of which, an officer named Hamed, he became acquainted; +and on learning from the Bedouins of the neighborhood that +extensive ruins, which they described as having been built by +infidels, and of great antiquity, were to be found at some +distance inland, he prevailed upon the officer to procure him +camels and guides.</p> +<p>One day, having landed with a midshipman in order to visit +some inscriptions at a few hours’ distance, the Bedouins +who brought the camels refused to go to the place, but expressed +their willingness to convey the two Europeans to the ruined +city. Hamed declined to accompany them, on the plea of +sickness, and they were unsupplied with provisions or presents +for the Shekhs of the villages on the way. Still the chance +was too tempting to be lost. Wellsted decided to trust +himself to the uncertain protection of the Bedouins, sent his +boat to the <a name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +56</span>surveying vessel with a message that it should meet him +at a point farther to the westward at the end of three days, and +set out for the ruins late in the afternoon.</p> +<p>Leaving the sea-shore at sunset, they struck northward into +the interior, and travelled until after midnight, passing several +villages of the Diyabi Bedouins, a very fierce and powerful +tribe, who are dreaded by all their neighbors. Scraping for +themselves beds in the sand, the travellers slept until daybreak +without being disturbed. The path soon after mounted a +ledge about four hundred feet in height, from the summit of which +they obtained an extensive but dreary view of the surrounding +country. Their route lay along a broad valley, skirted on +each side by a lofty range of mountains. By eight +o’clock the sun became so oppressive that the Bedouins +halted under the shade of some stunted tamarisk trees. +“Within these burning hollows,” says Wellsted, +“the sun’s rays are concentrated and thrown off as +from a mirror; the herbs around were scorched to a cindery +blackness; not a cloud obscured the firmament, and the breeze +which moaned past us was of a glowing heat, like that escaping +from the mouth of a furnace. Our guides dug hollows in the +sand, and thrust their blistered feet within them. Although +we were not long in availing ourselves of the practical lesson +they had taught us, I began to be far from pleased with their +churlish demeanor.”</p> +<p>During the day they travelled over sandy and stony ridges, and +late in the afternoon entered the Wady Meifah, where they found +wells of good water <a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +57</span>and scanty vegetation. “The country now +began to assume a far different aspect. Numerous hamlets, +interspersed amid extensive date groves, verdant fields of grain, +and herds of sleek cattle, showed themselves in every direction, +and we now fell in with parties of inhabitants for the first time +since leaving the sea-shore. Astonishment was depicted on +their countenances, but as we did not halt they had no +opportunity of gratifying their curiosity by gazing at us for any +length of time.”</p> +<p>One of the Bedouins, however, in spite of Wellsted’s +remonstrances, told the people that the travellers were in search +of buried treasure. When the latter attempted to encamp +near a village, the inhabitants requested them to remove; the +guides proved to be ignorant of the road in the night, and they +would have been suffered to wander about without shelter but for +the kindness of an old woman, who conducted them to her +house. This proved to be a kind of khan for travellers, and +was already so crowded that the travellers were obliged to sleep +in an open courtyard.</p> +<p>They were hardly prepared for the scene which daylight +disclosed to them. “The dark verdure of fields of +millet, sorghum, tobacco, etc., extended as far as the eye could +reach. Mingled with these we had the soft acacia and the +stately but more sombre foliage of the date palm; while the +creaking of numerous wheels with which the grounds were +irrigated, and in the distance several rude ploughs drawn by +oxen, the ruddy and lively appearance of the people, who now +flocked toward us from all quarters, <a name="page58"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 58</span>and the delightful and refreshing +coolness of the morning air, combined to form a scene which he +who gazes on the barren aspect of the coast could never +anticipate.”</p> +<p>After three hours’ travel through this bright and +populous region, they came in sight of the ruins, which the +inhabitants call <i>Nakab el-Hadjar</i> (meaning “The +Excavation from the Rock”). According to +Wellsted’s estimate, they are about fifty miles from the +coast.</p> +<p>The following is Wellsted’s description of the place: +“The hill upon which these ruins are situated stands out in +the centre of the valley, and divides a stream which passes, +during floods, on either side of it. It is nearly eight +hundred yards in length, and about three hundred and fifty yards +at its extreme breadth. About a third of the height from +its base a massive wall, averaging from thirty to forty feet in +height, is carried completely around the eminence, and flanked by +square towers, erected at equal distances. There are but +two entrances, north and south; a hollow, square tower, measuring +fourteen feet, stands on both sides of these. Their bases +extend to the plain below, and are carried out considerably +beyond the rest of the building. Between the towers, at an +elevation of twenty feet from the plain, there is an oblong +platform which projects about eighteen feet without and within +the walls. A flight of steps was apparently once attached +to either extremity of the building.</p> +<p>“Within the entrance, at an elevation of ten feet from +the platform, we found inscriptions. They are <a +name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 59</span>executed with +extreme care, in two horizontal lines, on the smooth face of the +stones, the letters being about eight inches long. Attempts +have been made, though without success, to obliterate them. +From the conspicuous situation which they occupy, there can be +but little doubt but that, when deciphered, they will be found to +contain the name of the founder of the building, as well as the +date and purport of its erection. <a name="citation59"></a><a +href="#footnote59" class="citation">[59]</a> The whole of +the walls and towers, and some of the edifices within, are built +of the same material—a compact grayish-colored marble, hewn +to the required shape with the utmost nicety. The +dimensions of the slabs at the base were from five to seven feet +in length, two to three in height, and three to four in +breadth.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p59b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Ruins of Nakab El-Hadjar in Hadramaut" +title= +"Ruins of Nakab El-Hadjar in Hadramaut" +src="images/p59s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>“Let us now visit the interior, where the most +conspicuous object is an oblong square building, the walls of +which face the cardinal points: its dimensions are twenty-seven +by seventeen yards. The walls are fronted with a kind of +freestone, each slab being cut of the same size, and the whole so +beautifully put together that I endeavored in vain to insert the +blade of a small penknife between them. The outer, +unpolished surface is covered with small chisel-marks, which the +Bedouins have mistaken for writing. From the extreme care +displayed in the construction of this building, I have no doubt +that it is a temple, and my disappointment at finding the <a +name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 60</span>interior +filled up with the ruins of the fallen roof was very great. +Had it remained entire, we might have obtained some clew to guide +us in our researches respecting the form of religion professed by +the earlier Arabs. Above and beyond this building there are +several other edifices, with nothing peculiar in their form or +appearance.</p> +<p>“In no portion of the ruins did we succeed in tracing +any remains of arches or columns, nor could we discover on their +surface any of those fragments of pottery, colored glass, or +metals, which are always found in old Egyptian towns, and which I +also saw in those we discovered on the northwest coast of +Arabia. Except the attempts to deface the inscriptions, +there is no other appearance of the buildings having suffered +from any ravages besides those of time; and owing to the dryness +of the climate, as well as the hardness of the material, every +stone, even to the marking of the chisel, remains as perfect as +the day it was hewn. We were anxious to ascertain if the +Arabs had preserved any tradition concerning the building, but +they refer them, like other Arabs, to their pagan +ancestors. ‘Do you believe,’ said one of the +Bedouins to me upon my telling him that his ancestors were then +capable of greater works than themselves, ‘that these +stones were raised by the unassisted hands of the Kafirs? +No! no! They had devils, legions of devils (God preserve us +from them!), to aid them.’”</p> +<p>On his return to the sea, which occupied a day and a half, +Wellsted was kindly treated by the natives, and suffered only +from the intense heat. The vessel <a +name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 61</span>was +fortunately waiting at the appointed place. Since the +journey was made (in 1836) Baron von Wrede, a German traveller, +has succeeded in exploring a portion of Hadramaut, penetrating as +far as Wady Doan, a large and populous valley, more than a +hundred miles from the coast. But a thorough exploration of +both Yemen and Hadramaut is still wanting, and when made, it will +undoubtedly result in many important discoveries.</p> +<h2><a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +62</span>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Burton’s +Pilgrimage</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Captain Richard F. Burton</span>, the +discoverer of the great Lake Tanganyika, in Central Africa, first +became known to the world by his daring and entirely successful +visit to Medina and Mecca, in the year 1853, in the disguise of a +Moslem pilgrim. Although his journey was that of +Burckhardt, reversed, and he describes the same ceremonies, his +account supplies many deficiencies in the narrative of his +predecessor, and has the merit of a livelier and more graphic +style.</p> +<p>Burton’s original design was to cross the Arabian +Peninsula from west to east, as Palgrave has since done, and the +Royal Geographical Society was disposed to accept his +services. But he failed to obtain a sufficient leave of +absence from the East India Company, which only granted him a +furlough of one year—a period quite insufficient for the +undertaking. He therefore determined to prove at least his +fitness for the task, by making the pilgrimage to the holy +cities. He was already familiar with the Arabic and Persian +languages, and had the advantage of an Eastern cast of +countenance.</p> +<p>Like Burckhardt, he assumed an Oriental character at the +start, and during the voyage from <a name="page63"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 63</span>Southampton to Alexandria was +supposed to be a Persian prince. For two or three months he +laboriously applied himself in Egypt to the necessary religious +studies, joined a society of dervishes, under the name of Shekh +Abdullah, kept the severe fast of Ramazan, and familiarized +himself with all the orthodox forms of ablution, prayer, and +prostration. He gave himself out to be an Afghan by birth, +but long absent from his native country, a character which was +well adapted to secure him against detection. During his +stay in Cairo he made the acquaintance of a boy named Mohammed +el-Basyuni, a native of Mecca, who became his companion for the +journey, and who seems not to have suspected his real character +until the pilgrimage was over.</p> +<p>Having purchased a tent and laid in an ample supply of +provisions, with about four hundred dollars in money, he went to +Suez about July 1st, with the avowed purpose of proceeding to +Mecca by way of Jedda, yet with the secret intention of visiting +Medina on the way. Here he became acquainted with a company +of pilgrims, whose good-will he secured by small loans of money, +and joined them in taking passage in a large Arab boat bound for +Yembo. The vessel was called the Golden Wire. +“Immense was the confusion,” says Burton, “on +the eventful day of our departure. Suppose us standing on +the beach, on the morning of a fiery July day, carefully watching +our hurriedly-packed goods and chattels, surrounded by a mob of +idlers who are not too proud to pick up waifs and strays, while +pilgrims rush about apparently mad, and friends <a +name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>are weeping, +acquaintances vociferating adieux, boatmen demanding fees, +shopmen claiming debts, women shrieking and talking with +inconceivable power, children crying—in short, for an hour +or so we were in the thick of a human storm. To confound +confusion, the boatmen have moored their skiff half a dozen yards +away from the shore, lest the porters should be unable to make +more than double their fare from the pilgrims.”</p> +<p>They sailed on July 6th, and were five days in reaching the +mouth of the Gulf of Akaba. While crossing to the Arabian +shore, the pilgrims are accustomed to repeat the following +prayer, which is a good example of Moslem invocation: “O +Allah, O Exalted, O Almighty, O All-pitiful, O All-powerful, thou +art my God, and sufficeth to me the knowledge of it! +Glorified be the Lord my Lord, and glorified be the faith my +faith! Thou givest victory to whom thou pleaseth, and thou +art the glorious, the merciful! We pray thee for safety in +our goings-forth and in our standings-still, in our words and our +designs, in our dangers of temptation and doubts, and the secret +designs of our hearts. Subject unto us this sea, even as +thou didst subject the deep to Moses, and as thou didst subject +the fire to Abraham, and as thou didst subject the iron to David, +and as thou didst subject the wind, and devils, and genii, and +mankind to Solomon, and as thou didst subject the moon and +El-Burak to Mohammed, upon whom be Allah’s mercy and His +blessing! And subject unto us all the seas in earth and +heaven, in the visible and in thine invisible worlds, the sea of +<a name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 65</span>this life, +and the sea of futurity. O thou who reignest over +everything, and unto whom all things return, Khyar! +Khyar!”</p> +<p>A further voyage of another week, uncomfortable and devoid of +incident, brought the vessel to Yembo. As the pilgrims were +desirous of pushing on to Medina, camels were hired on the day of +arrival, and, a week’s provisions having been purchased, +the little caravan started the next afternoon. Burton, by +the advice of his companions, assumed the Arab dress, but +travelled in a litter, both because of an injury to his foot, and +because he could thus take notes on the way without being +observed. On account of the heat the caravan travelled +mostly by night; the country, thus dimly seen, was low and barren +for the first two days, but on the third day they reached a +wilder region, which Burton thus describes: “We travelled +through a country fantastic in its desolation—a mass of +huge hills, barren plains, and desert vales. Even the +sturdy acacias here failed, and in some places the camel grass +could not find earth enough to take root in. The road wound +among mountains, rocks, and hills of granite, over broken ground, +flanked by huge blocks and bowlders, piled up as if man’s +art had aided nature to disfigure herself. Vast clefts +seemed like scars on the hideous face of earth; here they widened +into dark caves, there they were choked up with glistening drift +sand. Not a bird or a beast was to be seen or heard; their +presence would have argued the vicinity of water, and though my +companions opined that Bedouins were lurking among the rocks, I +decided that these <a name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +66</span>Bedouins were the creatures of their fears. Above, +a sky like polished blue steel, with a tremendous blaze of yellow +light, glared upon us, without the thinnest veil of mist or +cloud. The distant prospect, indeed, was more attractive +than the near view, because it borrowed a bright azure tinge from +the intervening atmosphere; but the jagged peaks and the +perpendicular streaks of shadow down the flanks of the +mountainous background showed that no change for the better was +yet in store for us.”</p> +<p>At the little towns of El-Hamra and Bir Abbas the caravan +rested a day, suffering much from the intense heat, and with +continual quarrels between the pilgrims and the Arabs to whom the +camels belonged. At the latter place they were threatened +with a detention of several days, but the difficulty was settled, +and they set out upon the most dangerous portion of the +road. “We travelled that night,” says Burton +“up a dry river-course in an easterly direction, and at +early dawn found ourselves in an ill-famed gorge, called <i>Shuab +el-Hadj</i> (the ‘Pilgrim’s Pass’). The +loudest talkers became silent as we neared it, and their +countenances showed apprehension written in legible +characters. Presently, from the high, precipitous cliff on +our left, thin blue curls of smoke—somehow or other they +caught every eye—rose in the air, and instantly afterward +rang the loud, sharp cracks of the hill-men’s matchlocks, +echoed by the rocks on the right. My shugduf had been +broken by the camel’s falling during the night, so I called +out to Mansur that we had better splice the frame-work with a bit +of rope; he looked up, saw me laughing, <a +name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 67</span>and with an +ejaculation of disgust disappeared. A number of Bedouins +were to be seen swarming like hornets over the crests of the +rocks, boys as well as men carrying huge weapons, and climbing +with the agility of cats. They took up comfortable places +in the cut-throat eminence, and began firing upon us with perfect +convenience to themselves. The height of the hills and the +glare of the rising sun prevented my seeing objects very +distinctly, but my companions pointed out to me places where the +rock had been scarped, and a kind of breastwork of rough +stones—the Sangah of Afghanistan, piled up as a defence, +and a rest for the long barrel of the matchlock. It was +useless to challenge the Bedouins to come down and fight us upon +the plain like men; and it was equally unprofitable for our +escort to fire upon a foe ensconced behind stones. We had, +therefore, nothing to do but to blaze away as much powder and to +veil ourselves in as much smoke as possible; the result of the +affair was that we lost twelve men, besides camels and other +beasts of burden. Though the bandits showed no symptoms of +bravery, and confined themselves to slaughtering the enemy from +their hill-top, my companions seemed to consider this +questionable affair a most gallant exploit.”</p> +<p>After two more days of severe travel, the pilgrims, at early +dawn, came in sight of the holy city of Medina. Burton thus +describes the approach, and the view from the western ridge: +“Half an hour after leaving the Wady el-Akik, or +‘Blessed Valley,’ we came to a huge flight of steps, +roughly cut in a long, broad line of black, scoriaceous +basalt. This is <a name="page68"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 68</span>called the <i>Mudarraj</i>, or flight +of steps over the western ridge of the so-called El-Harratain; it +is holy ground, for the Prophet spoke well of it. Arrived +at the top, we passed through a lane of black scoria, with deep +banks on both sides, and, after a few minutes a full view of the +city suddenly opened on us. We halted our beasts as if by +word of command. All of us descended, in imitation of the +pious of old, and sat down, jaded and hungry as we were, to feast +our eyes with a view of the Holy City. The prayer was, +‘O Allah! this is the <i>Haram</i> (sanctuary) of the +Prophet; make it to us a protection from hell fire, and a refuge +from eternal punishment! O, open the gates of thy mercy, +and let us pass through them to the land of joy!’</p> +<p>“As we looked eastward, the sun arose out of the horizon +of low hills, blurred and dotted with small tufted trees, which +gained a giant stature from the morning mists, and the earth was +stained with gold and purple. Before us lay a spacious +plain, bounded in front by the undulating ground of Nedjed; on +the left was a grim barrier of rocks, the celebrated Mount Ohod, +with a clump of verdure and a white dome or two nestling at its +base. Rightward, broad streaks of lilac-colored mists were +thick with gathered dew, there pierced and thinned by the morning +rays, stretched over the date-groves and the gardens of Kuba, +which stood out in emerald green from the dull tawny surface of +the plain. Below, at the distance of about two miles, lay +El Medina; at first sight it appeared a large place, but a closer +inspection proved the impression to be an erroneous +one.”</p> +<p><a name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 69</span>On +arriving at Medina, Burton became the guest of one of the company +he had met at Suez, and during his stay of a month in the city +performed all the religious ceremonies and visitations which are +prescribed for the pilgrim. He gives the following +description of the Prophet’s mosque: “Passing through +muddy streets—they had been freshly watered before evening +time—I came suddenly upon the mosque. Like that at +Mecca, the approach is choked up by ignoble buildings, some +actually touching the holy ‘enceinte,’ others +separated by a lane compared with which the road around St. +Paul’s is a Vatican square. There is no outer front, +no general aspect of the Prophet’s mosque; consequently, as +a building it has neither beauty nor dignity. And entering +the Bab el-Rahmah—the Gate of Pity—by a diminutive +flight of steps, I was astonished at the mean and tawdry +appearance of a place so universally venerated in the Moslem +world. It is not like the Meccan mosque, grand and +simple—the expression of a single sublime idea; the longer +I looked at it the more it suggested the resemblance of a museum +of second-rate art, a curiosity-shop, full of ornaments that are +not accessories, and decorated with pauper splendor.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p69b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"View of Medina from the West" +title= +"View of Medina from the West" +src="images/p69s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>We must also quote the traveller’s account of his manner +of spending the day during his residence in Medina: “At +dawn we arose, washed, prayed, and broke our fast upon a crust of +stale bread, before smoking a pipe, and drinking a cup of +coffee. Then it was time to dress, to mount, and to visit +the Haram in one of the holy places outside the city. +Returning before the sun became intolerable, we sat <a +name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 70</span>together, and +with conversation, shishas and chibouques, coffee and cold water +perfumed with mastich-smoke, we whiled away the time till our +<i>ariston</i>, an early dinner which appeared at the primitive +hour of 11 <span class="GutSmall">A.M.</span> The meal was +served in the <i>majlis</i> on a large copper tray sent from the +upper apartments. Ejaculating +‘Bismillah’—the Moslem grace—we all sat +round it, and dipped equal hands in the dishes set before +us. We had usually unleavened bread, different kinds of +meat and vegetable stews, and at the end of the first course +plain boiled rice, eaten with spoons; then came the fruits, fresh +dates, grapes, and pomegranates. After dinner I used +invariably to find some excuse—such as the habit of a +‘Kaylúlah’ (midday siesta), or the being a +‘Saudawi,’ or person of melancholy temperament, to +have a rug spread in the dark passage, and there to lie reading, +dozing, smoking, or writing, all through the worst part of the +day, from noon to sunset. Then came the hour for receiving +and paying visits. The evening prayers ensued, either at +home or in the Haram, followed by our supper, another substantial +meal like the dinner, but more plentiful, of bread, meat, +vegetables, rice, and fruits. In the evening we sometimes +dressed in common clothes and went to the café; sometimes +on festive occasions we indulged in a late supper of sweetmeats, +pomegranates, and dried fruits. Usually we sat upon +mattresses spread upon the ground in the open air, at the +Shekh’s door, receiving evening visits, chatting, telling +stories, and making merry, till each, as he felt the approach of +the drowsy god, sank down into his proper place, and fell +asleep.”</p> +<p><a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 71</span>Burton +was charmed with the garden and date-groves about Medina, and +enjoyed the excursions, which were enjoined upon him as a +pilgrim, to Jebel Ohod, the mosque of Kuba, and other places in +the vicinity of the city. On August 28th the caravan of +pilgrims from Damascus arrived, and, on account of danger from +the Bedouins, decided to leave on the fourth day afterward, +taking the Desert road to Mecca, the same travelled by the Caliph +Haroun El-Raschid and his wife Zobeida, instead of the longer +road nearer the coast, which Burckhardt had followed. When +this plan was announced, Burton and his companions had but +twenty-four hours to make the necessary preparations; but by hard +work they were ready. Leaving Medina, they hastened onward +to secure good places in the caravan, which was composed of about +seven thousand pilgrims, and extended over many miles of the +road.</p> +<p>For the first four days they travelled southward over a wild, +desolate country, almost destitute of water and vegetation. +On account of heat, as well as for greater security, the journey +was made chiefly by night, although the forced marches between +the wells obliged them sometimes to endure the greatest heat of +the day. Burton says: “I can scarcely find words to +express the weary horrors of a long night’s march, during +which the hapless traveller, fuming, if a European, with +disappointment in his hopes of ‘seeing the country,’ +is compelled to sit upon the back of a creeping camel. The +day sleep, too, is a kind of lethargy, and it is all but +impossible to preserve an appetite during the hours of +heat.”</p> +<p><a name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 72</span>After +making ninety-nine miles from Medina, they reached the village of +El Suwayrkiyah, which is included within the Meccan +territory. The town, consisting of about one hundred +houses, is built at the base and on the sides of a basaltic mass +which rises abruptly from the hard clayey plain. The summit +is converted into a rude fortalice by a bulwark of uncut stone, +piled up so as to make a parapet. The lower part of the +town is protected by a mud wall, with the usual semicircular +towers. Inside there is a bazaar, well supplied with meat +(principally mutton) by the neighboring Bedouins, and wheat, +barley, and dates are grown near the town. There is little +to describe in the narrow streets and the mud houses, which are +essentially Arab. The fields around are divided into little +square plots by earthen ridges and stone walls; some of the palms +are fine grown trees, and the wells appeared numerous. The +water is near the surface and plentiful, but it has a brackish +taste, highly disagreeable after a few days’ use, and the +effects are the reverse of chalybeate.</p> +<p>Seventeen miles beyond El Suwayrkiyah is the small village of +Sufayuah, beyond which the country becomes again very wild and +barren. Burton thus describes the scenery the day after +leaving Sufayuah: “This day’s march was peculiarly +Arabia. It was a desert peopled only with echoes—a +place of death for what little there is to die in it—a +wilderness where, to use my companion’s phrase, there is +nothing but He (Allah). Nature, scalped, flayed, discovered +her anatomy to the gazer’s eye. The horizon was a sea +of mirage; gigantic <a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +73</span>sand-columns whirled over the plain; and on both sides +of our road were huge piles of bare rock standing detached upon +the surface of sand and clay. Here they appeared in oval +lumps, heaped up with a semblance of symmetry; there a single +bowlder stood, with its narrow foundation based upon a pedestal +of low, dome-shaped rock. All are of a pink coarse-grained +granite, which flakes off in large crusts under the influence of +the atmosphere.”</p> +<p>After four more long marches the caravan reached a station +called El Zaribah, where the pilgrims halted a day to assume the +<i>ihram</i>, or costume which they wear on approaching +Mecca. They were now in the country of the Utaybah +Bedouins, the most fierce and hostile of all the tribes on the +road. Although only two marches, or fifty miles, from +Mecca, the pilgrims were by no means safe, as the night after +they left Zaribah testified. While threading a narrow pass +between high rocks, in the twilight, there was a sudden discharge +of musketry and some camels dropped dead. The Utaybah, +hidden behind the rocks crowning the pass, poured down an +irregular fire upon the pilgrims, who were panic-stricken and +fell into great disorder. The Wahabees, however, commenced +scaling the rocks, and very soon drove the robbers from their +ambush. The caravan then hurried forward in great disorder, +leaving the dead and severely wounded lying on the ground.</p> +<p>“At the beginning of the skirmish,” says Burton, +“I had primed my pistols, and sat with them ready for +use. But soon seeing that there was nothing to be done, +and, wishing to make an <a name="page74"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 74</span>impression—nowhere does Bobadil +now ‘go down’ but in the East—I called aloud +for my supper. Shekh Nur, exanimate with fear, could not +move. The boy Mohammed ejaculated only an ‘Oh, +sir!’ and the people around exclaimed in disgust, ‘By +Allah! he eats!’ Shekh Abdullah, the Meccan, being a man of +spirit, was amused by the spectacle. ‘Are these +Afghan manners, Effendim?’ he inquired from the shugduf +behind me. ‘Yes,’ I replied aloud, ‘in my +country we always dine before an attack of robbers, because that +gentry is in the habit of sending men to bed +supperless.’ The Shekh laughed aloud, but those +around him looked offended.”</p> +<p>The morning after this adventure the pilgrims reached the Wady +Laymun, or Valley of Limes, a beautiful region of gardens and +orchards, only twenty-four miles from Mecca. Here they +halted four hours to rest and enjoy the fruits and fresh water; +then the line of march was resumed toward the Holy City. In +the afternoon the range of Jebel Kora, in the southeast, became +visible, and as evening approached all eyes were strained, but in +vain, for a sight of Mecca. Night came down, and the +pilgrims moved slowly onward in the darkness. An hour after +midnight Burton was roused by a general excitement in the +caravan. “Mecca! Mecca!” cried some +voices; “The Sanctuary, O the Sanctuary!” exclaimed +others, and all burst into loud cries of +“<i>Labeyk</i>!” not unfrequently broken by +sobs. Looking out from his litter the traveller saw by the +light of the southern stars the dim outlines of a large +city. They were passing over the last rocky <a +name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>ridge by an +artificial cut. The winding path was flanked on both sides +by high watch-towers; a short distance farther they entered the +northern suburb.</p> +<p>The Meccan boy Mohammed, who had been Burton’s companion +during the pilgrimage, conducted the latter to his mother’s +house, where he remained during his stay. A meal of +vermicelli and sugar was prepared on their arrival in the night, +and after an hour or two of sleep they rose at dawn, in order to +perform the ceremonies of arrival. After having bathed, +they walked in their pilgrim garb to the <i>Beit Allah</i>, or +“House of God.”</p> +<p>“There,” says Burton, “there at last it lay, +the bourne of my long and weary pilgrimage, realizing the plans +and hopes of many and many a year. The mirage medium of +fancy invested the huge catafalque and its gloomy pall with +peculiar charms. There were no giant fragments of hoar +antiquity as in Egypt, no remains of graceful and harmonious +beauty as in Greece and Italy, no barbaric gorgeousness as in the +buildings of India; yet the view was strange, unique, and how few +have looked upon the celebrated shrine! I may truly say, +that, of all the worshippers who clung weeping to the curtain, or +who pressed their beating hearts to the stone, none felt for the +moment a deeper emotion than did the Hadji from the far +north. It was as if the poetical legends of the Arab spoke +truth, and that the waving wings of angels, not the sweet breezes +of morning, were agitating and swelling the black covering of the +shrine. But, to confess humbling truth, theirs <a +name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span>was the high +feeling of religious enthusiasm, mine was the ecstasy of +gratified pride.”</p> +<p>Burton’s description of the Beit Allah and the Kaaba is +more minute and careful than that of Burckhardt, but does not +differ from it in any important particular. Neither is it +necessary to quote his account of the ceremonies to be performed +by each individual pilgrim, with all their mechanical +prostrations and repetitions. His account of the visit to +the famous Black Stone, however, is both curious and amusing: +“For a long time I stood looking in despair at the swarming +crowd of Bedouin and other pilgrims that besieged it. But +the boy Mohammed was equal to the occasion. During our +circuit he had displayed a fiery zeal against heresy and schism +by foully abusing every Persian in his path, and the inopportune +introduction of hard words into his prayers made the latter a +strange patchwork. He might, for instance, be repeating +‘and I take refuge with thee from ignominy in this +world,’ when, ‘O thou rejected one, son of the +rejected!’ would be the interpolation addressed to some +long-bearded Khorassani, ‘and in that to come—O hog +and brother of a hoggess!’ And so he continued till I +wondered that no one dared to turn and rend him. After +vainly addressing the pilgrims, of whom nothing could be seen but +a mosaic of occiputs and shoulder-blades, the boy Mohammed +collected about half a dozen stalwart Meccans, with whose +assistance, by sheer strength, we wedged our way into the thin +and light-legged crowd. The Bedouins turned round upon us +like wildcats, but they had no daggers. The <a +name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 77</span>season being +autumn, they had not swelled themselves with milk for six months; +and they had become such living mummies that I could have managed +single-handed half a dozen of them. After thus reaching the +stone, despite popular indignation, testified by impatient +shouts, we monopolized the use of it for at least ten +minutes. Whilst kissing it and rubbing hands and forehead +upon it I narrowly observed it, and came away persuaded that it +is a big aërolite.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p77b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Camp at Mount Arafat" +title= +"Camp at Mount Arafat" +src="images/p77s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>On September 12th the pilgrims set out for Mount Arafat. +Three miles from Mecca there is a large village called Muna, +noted for three standing miracles—the pebbles, there thrown +at the Devil, return by angelic agency to whence they came; +during the three days of drying meat rapacious birds and beasts +cannot prey there, and flies do not settle upon the articles of +food exposed in the bazaars. Beyond the place there is a +mosque called El Khayf, where, according to some traditions, Adam +is buried, his head being at one end of the long wall and his +feet at the other, while the dome is built over his navel.</p> +<p>“Arafat,” says Burton, “is about a six +hours’ march, or twelve miles, on the Taif road, due east +of Mecca. We arrived there in a shorter time, but our weary +camels, during the last third of the way, frequently threw +themselves upon the ground. Human beings suffered +more. Between Muna and Arafat I saw no less than five men +fall down and die upon the highway; exhausted and moribund, they +had dragged themselves out to give up the ghost where it departs +to <a name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 78</span>instant +beatitude. The spectacle showed how easy it is to die in +these latitudes; each man suddenly staggered, fell as if shot, +and, after a brief convulsion, lay still as marble. The +corpses were carefully taken up, and carelessly buried that same +evening, in a vacant space amongst the crowds encamped upon the +Arafat plain.</p> +<p>“Nothing can be more picturesque than the view the +mountain affords of the blue peaks behind, and the vast +encampment scattered over the barren yellow plain below. On +the north lay the regularly pitched camp of the guards that +defend the unarmed pilgrims. To the eastward was the +Scherif’s encampment with the bright mahmals and the gilt +knobs of the grander pavilions; whilst, on the southern and +western sides, the tents of the vulgar crowded the ground, +disposed in dowars, or circles, for penning cattle. After +many calculations, I estimated the number to be not less than +fifty thousand, of all ages and both sexes.”</p> +<p>After the sermon on Arafat, which Burton describes in the same +manner as Burckhardt, the former gives an account of the +subsequent ceremony of “stoning the Great Devil” near +the village of Muna: “‘The Shaytan el-Kabir’ is +a dwarf buttress of rude masonry, about eight feet high by two +and a half broad, placed against a rough wall of stones, at the +Meccan entrance to Muna. As the ceremony of +‘Ramy,’ or Lapidation, must be performed on the first +day by all pilgrims between sunrise and sunset, and as the Fiend +was malicious enough to appear in a rugged pass, the crowd makes +the place dangerous. <a name="page79"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 79</span>On one side of the road, which is not +forty feet broad, stood a row of shops belonging principally to +barbers. On the other side is the rugged wall of the +pillar, with a <i>chevaux de frise</i> of Bedouins and naked +boys. The narrow space was crowded with pilgrims, all +struggling like drowning men to approach as near as possible to +the Devil; it would have been easy to run over the heads of the +mass. Amongst them were horsemen with rearing +chargers. Bedouins on wild camels, and grandees on mules +and asses, with outrunners, were breaking a way by assault and +battery. I had read Ali Bey’s self-felicitations upon +escaping this place with ‘only two wounds in the left +leg,’ and had duly provided myself with a hidden +dagger. The precaution was not useless. Scarcely had +my donkey entered the crowd than he was overthrown by a +dromedary, and I found myself under the stamping and roaring +beast’s stomach. By a judicious use of the knife, I +avoided being trampled upon, and lost no time in escaping from a +place so ignobly dangerous. Finding an opening at last, we +approached within about five cubits of the place, and holding +each stone between the thumb and forefinger of the ring hand, +cast it at the pillar, exclaiming: ‘In the name of Allah, +and Allah is Almighty, I do this in hatred of the Fiend and to +his shame.’ The seven stones being duly thrown, we +retired, and entering the barber’s booth, took our places +upon one of the earthen benches around it. This was the +time to remove the <i>ihram</i> or pilgrim’s garb, and to +return to the normal state of El Islam. The barber shaved +our heads, and, after trimming our beards <a +name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 80</span>and cutting +our nails, made us repeat these words: ‘I purpose loosening +my <i>ihram</i>, according to the practice of the Prophet, whom +may Allah bless and preserve! O Allah, make unto me in +every hair a light, a purity, and a generous reward! In the +name of Allah, and Allah is Almighty!’ At the +conclusion of his labor the barber politely addressed to us a +‘Naiman’—Pleasure to you! To which we as +ceremoniously replied, ‘Allah give thee +pleasure!’”</p> +<p>We will conclude these quotations from Burton’s +narrative with his description of a sermon in the great mosque of +Mecca. “After returning to the city from the +sacrifice of sheep in the valley of Muna, we bathed, and when +noon drew nigh we repaired to the Haram for the purpose of +hearing the sermon. Descending to the cloisters below the +Bab el-Ziyadah, I stood wonderstruck by the scene before +me. The vast quadrangle was crowded with worshippers +sitting in long rows, and everywhere facing the central black +tower; the showy colors of their dresses were not to be surpassed +by a garden of the most brilliant flowers, and such diversity of +detail would probably not be seen massed together in any other +building upon earth. The women, a dull and sombre-looking +group, sat apart in their peculiar place. The Pasha stood +on the roof of Zem Zem, surrounded by guards in Nizam +uniform. Where the principal ulema stationed themselves the +crowd was thicker; and in the more auspicious spots naught was to +be seen but a pavement of heads and shoulders. Nothing +seemed to move but a few dervishes, who, censer in hand, sidled +through the rows and received the unsolicited alms <a +name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 81</span>of the +faithful. Apparently in the midst, and raised above the +crowd by the tall, pointed pulpit, whose gilt spire flamed in the +sun, sat the preacher, an old man with snowy beard. The +style of head-dress called ‘<i>taylasan</i>’ covered +his turban, which was white as his robes, and a short staff +supported his left hand. Presently he arose, took the staff +in his right hand, pronounced a few inaudible words, and sat down +again on one of the lower steps, whilst a Muezzin, at the foot of +the pulpit, recited the call to sermon. Then the old man +stood up and began to preach. As the majestic figure began +to exert itself there was a deep silence. Presently a +general ‘Amin’ was intoned by the crowd at the +conclusion of some long sentence. And at last, toward the +end of the sermon, every third or fourth word was followed by the +simultaneous rise and fall of thousands of voices.</p> +<p>“I have seen the religious ceremonies of many lands, but +never—nowhere—aught so solemn, so impressive as this +spectacle.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p81b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Costume of Pilgrims to Mecca" +title= +"Costume of Pilgrims to Mecca" +src="images/p81s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Finding that it was impossible for him to undertake the +journey across Central Arabia, both for lack of time and the +menacing attitude of the Desert tribes, Burton left Mecca for +Jedda at the end of September. Starting in the afternoon, +the chance caravan of returning pilgrims reached, about midnight, +a mass of huts called El Hadda, which is the usual half-way +halting-place. It is maintained solely for the purpose of +supplying travellers with coffee and water. Here the +country slopes gradually toward the sea, the hills recede, and +every feature denotes departure <a name="page82"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 82</span>from the upland plateau of +Mecca. After reaching here, and at some solitary +coffee-houses farther on the way, the pilgrims reached Jedda +safely at eight in the morning.</p> +<p>From this place Burton took passage on a steamer for Suez, and +returned to Cairo, but without the Meccan boy, Mohammed, who +began to have a suspicion of his true character, after seeing him +in company with some English officers, and who left him before +embarking.</p> +<h2><a name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +83</span>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s Travels +in Central Arabia: From Palestine to the Djowf</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. William Gifford Palgrave</span>, son +of Sir Francis Palgrave, the historian, performed, in +1862–63, a journey in Arabia, which gives us the first +clear and full account of the interior of the country, including +the great Wahabee state of Nedjed, the early home of Arabian +poetry and also of the famous Arabian breed of horses. Mr. +Palgrave’s qualifications for the undertaking were in some +respects superior to those of either Burckhardt or Burton. +To a high degree of general culture and a vigorous and +picturesque style as a writer, he added a knowledge of the Arabic +language and literature equal to that of any native scholar; he +spoke the language as well as his mother tongue; his features +were sufficiently Oriental to disarm suspicion, and years of +residence in the East had rendered him entirely familiar with the +habits of the people and even with all those minor forms of +etiquette which are so rarely acquired by a stranger. His +narrative, therefore, is as admirable and satisfactory in its +character as the fields he traversed were new and +fascinating. It throws, indeed, so much indirect light upon +the experiences of all his predecessors, and is so <a +name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 84</span>much richer +in its illustrations of Arab life and character that no brief +summary of its contents can do justice to its importance.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p84b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"William Gifford Palgrave" +title= +"William Gifford Palgrave" +src="images/p84s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Of the first stage of the journey, from Gaza on the +Mediterranean to the little town of Ma’an, which lies on +the route of the caravans from Damascus to Mecca, a short +distance to the northeast of Petra, and thus nearly on the +boundary between the country of Moab and Edom, Palgrave gives us +no account. Yet, in spite of the comparatively brief +distance traversed, it must have been both laborious and +dangerous. His narrative commences as follows, at the +moment of his departure from Ma’an:</p> +<p><a name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +85</span>“Once for all let us attempt to acquire a fairly +correct and comprehensive knowledge of the Arabian +Peninsula. With its coasts we are already in great measure +acquainted; several of its maritime provinces have been, if not +thoroughly, at least sufficiently, explored; Yemen and Hedjaz, +Mecca and Medina, are no longer mysteries to us, nor are we +wholly without information on the districts of Hadramaut and +Oman. But of the interior of the vast region, of its plains +and mountains, its tribes and cities, of its governments and +institutions, of its inhabitants, their ways and customs, of +their social condition, how far advanced in civilization or sunk +in barbarism, what do we as yet really know, save from accounts +necessarily wanting in fulness and precision? It is time to +fill up this blank in the map of Asia, and this, at whatever +risks, we will now endeavor; either the land before us shall be +our tomb, or we will traverse it in its fullest breadth, and know +what it contains from shore to shore. <i>Vestigia nulla +retrorsum</i>.”</p> +<p>“Such were my thoughts, and such, more or less, I should +suppose, those of my companion, when we found ourselves at fall +of night without the eastern gate of Ma’an, while the +Arabs, our guides and fellow-travellers, filled their water-skins +from a gushing source hard by the town walls, and adjusted the +saddles and the burdens of their camels, in preparation for the +long journey that lay before us and them. It was the +evening of June 16, 1862; the largest stars were already visible +in the deep blue depths of a cloudless sky, while the crescent +moon, high to the <a name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +86</span>west, shone as she shines in those heavens, and promised +us assistance for some hours of our night march. We were +soon mounted on our meagre long-necked beasts, ‘as +if,’ according to the expression of an Arab poet, ‘we +and our men were at mast-heads,’ and now we set our faces +to the east. Behind us lay, in a mass of dark outline, the +walls and castle of Ma’an, its houses and gardens, and +farther back in the distance the high and barren range of the +Sheraa’ Mountains, merging into the coast chain of +Hejaz. Before and around us extended a wide and level +plain, blackened over with countless pebbles of basalt and flint, +except where the moonbeams gleamed white on little intervening +patches of clear sand, or on yellowish streaks of withered grass, +the scanty product of the winter rains, and dried now into +hay. Over all a deep silence, which even our Arab +companions seemed fearful of breaking; when they spoke it was in +a half whisper and in a few words, while the noiseless tread of +our camels sped stealthily but rapidly through the gloom without +disturbing its stillness.</p> +<p>“Some precaution was not indeed wholly out of place, for +that stage of the journey on which we were now entering was +anything but safe. We were bound for the Djowf, the nearest +inhabited district of Central Arabia, its outlying station, in +fact. Now the intervening tract offered for the most part +the double danger of robbers and of thirst, of marauding bands +and of the summer season. The distance itself to be +traversed was near two hundred miles in a straight line, and +unavoidable circumstances were likely to render it much +longer.”</p> +<p><a name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +87</span>Palgrave’s companion was a native Syrian, named +Barakat—a man on whom he could fully rely. Hardy, +young, and enterprising, he belonged to a locality whose +inhabitants are accustomed to danger. But the Bedouins who +furnished the camels, and acted as guides, were of another +class. They were three in number—Salim, their leader, +a member of a powerful family of the Howeytat tribe, but outlawed +for pillage and murder, and two men, Alee and Djordee, utter +barbarians in appearance no less than in character. Even +Salim advised the travellers to avoid all familiarities with the +latter.</p> +<p>“Myself and my companion,” says Palgrave, +“were dressed like ordinary class travellers of inner +Syria, an equipment in which we had already made our way from +Gaza on the sea-coast to Ma’an without much remark or +unseasonable questioning from those whom we fell in with, while +we traversed a country so often described already by Pococke, +Laborde, and downward, under the name of Arabia Petra, that it +would be superfluous for me to enter into any new account of it +in the present work. Our dress, then, consisted partly of a +long stout blouse of Egyptian hemp, under which, unlike our +Bedouin fellow-travellers, we indulged in the luxury of the loose +cotton drawers common in the East, while our colored +head-kerchiefs, though simple enough, were girt by ’akkals +or headbands of some pretension to elegance; the loose +red-leather boots of the country completed our toilet.</p> +<p>“But in the large travelling-sacks at our camels’ +sides were contained suits of a more elegant <a +name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 88</span>appearance, +carefully concealed from Bedouin gaze, but destined for +appearance when we should reach better inhabited and more +civilized districts. This reserve toilet numbered articles +like the following: colored overdresses, the Syrian combaz, +handkerchiefs whose silk stripes relieved the plebeian cotton, +and girdles of good material and tasteful coloring; such clothes +being absolutely requisite to maintain our assumed +character. Mine was that of a native travelling doctor, a +quack if you will; and accordingly a tolerable dress was +indispensable for the credit of my medical practice. My +comrade, who in a general way passed for my brother-in-law, +appeared sometimes as a retail merchant, such as not unfrequently +visit these countries, and sometimes as pupil or associate in my +assumed profession.</p> +<p>“Our pharmacopoeia consisted of a few but well selected +and efficacious drugs, inclosed in small tight-fitting tin boxes, +stowed away for the present in the ample recesses of our +travelling bags; about fifty of these little cases contained the +wherewithal to kill or cure half the sick men of Arabia. +Medicines of a liquid form had been as much as possible omitted, +not only from the difficulty of insuring them a safe transport +amid so rough a mode of journeying, but also on account of the +rapid evaporation unavoidable in this dry and burning +climate. In fact two or three small bottles whose contents +had seemed to me of absolute necessity, soon retained nothing +save their labels to indicate what they had held, in spite of +airtight stoppers and double coverings. I record this, +because the hint may be useful to anyone who should <a +name="page89"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 89</span>be inclined +to embark in similar guise on the same adventures.</p> +<p>“Some other objects requisite in medical practice, two +or three European books for my own private use, and kept +carefully secret from Arab curiosity, with a couple of Esculapian +treatises in good Arabic, intended for professional ostentation, +completed this part of our fitting-out. But besides these, +an ample provision of cloth handkerchiefs, glass necklaces, +pipe-bowls, and the like, for sale in whatever localities might +not offer sufficient facility for the healing art, filled up our +saddle-bags wellnigh to bursting. Last, but not least, two +large sacks of coffee, the sheet-anchor and main hope of our +commerce, formed alone a sufficient load for a vigorous +camel.”</p> +<p>The first days of travel were a monotony of heat and +desolation. The deceptive lakes of the mirage covered the +tawny plain, and every dark basaltic block, lying here and there +at random, was magnified into a mountain in the heated +atmosphere. “Dreary land of death, in which even the +face of an enemy were almost a relief amid such utter +solitude. But for five whole days the little dried-up +lizard of the plain that looks as if he had never a drop of +moisture in his ugly body, and the jerboa, or field-rat of +Arabia, were the only living creatures to console our view.</p> +<p>“It was a march during which we might have almost +repented of our enterprise, had such a sentiment been any longer +possible or availing. Day after day found us urging our +camels to their utmost pace for fifteen or sixteen hours together +out of the <a name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +90</span>twenty-four, under a wellnigh vertical sun, which the +Ethiopians of Herodotus might reasonably be excused for cursing, +with nothing either in the landscape around or in the companions +of our way to relieve for a moment the eye or the mind. +Then an insufficient halt for rest or sleep, at most of two or +three hours, soon interrupted by the oft-repeated admonition, +‘if we linger here we all die of thirst,’ sounding in +our ears; and then to remount our jaded beasts and push them on +through the dark night, amid the constant probability of attack +and plunder from roving marauders. For myself, I was, to +mend matters, under the depressing influence of a tertian fever +contracted at Ma’an, and what between weariness and low +spirits, began to imagine seriously that no waters remained +before us except the waters of death for us and of oblivion for +our friends. The days wore by like a delirious dream, till +we were often almost unconscious of the ground we travelled over +and the journey on which we were engaged. One only herb +appeared at our feet to give some appearance of variety and life; +it was the bitter and poisonous colocynth of the desert.</p> +<p>“Our order of road was this: Long before dawn we were on +our way, and paced it till the sun, having attained about +half-way between the horizon and the zenith, assigned the moment +of alighting for our morning meal. This our Bedouins always +took good care should be in some hollow or low ground, for +concealment’s sake; in every other respect we had ample +liberty of choice, for one patch of black pebbles with a little +sand and withered grass between <a name="page91"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 91</span>was just like another; shade or +shelter, or anything like them, was wholly out of the question in +such ‘nakedness of the land.’ We then alighted, +and my companion and myself would pile up the baggage into a sort +of wall, to afford a half-screen from the scorching sun-rays, and +here recline awhile. Next came the culinary preparations, +in perfect accordance with our provisions, which were simple +enough; namely, a bag of coarse flour mixed with salt and a few +dried dates; there was no third item on the bill of fare. +We now took a few handfuls of flour, and one of the Bedouins +kneaded it with his unwashed hands or dirty bit of leather, +pouring over it a little of the dingy water contained in the +skins, and then patted out this exquisite paste into a large +round cake, about an inch thick and five or six inches +across. Meanwhile another had lighted a fire of dry grass, +colocynth roots, and dried camels’ dung, till he had +prepared a bed of glowing embers; among these the cake was now +cast, and immediately covered up with hot ashes, and so left for +a few minutes, then taken out, turned, and covered again, till at +last, half-kneaded, half-raw, half-roasted, and burnt all round, +it was taken out to be broken up between the hungry band, and +eaten scalding hot, before it should cool into an indescribable +leathery substance, capable of defying the keenest +appetite. A draught of dingy water was its sole but +suitable accompaniment.</p> +<p>“The meal ended, we had again without loss of time to +resume our way from mirage to mirage, till ‘slowly flaming +over all, from heat to heat, the day <a name="page92"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 92</span>decreased,’ and about an hour +before sunset we would stagger off our camels as best we might, +to prepare an evening feast of precisely the same description as +that of the forenoon, or more often, for fear lest the smoke of +our fire should give notice to some distant rover, to content +ourselves with dry dates, and half an hour’s rest on the +sand. At last our dates, like Æsop’s +bread-sack, or that of Beyhas, his Arab prototype, came to an +end; and then our supper was a soldier’s one; what that is +my military friends will know; but, grit and pebbles excepted, +there was no bed in our case. After which, to remount, and +travel on by moon or starlight, till a little before midnight we +would lie down for just enough sleep to tantalize, not +refresh.</p> +<p>“It was now the 22d of June, and the fifth day since our +departure from the wells of Wokba. The water in the skins +had little more to offer to our thirst than muddy dregs, and as +yet no sign appeared of a fresh supply. At last about noon +we drew near some hillocks of loose gravel and sandstone a little +on our right; our Bedouins conversed together awhile, and then +turned their course and ours in that direction. ‘Hold +fast on your camels, for they are going to be startled and jump +about,’ said Salim to us. Why the camels should be +startled I could not understand; when, on crossing the mounds +just mentioned, we suddenly came on five or six black tents, of +the very poorest description, pitched near some wells excavated +in the gravelly hollow below. The reason of Salim’s +precautionary hint now became evident, for our silly beasts +started <a name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 93</span>at +first sight of the tents, as though they had never seen the like +before, and then scampered about, bounding friskily here and +there, till what between their jolting (for a camel’s run +much resembles that of a cow) and our own laughing, we could +hardly keep on their backs. However, thirst soon prevailed +over timidity, and they left off their pranks to approach the +well’s edge and sniff at the water below.”</p> +<p>The inhabitants of the tents showed the ordinary curiosity, +but were not unfriendly, and the little caravan rested there for +the remainder of the day. A further journey of two days +over a region of sand-hills, with an occasional well, still +intervened before they could reach Wady Sirhan—a long +valley running directly to the populated region of the +Djowf. While passing over this intermediate region an +incident occurred which had wellnigh put a premature end to the +travels and the travellers together. “My readers, no +less than myself,” says Palgrave, “must have heard or +read many a story of the simoom, or deadly wind of the desert, +but for me I had never yet met it in full force; and its modified +form, or <i>shelook</i>, to use the Arab phrase, that is, the +sirocco of the Syrian waste, though disagreeable enough, can +hardly ever be termed dangerous. Hence I had been almost +inclined to set down the tales told of the strange phenomena and +fatal effects of this ‘poisoned gale’ in the same +category with the moving pillars of sand, recorded in many works +of higher historical pretensions than +‘Thalaba.’ At those perambulatory columns and +sand-smothered caravans the <a name="page94"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 94</span>Bedouins, whenever I interrogated +them on the subject, laughed outright, and declared that beyond +an occasional dust-storm, similar to those which anyone who has +passed a summer in Scinde can hardly fail to have experienced, +nothing of the romantic kind just alluded to occurred in +Arabia. But when questioned about the simoom, they always +treated it as a much more serious matter, and such in real +earnest we now found it.</p> +<p>“It was about noon, the noon of a summer solstice in the +unclouded Arabian sky over a scorched desert, when abrupt and +burning gusts of wind began to blow by fits from the south, while +the oppressiveness of the air increased every moment, till my +companion and myself mutually asked each other what this could +mean, and what was to be its result. We turned to inquire +of Salim, but he had already wrapped up his face in his mantle, +and bowed down and crouching on the neck of his camel, replied +not a word. His comrades, the two Sherarat Bedouins, had +adopted a similar position, and were equally silent. At +last, after repeated interrogations, Salim, instead of replying +directly to our questioning, pointed to a small black tent, +providentially at no great distance in front, and said: Try to +reach <i>that</i>; if we can get there we are saved.’ +He added: ‘Take care that your camels do not stop and lie +down;’ and then, giving his own several vigorous blows, +relapsed into muffled silence.</p> +<p>“We looked anxiously toward the tent; it was yet a +hundred yards off, or more. Meanwhile the gusts grew hotter +and more violent, and it was only by <a name="page95"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 95</span>repeated efforts that we could urge +our beasts forward. The horizon rapidly darkened to a deep +violet line, and seemed to draw in like a curtain on every side, +while at the same time a stifling blast, as though from some +enormous oven opening right on our path, blew steadily under the +gloom; our camels, too, began, in spite of all we could do, to +turn round and round and bend their knees, preparing to lie +down. The simoom was fairly upon us.</p> +<p>“Of course we had followed our Arabs’ example by +muffling our faces, and now with blows and kicks we forced the +staggering animals onward to the only asylum within reach. +So dark was the atmosphere, and so burning the heat, that it +seemed that hell had risen from the earth, or descended from +above. But we were yet in time, and at the moment when the +worst of the concentrated poison-blast was coming around, we were +already prostrate, one and all, within the tent, with our heads +well wrapped up, almost suffocated, indeed, but safe; while our +camels lay without like dead, their long necks stretched out on +the sand, awaiting the passing of the gale.</p> +<p>“On our first arrival the tent contained a solitary +Bedouin woman, whose husband was away with his camels in the Wady +Sirhan. When she saw five handsome men like us rush thus +suddenly into her dwelling without a word of leave or salutation, +she very properly set up a scream to the tune of the four crown +pleas—murder, arson, robbery, and I know not what +else. Salim hastened to reassure her by calling out +‘friends,’ and without more words threw himself flat +on the ground. All followed his example in silence.</p> +<p><a name="page96"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +96</span>“We remained thus for about ten minutes, during +which a still heat like that of red-hot iron slowly passing over +us was alone to be felt. Then the tent walls began again to +flap in the returning gusts, and announced that the worst of the +simoom had gone by. We got up, half dead with exhaustion, +and unmuffled our faces. My comrades appeared more like +corpses than living men, and so, I suppose, did I. However, +I could not forbear, in spite of warnings, to step out and look +at the camels; they were still lying flat as though they had been +shot. The air was yet darkish, but before long it +brightened up to its usual dazzling clearness. During the +whole time that the simoom lasted, the atmosphere was entirely +free from sand or dust, so that I hardly know how to account for +its singular obscurity.”</p> +<p>“Late in the evening we continued our way, and next day +early entered Wady Sirhan, where the character of our journey +underwent a considerable modification; for the northerly Arabian +desert, which we are now traversing, offers, in spite of all its +dreariness, some spots of comparatively better cast, where water +is less scanty and vegetation less niggard. These spots are +the favorite resorts of Bedouins, and serve, too, to direct the +ordinary routes of whatever travellers, trade-led or from other +motives, may venture on this wilderness. These oases, if +indeed they deserve the name, are formed by a slight depression +in the surrounding desert surface, and take at times the form of +a long valley, or of an oblong patch, where rock and pebble give +place to a light soil more or less intermixed with sand, and +concealing under <a name="page97"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +97</span>its surface a tolerable supply of moisture at no great +distance below ground. Here, in consequence, bushes and +herbs spring up, and grass, if not green all the year round, is +at least of somewhat longer duration than elsewhere; certain +fruit-bearing plants, of a nature to suffice for meagre Bedouin +existence, grow here spontaneously; in a word, man and beast find +not exactly comfortable accommodation, but the absolutely needful +supply. Such a spot is Wady Sirhan, literally, the +‘Valley of the Wolf.’”</p> +<p>They entered Wady Sirhan on June 21st. “Passing +tent after tent, and leaving behind us many a tattered Bedouin +and grazing camel, Salim at last indicated to us a group of +habitations, two or three of which seemed of somewhat more ample +dimensions than the rest, and informed us that our supper that +night (for the afternoon was already on the decline) would be at +the cost of these dwellings. ‘Ajaweed,’ +<i>i.e.</i>, ‘generous fellow,’ he subjoined, to +encourage us by the prospect of a handsome reception. Of +course we could only defer to his better judgment, and in a few +minutes were alongside of the black goats’ hair coverings +where lodged our intended hosts.</p> +<p>“The chief or chieflet, for such he was, came out, and +interchanged a few words of masonic laconism with Salim. +The latter then came up to us where we remained halted in +expectation, led our camels to a little distance from the tents, +made them kneel down, helped us to disburden them, and while we +installed ourselves on a sandy slope opposite to the abodes of +the tribe, recommended us to keep a sharp lookout after our +baggage, since there might be <a name="page98"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 98</span>pickers and stealers among our hosts, +for all ‘Ajaweed’ as they were. Disagreeable +news! for ‘Ajaweed’ in an Arab mouth corresponds the +nearest possible to our English ‘gentlemen.’ +Now, if the gentlemen were thieves, what must the blackguards +be? We put a good face on it, and then seated ourselves in +dignified gravity on the sand awaiting the further results of our +guide’s negotiations.</p> +<p>“For some time we remained undisturbed, though not +unnoticed; a group of Arabs had collected round our companions at +the tent door, and were engaged in getting from them all possible +information, especially about us and our baggage, which last was +an object of much curiosity, not to say cupidity. Next came +our turn. The chief, his family (women excepted), his +intimate followers, and some twenty others, young and old, boys +and men, came up, and, after a brief salutation, Bedouinwise +seated themselves in a semicircle before us. Every man held +a short crooked stick for camel-driving in his hand, to +gesticulate with when speaking, or to play with in the intervals +of conversation, while the younger members of society, less +prompt in discourse, politely employed their leisure in staring +at us, or in picking up dried pellets of dirt from the sand and +tossing them about.”</p> +<p>“‘What are you? what is your business?’ so +runs the ordinary and unprefaced opening of the discourse. +To which we answer, ‘Physicians from Damascus, and our +business is whatsoever God may put in our way.’ The +next question will be about the baggage; someone pokes it with a +stick, to <a name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +99</span>draw attention to it, and says, ‘What is this? +have you any little object to sell us?’</p> +<p>“We fight shy of selling; to open out our wares and +chattels in full air, on the sand, and amid a crowd whose +appearance and circumstances offer but a poor guarantee for the +exact observance of the eighth commandment, would be hardly +prudent or worth our while. After several fruitless trials +they desist from their request. Another, who is troubled by +some bodily infirmity, for which all the united faculties of +London and Paris might prescribe in vain—a withered hand, +for instance, or stone-blind of an eye—asks for medicine, +which no sooner applied shall, in his expectation, suddenly +restore him to perfect health and corporal integrity. But I +had been already forewarned that to doctor a Bedouin, even under +the most favorable circumstances, or a camel, is pretty much the +same thing, and with about an equal chance of success or +advantage. I politely decline. He insists; I turn him +off with a joke.</p> +<p>“‘So you laugh at us, O you inhabitants of +towns. We are Bedouins, we do not know your customs,’ +replies he, in a whining tone; while the boys grin unconscionably +at the discomfiture of their tribesman.</p> +<p>“‘Ya woleyd,’ or young fellow (for so they +style every human male from eight to eighty without distinction), +‘will you not fill my pipe?’ says one, who has +observed that mine was not idle, and who, though well provided +with a good stock of dry tobacco tied up in a rag at his greasy +waist-belt, thinks the moment a fair opportunity for a little +begging, since neither medicine nor merchandise is to be had.</p> +<p><a name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +100</span>“But Salim, seated amid the circle, makes me a +sign not to comply. Accordingly, I evade the demand. +However, my petitioner goes on begging, and is imitated by two or +three others, each of whom thrusts forward (a true Irish hint) a +bit of marrowbone with a hole drilled in one side to act for a +pipe, or a porous stone, not uncommon throughout the desert, +clumsily fashioned into a smoking apparatus, a sort of primitive +meerschaum.</p> +<p>“As they grow rude, I pretend to become angry, thus to +cut the matter short. ‘We are your guests, O you +Bedouins; are you not ashamed to beg of us?’ +‘Never mind, excuse us; those are ignorant fellows, +ill-bred clowns,’ etc., interposes one close by the +chief’s side; and whose dress is in somewhat better +condition than that of the other half and three-quarter naked +individuals who complete the assembly.</p> +<p>“‘Will you not people the pipe for your little +brother?’ subjoins the chief himself, producing an empty +one with a modest air. Bedouin language, like that of most +Orientals, abounds with not ungraceful imagery, and accordingly, +‘people’ here means ‘fill.’ Salim +gives me a wink of compliance. I take out a handful of +tobacco and put it on his long shirt-sleeve, which he knots over +it, and looks uncommonly well pleased. At any rate they are +easily satisfied, these Bedouins.</p> +<p>“The night air in these wilds is life and health +itself. We sleep soundly, unharassed by the anticipation of +an early summons to march next morning, for both men and beasts +have alike need of a full <a name="page101"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 101</span>day’s repose. When the +sun has risen we are invited to enter the chief’s tent and +to bring our baggage under its shelter. A main object of +our entertainer, in proposing this move, is to try whether he +cannot render our visit some way profitable to himself, by +present or purchase. Whatever politeness he can muster is +accordingly brought into play, and a large bowl of fresh +camel’s milk, an excellent beverage, now appears on the +stage. I leave to chemical analysis to decide why this milk +will not furnish butter, for such is the fact, and content myself +with bearing witness to its very nutritious and agreeable +qualities.</p> +<p>“The day passes on. About noon our host naturally +enough supposes us hungry, and accordingly a new dish is brought +in: it looks much like a bowl full of coarse red paste, or bran +mixed with ochre. This is samh, a main article of +subsistence to the Bedouins of Northern Arabia. Throughout +this part of the desert grows a small herbaceous and tufted +plant, with juicy stalks and a little ovate yellow-tinted leaf; +the flowers are of a brighter yellow, with many stamens and +pistils. When the blossoms fall off there remains in place +of each a four-leaved capsule about the size of an ordinary pea, +and this, when ripe, opens to show a mass of minute reddish +seeds, resembling grit in feel and appearance, but farinaceous in +substance. The ripening season is in July, when old and +young, men and women, all are out to collect the unsown and +untoiled-for harvest.</p> +<p>“On the 27th of the month we passed with some difficulty +a series of abrupt sand-hills that close in <a +name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 102</span>the direct +course of Wady Sirhan. Here, for the first time, we saw the +ghada, a shrub almost characteristic, from its very frequency, of +the Arabian Peninsula, and often alluded to by its poets. +It is of the genus <i>Euphorbia</i>, with a woody stem, often +five or six feet in height, and innumerable round green twigs, +very slender and flexible, forming a large feathery tuft, not +ungraceful to the eye, while it affords some kind of shelter to +the traveller and food to his camels. These last are +passionately fond of ghada, and will continually turn right out +of their way, in spite of blows and kicks, to crop a mouthful of +it, and then swing back their long necks into the former +direction, ready to repeat the same manœuvre at the next +bush, as though they had never received a beating for their past +voracity.</p> +<p>“I have, while in England, heard and read more than once +of the ‘docile camel.’ If ‘docile’ +means stupid, well and good; in such a case the camel is the very +model of docility. But if the epithet is intended to +designate an animal that takes an interest in its rider so far as +a beast can, that in some way understands his intentions or +shares them in a subordinate fashion, that obeys from a sort of +submissive or half fellow-feeling with his master, like the horse +and elephant, then I say that the camel is by no means docile, +very much the contrary; he takes no heed of his rider, pays no +attention whether he be on his back or not, walks straight on +when once set a-going, merely because he is too stupid to turn +aside; and then, should some tempting thorn or green branch +allure him out of the path, continues to walk on in <a +name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 103</span>this new +direction simply because he is too dull to turn back into the +right road. His only care is to cross as much pasture as he +conveniently can while pacing mechanically onward; and for +effecting this, his long, flexible neck sets him at great +advantage, and a hard blow or a downright kick alone has any +influence on him whether to direct or impel. He will never +attempt to throw you off his back, such a trick being far beyond +his limited comprehension; but if you fall off, he will never +dream of stopping for you, and walks on just the same, grazing +while he goes, without knowing or caring an atom what has become +of you. If turned loose, it is a thousand to one that he +will never find his way back to his accustomed home or pasture, +and the first comer who picks him up will have no particular +shyness to get over; Jack or Tom is all the same to him, and the +loss of his old master, and of his own kith and kin, gives him no +regret, and occasions no endeavor to find them again.”</p> +<p>On coming in sight of the mountains of Djowf the travellers +were obliged to halt for two days at an encampment of the +Sherarat Arabs, because Salim could not enter the Djowf with them +in person, on account of a murder which he had committed +there. He was therefore obliged to procure them another +guide capable of conducting them safely the remainder of the +journey. After much search and discussion, Salim ended by +finding a good-natured, but somewhat timid, individual, who +undertook their guidance to the Djowf.</p> +<p>Journeying one whole day and night over an open <a +name="page104"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 104</span>plateau, +where they saw a large troop of ostriches, they mounted again on +the 30th, by the light of the morning star, anxious to enter the +Djowf before the intense heat of noon should come on; “but +we had yet a long way to go, and our track followed endless +windings among low hills and stony ledges, without any symptom of +approach to cultivated regions. At last the slopes grew +greener, and a small knot of houses, with traces of tillage close +by, appeared. It was the little village of Djoon, the most +westerly appendage of Djowf itself. I counted between +twenty and thirty houses. We next entered a long and narrow +pass, whose precipitous banks shut in the view on either +side. Suddenly several horsemen appeared on the opposite +cliff, and one of them, a handsome youth, with long, curling +hair, well armed and well mounted (we shall make his more special +acquaintance in the next chapter), called out to our guide to +halt, and answer in his own behalf and ours. This Suleyman +did, not without those marks of timidity in his voice and gesture +which a Bedouin seldom fails to show on his approach to a town, +for, when once in it, he is apt to sneak about much like a dog +who has just received a beating for theft. On his answer, +delivered in a most submissive tone, the horsemen held a brief +consultation, and we then saw two of them turn their +horses’ heads and gallop off in the direction of the Djowf, +while our original interlocutor called out to Suleyman, +‘All right, go on, and fear nothing,’ and then +disappeared after the rest of the band behind the verge of the +upland.</p> +<p><a name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +105</span>“We had yet to drag on for an hour of tedious +march; my camel fairly broke down, and fell again and again; his +bad example was followed by the coffee-laden beast; the heat was +terrible in these gorges, and noon was approaching. At last +we cleared the pass, but found the onward prospect still shut out +by an intervening mass of rocks. The water in our skins was +spent, and we had eaten nothing that morning. When shall we +get in sight of the Djowf? or has it flown away from before +us? While thus wearily laboring on our way we turned a huge +pile of crags, and a new and beautiful scene burst upon our +view.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p105b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"An Arab Chief" +title= +"An Arab Chief" +src="images/p105s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>“A broad, deep valley, descending ledge after ledge till +its innermost depths are hidden from sight amid far-reaching +shelves of reddish rock, below everywhere studded with tufts of +palm-groves and clustering fruit-trees, in dark-green patches, +down to the furthest end of its windings; a large brown mass of +irregular masonry crowning a central hill; beyond, a tall and +solitary tower overlooking the opposite bank of the hollow, and +further down small round turrets and flat house-tops, half buried +amid the garden foliage, the whole plunged in a perpendicular +flood of light and heat; such was the first aspect of the Djowf +as we now approached it from the west. It was a lovely +scene, and seemed yet more so to our eyes, weary of the long +desolation through which we had, with hardly an exception, +journeyed day after day, since our last farewell glimpse of Gaza +and Palestine, up to the first entrance on inhabited +Arabia. ‘Like the Paradise of eternity, none can +enter it till after having previously passed over +hell-bridge,’ says <a name="page106"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 106</span>an Arab poet, describing some +similar locality in Algerian lands.</p> +<p>“Reanimated by the view, we pushed on our jaded beasts, +and were already descending the first craggy slope of the valley +when two horsemen, well dressed and fully armed after the fashion +of these parts, came up toward us from the town, and at once +saluted us with a loud and hearty ‘Marhaba,’ or +‘welcome;’ and without further preface they added, +‘Alight and eat,’ giving themselves the example of +the former by descending briskly from their light-limbed horses +and untying a large leather bag full of excellent dates and a +water-skin filled from the running spring; then, spreading out +these most opportune refreshments on the rock, and adding, +‘we were sure that you must be hungry and thirsty, so we +have come ready provided,’ they invited us once more to sit +down and begin.”</p> +<h2><a name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +107</span>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Residence in the Djowf</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> elder of the two cavaliers who +welcomed the travellers proved to be Ghafil-el-Haboob, the chief +of the most important family of the Djowf. Ghafil, and also +his companion, Dafee, invited the travellers to be his guests, +and the former, it afterward appeared, had intended that they +should reside in his house, hoping to make some profit from the +merchandise which they might have brought. They felt bound, +at least, to accompany him to his house and partake of coffee, +before going elsewhere. Palgrave thus describes the manner +of their reception:</p> +<p>“The k’hawah was a large, oblong hall, about +twenty feet in height, fifty in length, and sixteen, or +thereabouts, in breadth; the walls were colored in a rudely +decorative manner, with brown and white wash, and sunk here and +there into small triangular recesses, destined to the reception +of books—though of these Ghafil at least had no +over-abundance—lamps, and other such like objects. +The roof of timber, and flat; the floor was strewed with fine +clean sand, and garnished all round alongside of the walls with +long strips of carpet, upon which cushions, covered with faded +silk, were disposed at suitable intervals.</p> +<p><a name="page108"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +108</span>“We enter. On passing the threshold it is +proper to say, ‘<i>Bismillah</i>,’ <i>i.e.</i>, +‘in the name of God;’ not to do so would be looked on +as a bad augury, alike for him who enters and for those +within. The visitor next advances in silence, till, on +coming about half-way across the room, he gives to all present, +but looking specially at the master of the house, the customary +‘<i>Es-salamu’aleykum</i>,’ or ‘Peace be +with you,’ literally, ‘on you.’ All this +while everyone else in the room has kept his place, motionless, +and without saying a word. But on receiving the salaam of +etiquette, the master of the house rises, and if a strict +Wahabee, or at any rate desirous of seeming such, replies with +the full-length traditionary formula ‘And with (or, on) you +be peace, and the mercy of God, and his blessings.’ +But should he happen to be of anti-Wahabee tendencies, the odds +are that he will say ‘Marhaba,’ or ‘Ahlan +w’sahlan,’ <i>i.e.</i>, ‘welcome,’ or +‘worthy and pleasurable,’ or the like; for of such +phrases there is an infinite but elegant variety. All +present follow the example thus given by rising and +saluting. The guest then goes up to the master of the +house, who has also made a step or two forward, and places his +open hand in the palm of his host’s, but without grasping +or shaking, which would hardly pass as decorous, and, at the same +time each repeats once more his greeting, followed by the set +phrases of polite inquiry, ‘How are you?’ +‘How goes the world with you?’ and so forth, all in a +tone of great interest, and to be gone over three or four times, +till one or other has the discretion to say ‘El hamdu +Pillah,’ ‘Praise be to <a name="page109"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 109</span>God,’ or, in equivalent value, +‘all right,’ and this is a signal for a seasonable +diversion to the ceremonious interrogatory.</p> +<p>“Meantime we have become engaged in active conversation +with our host and his friends. But our Sherarat guide, +Suleyman, like a true Bedouin, feels too awkward when among +townsfolk to venture on the upper places, though repeatedly +invited, and accordingly has squatted down on the sand near the +entrance. Many of Ghafil’s relations are present; +their silver-decorated swords proclaim the importance of the +family. Others, too, have come to receive us, for our +arrival, announced beforehand by those we had met at the entrance +pass, is a sort of event in the town; the dress of some betokens +poverty, others are better clad, but all have a very polite and +decorous manner. Many a question is asked about our native +land and town, that is to say, Syria and Damascus, conformably to +the disguise already adopted, and which it was highly important +to keep well up; then follow inquiries regarding our journey, our +business, what we have brought with us, about our medicines, our +goods and wares, etc. From the very first it is easy for us +to perceive that patients and purchasers are likely to +abound. Very few travelling merchants, if any, visit the +Djowf at this time of year, for one must be mad, or next door to +it, to rush into the vast desert around during the heats of June +and July; I for one have certainly no intention of doing it +again. Hence we had small danger of competitors, and found +the market almost at our absolute disposal.</p> +<p><a name="page110"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +110</span>“But before a quarter of an hour has passed, and +while blacky is still roasting or pounding his coffee, a tall, +thin lad, Ghafil’s eldest son, appears, charged with a +large circular dish, grass-platted like the rest, and throws it +with a graceful jerk on the sandy floor close before us. He +then produces a large wooden bowlful of dates, bearing in the +midst of the heap a cupful of melted butter; all this he places +on the circular mat, and says, ‘Semmoo,’ literally, +‘pronounce the Name,’ of God, understood; this means +‘set to work at it.’ Hereon the master of the +house quits his place by the fireside and seats himself on the +sand opposite to us; we draw nearer to the dish, and four or five +others, after some respectful coyness, join the circle. +Everyone then picks out a date or two from the juicy, +half-amalgamated mass, dips them into the butter, and thus goes +on eating till he has had enough, when he rises and washes his +hands.”</p> +<p>“I will take the opportunity of leading my readers over +the whole of the Djowf, as a general view will help better to +understand what follows in the narrative, besides offering much +that will be in part new, I should fancy, to the greater +number.</p> +<p>“This province is a sort of oasis, a large oval +depression of sixty or seventy miles long, by ten or twelve +broad, lying between the northern desert that separates it from +Syria and the Euphrates, and the southern Nefood, or sandy waste, +and interposed between it and the nearest mountains of the +central Arabian plateau. However, from its comparative +proximity to the latter, no less than from the <a +name="page111"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 111</span>character +of its climate and productions, it belongs hardly so much to +Northern as to Central Arabia, of which it is a kind of porch or +vestibule. If an equilateral triangle were to be drawn, +having its base from Damascus to Bagdad, the vertex would find +itself pretty exactly as the Djowf, which is thus at a nearly +equal distance, southeast and southwest, from the two localities +just mentioned, while the same cross-line, if continued, will +give at about the same intervals of space in the opposite +direction, Medina on the one hand, and Zulphah, the great +commercial door of Eastern Nedjed, on the other. Djebel +Shomer lies almost due south, and much nearer than any other of +the places above specified. Partly to this central +position, and partly to its own excavated form, the province owes +its appropriate name of Djowf, or ‘belly.’</p> +<p>“The principal, or rather the only, town of the +district, all the rest being mere hamlets, bears the name of the +entire region. It is composed of eight villages, once +distinct, but which have in process of time coalesced into one, +and exchanged their separate existence and name for that of Sook, +or ‘quarter,’ of the common borough. Of these +Sooks, the principal is that belonging to the family Haboob, and +in which we were now lodged. It includes the central castle +already mentioned, and numbers about four hundred houses. +The other quarters, some larger, others smaller, stretch up and +down the valley, but are connected together by their extensive +gardens. The entire length of the town thus formed, with +the cultivation immediately annexed, is full four <a +name="page112"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 112</span>miles, but +the average breadth does not exceed half a mile, and sometimes +falls short of it.</p> +<p>“The size of the domiciles varies with the condition of +their occupants, and the poor are contented with narrow lodgings, +though always separate; for I doubt if throughout the whole of +Arabia two families, however needy, inhabit the same +dwelling. Ghafil’s abode, already described, may give +a fair idea of the better kind; in such we have an outer court, +for unlading camels and the like, an inner court, a large +reception-room, and several other smaller apartments, to which +entrance is given by a private door, and where the family itself +is lodged.</p> +<p>“But another and a very characteristic feature of +domestic architecture is the frequent addition, throughout the +Djowf, of a round tower, from thirty to forty feet in height and +twelve or more in breadth, with a narrow entrance and loop-holes +above. This construction is sometimes contiguous to the +dwelling-place, and sometimes isolated in a neighboring garden +belonging to the same master. These towers once answered +exactly the same purposes as the ‘torri,’ well known +to travellers in many cities of Italy, at Bologna, Siena, Rome, +and elsewhere, and denoted a somewhat analogous state of society +to what formerly prevailed there. Hither, in time of the +ever-recurring feuds between rival chiefs and factions, the +leaders and their partisans used to retire for refuge and +defence, and hence they would make their sallies to burn and +destroy. These towers, like all the modern edifices of the +Djowf, are of unbaked bricks; their great thickness and solidity +of make, along <a name="page113"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +113</span>with the extreme tenacity of the soil, joined to a very +dry climate, renders the material a rival almost of stone-work in +strength and endurance. Since the final occupation of this +region by the forces of Telal, all these towers have, without +exception, been rendered unfit for defence, and some are even +half-ruined. Here again the phenomena of Europe have +repeated themselves in Arabia.</p> +<p>“The houses are not unfrequently isolated each from the +other by their gardens and plantations; and this is especially +the case with the dwellings of chiefs and their families. +What has just been said about the towers renders the reasons of +this isolation sufficiently obvious. But the dwellings of +the commoner sort are generally clustered together, though +without symmetry or method.</p> +<p>“The gardens of the Djowf are much celebrated in this +part of the East, and justly so. They are of a +productiveness and variety superior to those of Djebel Shomer or +of upper Nedjed, and far beyond whatever the Hedjaz and its +neighborhood can offer. Here, for the first time in our +southward course, we found the date-palm a main object of +cultivation; and if its produce be inferior to that of the same +tree in Nedjed and Hasa, it is far, very far, above whatever +Egypt, Africa, or the valley of the Tigris from Bagdad to Bassora +can show. However, the palm is by no means alone +here. The apricot and the peach, the fig-tree and the vine, +abound throughout these orchards, and their fruit surpasses in +copiousness and flavor that supplied by the gardens of Damascus +or the hills of Syria and Palestine. In <a +name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 114</span>the +intervals between the trees or in the fields beyond, corn, +leguminous plants, gourds, melons, etc., etc., are widely +cultivated. Here, too, for the last time, the traveller +bound for the interior sees the irrigation indispensable to all +growth and tillage in this droughty climate kept up by running +streams of clear water, whereas in the Nedjed and its +neighborhood it has to be laboriously procured from wells and +cisterns.</p> +<p>“Besides the Djowf itself, or capital, there exist +several other villages belonging to the same homonymous province, +and all subject to the same central governor. Of these the +largest is Sekakah; it lies at about twelve miles distant to the +northeast, and though inferior to the principal town in +importance and fertility of soil, almost equals it in the number +of its inhabitants. I should reckon the united population +of these two localities—men, women, and children—at +about thirty-three or thirty-four thousand souls. This +calculation, like many others before us in the course of the +work, rests partly on an approximate survey of the number of +dwellings, partly on the military muster, and partly on what I +heard on the subject from the natives themselves. A census +is here unknown, and no register records birth, marriage, or +death. Yet, by aid of the war list, which generally +represents about one-tenth of the entire population, a fair +though not absolute idea may be obtained on this point.</p> +<p>“Lastly, around and at no great distance from these main +centres, are several small villages or hamlets, eight or ten in +number, as I was told, and <a name="page115"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 115</span>containing each of them from twenty +to fifty or sixty houses. But I had neither time nor +opportunity to visit each separately. They cluster round +lesser water springs, and offer in miniature features much +resembling those of the capital. The entire population of +the province cannot exceed forty or forty-two thousand, but it is +a brave one, and very liberally provided with the physical +endowments of which it has been acutely said that they are seldom +despised save by those who do not themselves possess them. +Tall, well-proportioned, of a tolerably fair complexion, set off +by long curling locks of jet-black hair, with features for the +most part regular and intelligent, and a dignified carriage, the +Djowfites are eminently good specimens of what may be called the +pure northern or Ishmaelitish Arab type, and in all these +respects they yield the palm to the inhabitants of Djebel Shomer +alone. Their large-developed forms and open countenance +contrast strongly with the somewhat dwarfish stature and +suspicious under-glance of the Bedouin. They are, besides, +a very healthy people, and keep up their strength and activity +even to an advanced age. It is no uncommon occurrence here, +to see an old man of seventy set out full-armed among a band of +youths; though, by the way, such “green old age” is +often to be met with also in the central province farther south, +as I have had frequent opportunity of witnessing. The +climate, too, is good and dry, and habits of out-door life +contribute not a little to the maintenance of health and +vigor.</p> +<p>“In manners, as in locality, the worthies of Djowf +occupy a sort of half-way position between Bedouins <a +name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 116</span>and the +inhabitants of the cultivated districts. Thus they partake +largely in the nomad’s aversion to mechanical occupations, +in his indifference to literary acquirements, in his aimless +fickleness too, and even in his treacherous ways. I have +said, in the preceding chapter, that while we were yet threading +the narrow gorge near the first entrance of the valley, several +horsemen appeared on the upper margin of the pass, and one of +them questioned our guide, and then, after a short consultation +with his companions, called out to us to go on and fear +nothing. Now, the name of this individual was +Suliman-ebn-Dahir, a very adventurous and fairly intelligent +young fellow, with whom next-door neighborhood and frequent +intercourse rendered us intimate during our stay at the +Djowf. One day, while we were engaged in friendly +conversation, he said, half laughing, ‘Do you know what we +were consulting about while you were in the pass below on the +morning of your arrival? It was whether we should make you +a good reception, and thus procure ourselves the advantage of +having you residents among us, or whether we should not do better +to kill you all three, and take our gain from the booty to be +found in your baggage.’ I replied with equal +coolness, ‘It might have proved an awkward affair for +yourself and your friends, since Hamood your governor could +hardly have failed to get wind of the matter, and would have +taken it out of you.’ ‘Pooh!’ replied our +friend, ‘never a bit; as if a present out of the plunder +would not have tied Hamood’s tongue.’ +‘Bedouins that you are,’ said I, laughing. +‘Of course we are,’ answered <a +name="page117"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 117</span>Suliman, +‘for such we all were till quite lately, and the present +system is too recent to have much changed us.’ +However, he admitted that they all had, on second thoughts, +congratulated themselves on not having preferred bloodshed to +hospitality, though perhaps the better resolution was rather +owing to interested than to moral motives.</p> +<p>“The most distinctive good feature of the inhabitants of +Djowf is their liberality. Nowhere else, even in Arabia, is +the guest, so at least he be not murdered before admittance, +better treated, or more cordially invited to become in every way +one of themselves. Courage, too, no one denies them, and +they are equally lavish of their own lives and property as of +their neighbors’.</p> +<p>“Let us now resume the narrative. On the morning +after our arrival—it was now the 1st of July—Ghafil +caused a small house in the neighborhood, belonging to one of his +dependents, to be put at our entire disposal, according to our +previous request. This, our new abode, consisted of a small +court with two rooms, one on each side, for warehouse and +habitation, the whole being surrounded with an outer wall, whose +door was closed by lock and bolt. Of a kitchen-room there +was small need, so constant and hospitable are the invitations of +the good folks here to strangers; and if our house was not over +capacious, it afforded at least what we most desired, namely, +seclusion and privacy at will; it was, moreover, at our +host’s cost, rent and reparations.</p> +<p>“Hither, accordingly, we transferred baggage and +chattels, and arranged everything as comfortably as <a +name="page118"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 118</span>we best +could. And as we had already concluded, from the style and +conversation of those around us, that their state of society was +hardly far enough advanced to offer a sufficiently good prospect +for medical art, whose exercise, to be generally advantageous, +requires a certain amount of culture and aptitude in the patient, +no less than of skill in the physician, we resolved to make +commerce our main affair here, trusting that by so doing we +should gain a second advantage, that of lightening our more bulky +goods, such as coffee and cloth, whose transport had already +annoyed us not a little.</p> +<p>“But in fact we were not more desirous to sell than the +men, women, and children of the Djowf were to buy. From the +very outset our little courtyard was crowded with customers, and +the most amusing scenes of Arab haggling, in all its mixed +shrewdness and simplicity, diverted us through the week. +Handkerchief after handkerchief, yard after yard of cloth, beads +for the women, knives, combs, looking-glasses, and what not? (for +our stock was a thorough miscellany) were soon sold off, some for +ready money, others on credit; and it is but justice to say that +all debts so contracted were soon paid in very honestly; Oxford +High Street tradesmen, at least in former times, were not always +equally fortunate.</p> +<p>“Meanwhile we had the very best opportunity of becoming +acquainted with and appreciating all classes, nay, almost all +individuals, of the place. Peasants, too, from various +hamlets arrived, led by rumor, whose trumpet, prone to exaggerate +under every sky, <a name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +119</span>had proclaimed us throughout the valley of Djowf for +much more important characters, and possessed of a much larger +stock in hand, than was really the case. All crowded in, +and before long there were more customers than wares assembled in +the storeroom.</p> +<p>“Our manner of passing the time was as follows: We used +to rise at early dawn, lock up the house, and go out in the pure +cool air of the morning to some quiet spot among the neighboring +palm-groves, or scale the wall of some garden, or pass right on +through the by-lanes to where cultivation merges in the adjoining +sands of the valley; in short, to any convenient place where we +might hope to pass an hour of quiet, undisturbed by Arab +sociability, and have leisure to plan our work for the day. +We would then return home about sunrise, and find outside the +door some tall lad sent by his father, generally one of the +wealthier and more influential inhabitants of the quarter yet +unvisited by us, waiting our return, to invite us to an early +breakfast. We would now accompany our Mercury to his +domicile, where a hearty reception, and some neighbors collected +for the occasion, or attracted by a cup of good coffee, were sure +to be in attendance. Here an hour or so would wear away, +and some medical or mercantile transaction be sketched out. +We, of course, would bring the conversation, whenever it was +possible, on local topics, according as those present seemed +likely to afford us exact knowledge and insight into the real +state and circumstances of the land. We would then return +to our own quarters, <a name="page120"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 120</span>where a crowd of customers, awaiting +us, would allow us neither rest nor pause till noon. Then a +short interval for date or pumpkin eating in some +neighbor’s house would occur, and after that business be +again resumed for three or four hours. A walk among the +gardens, rarely alone, more often in company with friends and +acquaintances, would follow; and meanwhile an invitation to +supper somewhere had unfailingly been given and +accepted.”</p> +<p>“After supper all rise, wash their hands, and then go +out into the open air to sit and smoke a quiet pipe under the +still transparent sky of the summer evening. Neither mist +nor vapor, much less a cloud, appears; the moon dips down in +silvery whiteness to the very verge of the palm-tree tops, and +the last rays of daylight are almost as sharp and clear as the +dawn itself. Chat and society continue for an hour or two, +and then everyone goes home, most to sleep, I fancy, for few +Penseroso lamps are here to be seen at midnight hour, nor does +the spirit of Plato stand much risk of unsphering from the +nocturnal studies of the Djowf; we, to write our journal, or to +compare observations and estimate characters.</p> +<p>“Sometimes a comfortable landed proprietor would invite +us to pass an extemporary holiday morning in his garden, or +rather orchard, there to eat grapes and enjoy ourselves at will, +seated under clustering vine-trellises, with palm-trees above and +running streams around. How pleasant it was after the +desert! At other times visits of patients, prescriptions, +and similar duties would take up a part of the day; or some young +fellow, particularly desirous of information <a +name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 121</span>about Syria +or Egypt, or perhaps curious after history and moral science, +would hold us for a couple of hours in serious and sensible talk, +at any rate to our advantage.”</p> +<p>It was necessary that the travellers should not delay in +paying their official visit to Hamood, the vice-gerent of +Telal. His residence is in the centre of the garden region, +near a solitary round tower, whose massive stone walls are +mentioned in Arabian poetry. Hamood’s residence is an +irregular structure, of more recent date, with no distinguishing +feature except a tower about fifty feet in height. Palgrave +and his companion were accompanied by a large number of their +newly-found friends. After passing through an outer court, +filled with armed guards, they found the ruler seated in his +large reception-hall:</p> +<p>“There, in the place of distinction, which he never +yields to any individual of Djowf, whatever be his birth or +wealth, appeared the governor, a strong, broad-shouldered, +dark-browed, dark-eyed man, clad in the long white shirt of the +country, and over it a handsome black cloak, embroidered with +crimson silk; on his august head a silken handkerchief or +<i>keffee’yeh</i>, girt by a white band of finely woven +camel’s hair; and in his fingers a grass fan. He rose +graciously on our approach, extended to us the palm of his hand, +and made us sit down near his side, keeping, however, Ghafil, as +an old acquaintance, between himself and us, perhaps as a +precautionary arrangement against any sudden assault or +treasonable intention on our part, for an Arab, be he who he may, +is never off his guard when new faces <a name="page122"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 122</span>are in presence. In other +respects he showed us much courtesy and good-will, made many +civil inquiries about our health after so fatiguing a journey, +praised Damascus and the Damascenes, by way of an indirect +compliment, and offered us a lodging in the castle. But +here Ghafil availed himself of the privileges conceded by Arab +custom to priority of host-ship to put in his negative on our +behalf; nor were we anxious to press the matter. A pound or +so of our choicest coffee, with which we on this occasion +presented his excellency, both as a mute witness to the object of +our journey, and the better to secure his good-will, was accepted +very readily by the great man, who in due return offered us his +best services. We replied that we stood in need of nothing +save his long life, this being the Arab formula for rejoinder to +such fair speeches; and, next in order, of means to get safe on +to Ha’yel so soon as our business at the Djowf should +permit, being desirous to establish ourselves under the immediate +patronage of Telal. In this he promised to aid us, and kept +his word.”</p> +<p>Hamood afterward politely returned their visit, and they +frequently went to his castle for the purpose of studying the +many interesting scenes presented by the exercise of the very +primitive Arab system of justice. Palgrave gives the +following case as a specimen:</p> +<p>“One day my comrade and myself were on a visit of mere +politeness at the castle; the customary ceremonies had been gone +through, and business, at first interrupted by our entrance, had +resumed its course. A Bedouin of the Ma’az tribe was +pleading his cause <a name="page123"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +123</span>before Hamood, and accusing someone of having forcibly +taken away his camel. The governor was seated with an air +of intense gravity in his corner, half leaning on a cushion, +while the Bedouin, cross-legged on the ground before him, and +within six feet of his person, flourished in his hand a large +reaping-hook, identically that which is here used for cutting +grass. Energetically gesticulating with this graceful +implement, he thus challenged his judge’s attention: +‘You, Hamood, do you hear?’ (stretching out at the +same time the hook toward the governor, so as almost to reach his +body, as though he meant to rip him open); ‘he has taken +from me my camel; have you called God to mind?’ (again +putting his weapon close to the unflinching magistrate). +‘The camel is my camel; do you hear?’ (with another +reminder from the reaping-hook); ‘he is mine, by +God’s award, and yours too; do you hear, child?’ and +so on, while Hamood sat without moving a muscle of face or limb, +imperturbable and impassible till some one of the counsellors +quieted the plaintiff with ‘Remember God, child; it is of +no consequence, you shall not be wronged.’ Then the +judge called on the witnesses, men of the Djowf, to say their +say, and on their confirmation of the Bedouin’s statement, +gave orders to two of his satellites to search for and bring +before him the accused party; while he added to the +Ma’azee, ‘All right, daddy, you shall have your own; +put your confidence in God,’ and composedly motioned him +back to his place.</p> +<p>“A fortnight and more went by, and found us still in the +Djowf, ‘honored guests’ in Arab phrase, and <a +name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 124</span>well rested +from the bygone fatigues of the desert. Ghafil’s +dwelling was still, so to speak, our official home; but there +were two other houses where we were still more at our ease; that +of Dafee, the same who along with Ghafil came to meet us on our +first arrival; and that of Salim, a respectable and, in his way, +a literary old man, our near neighbor, and surrounded by a large +family of fine strapping youths, all of them brought up more or +less in the fear of Allah and in good example. Hither we +used to retire when wearied of Ghafil and his like, and pass a +quiet hour in their k’hawah, reciting or hearing Arab +poetry, talking over the condition of the country and its future +prospects, discussing points of morality, or commenting on the +ways and fashions of the day.”</p> +<p>The important question for the travellers was how they should +get to Djebel Shomer, the great fertile oasis to the south, under +the rule of the famous Prince Telal. The terrible +<i>Nefood</i>, or sand-passes, which the Arabs themselves look +upon with dread, must be crossed, and it was now the middle of +summer. The hospitable people of the Djowf begged Palgrave +and his friends to remain until September, and they probably +would have been delayed for some time but for a lucky +chance. The Azzam tribe of Bedouins, which had been +attacked by Prince Telal, submitted, and a dozen of their chiefs +arrived at the Djowf, on their way to Djebel Shomer, where they +purposed to win Telal’s good graces by tendering him their +allegiance in his very capital. Hamood received them and +lodged them for several days, while they rested from their past +fatigues, and prepared <a name="page125"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 125</span>themselves for what yet lay before +them. Some inhabitants of the Djowf, whose business +required their presence at Ha’yel, were to join the +party. “Hamood sent for us,” Palgrave +continues, “and gave us notice of this expedition, and on +our declaring that we desired to profit by it, he handed us a +scrap of paper, addressed to Telal himself, wherein he certified +that we had duly paid the entrance fee exacted from strangers on +their coming within the limits of Shomer rule, and that we were +indeed respectable individuals, worthy of all good +treatment. We then, in presence of Hamood, struck our +bargain with one of the band for a couple of camels, whose price, +including all the services of their master as guide and companion +for ten days of July travelling, was not extravagant either; it +came up to just a hundred and ten piastres, equivalent to +eighteen or nineteen shillings of English money.</p> +<p>“Many delays occurred, and it was not till the 18th of +July, when the figs were fully ripe—a circumstance which +furnished the natives of Djowf with new cause of wonder at our +rushing away, in lieu of waiting like rational beings to enjoy +the good things of the land—that we received our final +‘Son of Hodeirah, depart.’ This was intimated +to us, not by a locust, but by a creature almost as queer, +namely, our new conductor, a half-cracked Arab, neither peasant +nor Bedouin, but something anomalous between the two, hight +Djedey’, and a native of the outskirts of Djebel Shomer, +who darkened our door in the forenoon, and warned us to make our +final packing up, and get ready for starting the same day.</p> +<p><a name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +126</span>“When once clear of the houses and gardens, +Djedey’ led us by a road skirting the southern side of the +valley, till we arrived, before sunset, at the other, or eastern, +extremity of the town. Here was the rendezvous agreed on by +our companions; but they did not appear, and reason good, for +they had right to a supper more under Hamood’s roof, and +were loath to lose it. So we halted and alighted +alone. The chief of this quarter, which is above two miles +distant from the castle, invited us to supper, and thence we +returned to our baggage, there to sleep. To pass a +summer’s night in the open air on a soft sand bed implies +no great privation in these countries, nor is anyone looked on as +a hero for so doing.</p> +<p>“Early next morning, while Venus yet shone like a drop +of melted silver on the slaty blue, three of our party arrived +and announced that the rest of our companions would soon come +up. Encouraged by the news, we determined to march on +without further tarrying, and ere sunrise we climbed the steep +ascent of the southerly bank, whence we had a magnificent view of +the whole length of the Djowf, its castle and towers, and groves +and gardens, in the ruddy light of morning, and beyond the drear +northern deserts stretching far away. We then dipped down +the other side of the bordering hill, not again to see the Djowf +till—who knows when?”</p> +<h2><a name="page127"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +127</span>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Crossing the Nefood</span>.</p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Our</span> way was now to the +southeast, across a large plain varied with sand-mounds and +covered with the ghada-bush, already described, so that our +camels were much more inclined to crop pasture than to do their +business in journeying ahead. About noon we halted near a +large tuft of this shrub, at least ten feet high. We +constructed a sort of cabin with boughs broken off the +neighboring plants and suitably arranged shedwise, and thus +passed the noon hours of intolerable heat till the whole band +came in sight.</p> +<p>“They were barbarous, nay, almost savage, fellows, like +most Sherarat, whether chiefs or people; but they had been +somewhat awed by the grandeurs of Hamood, and yet more so by the +prospect of coming so soon before the terrible majesty of Telal +himself. All were duly armed, and had put on their best +suits of apparel, an equipment worthy of a scarecrow or of an +Irishman at a wake. Tattered red overalls; cloaks with more +patches than original substance, or, worse yet, which opened +large mouths to cry for patching, but had not got it; little +broken tobacco pipes, and no trousers soever (by the way, all +genuine Arabs are <i>sans-culottes</i>); faces meagre <a +name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 128</span>with +habitual hunger, and black with dirt and weather +stains—such were the high-born chiefs of Azzam, on their +way to the king’s levee. Along with them were two +Bedouins of the Shomer tribe, a degree better in guise and person +than the Sherarat; and lastly, three men of Djowf, who looked +almost like gentlemen among such ragamuffins. As to my +comrade and myself, I trust that the reader will charitably +suppose us the exquisites of the party. So we rode on +together.</p> +<p>“Next morning, a little after sunrise, we arrived at a +white calcareous valley, girt round with low hills of marl and +sand. Here was the famous Be’er Shekeek, or +‘well of Shekeek,’ whence we were to fill our +water-skins, and that thoroughly, since no other source lay +before us for four days’ march amid the sand passes, up to +the very verge of Djebel Shomer.</p> +<p>“Daughters of the Great Desert, to use an Arab phrase, +the ‘Nefood,’ or sand-passes, bear but too strong a +family resemblance to their unamiable mother. What has been +said elsewhere about their origin, their extent, their bearings, +and their connection with the Dhana, or main sand-waste of the +south, may exempt me from here entering on a minute enarration of +all their geographical details; let it suffice for the present +that they are offshoots—inlets, one might not unsuitably +call them—of the great ocean of sand that covers about +one-third of the peninsula, into whose central and comparatively +fertile plateau they make deep inroads, nay, in some places +almost intersect it. Their general character, of which <a +name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 129</span>the +following pages will, I trust, give a tolerably correct idea, is +also that of Dahna, or ‘red desert,’ itself. +The Arabs, always prone to localize rather than generalize, count +these sand-streams by scores, but they may all be referred to +four principal courses, and he who would traverse the centre must +necessarily cross two of them, perhaps even three, as we did.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p129b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Captain Burton as a Pilgrim" +title= +"Captain Burton as a Pilgrim" +src="images/p129s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>“The general type of Arabia is that of a central +table-land, surrounded by a desert ring, sandy to the south, +west, and east, and stony to the north. This outlying +circle is in its turn girt by a line of mountains, low and +sterile for the most, but attaining in Yemen and Oman +considerable height, breadth, and fertility, while beyond these a +narrow rim of coast is bordered by the sea. The surface of +the midmost table-land equals somewhat less than one-half of the +entire peninsula, and its special demarcations are much affected, +nay, often absolutely fixed, by the windings and in-runnings of +the Nefood. If to these central highlands, or Nedjed, +taking that word in its wider sense, we add the Djowf, the +Ta’yif, Djebel ’Aaseer, Yemen, Oman, and Hasa, in +short, whatever spots of fertility belong to the outer circles, +we shall find that Arabia contains about two-thirds of +cultivated, or at least of cultivable, land, with a remaining +third of irreclaimable desert, chiefly to the south. In +most other directions the great blank spaces often left in maps +of this country are quite as frequently indications of +non-information as of real non-inhabitation. However, we +have just now a strip, though fortunately only a strip, of pure, +unmitigated desert before us, after which better lands await us; +and in <a name="page130"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +130</span>this hope let us take courage and boldly enter the +Nefood.</p> +<p>“Much had we heard of them from Bedouins and countrymen, +so that we had made up our minds to something very terrible and +very impracticable. But the reality, especially in these +dog days, proved worse than aught heard or imagined.</p> +<p>“We were now traversing an immense ocean of loose +reddish sand, unlimited to the eye, and heaped up in enormous +ridges, running parallel to each other from north to south, +undulation after undulation, each swell two or three hundred feet +in average height, with slant sides and rounded crests furrowed +in every direction by the capricious gales of the desert. +In the depths between the traveller finds himself as it were +imprisoned in a suffocating sand-pit, hemmed in by burning walls +on every side; while at other times, while laboring up the slope, +he overlooks what seems a vast sea of fire, swelling under a +heavy monsoon wind, and ruffled by a cross blast into little +red-hot waves.”</p> +<p>Palgrave devotes several pages to his journey across the +Nefood, bearing out in his general description its character, as +above.</p> +<p>Lady Anne Blunt, who with her husband and native followers +crossed the Nefood sixteen years later, however, takes issue with +Mr. Palgrave as to its character, as will be found in Chapter +XVII., largely devoted to her travels in Arabia.</p> +<p>Arriving at the eastern edge of the Nefood Palgrave +continues:</p> +<p>“The morning broke on us still toiling amid the <a +name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +131</span>sands. By daylight we saw our straggling +companions like black specks here and there, one far ahead on a +yet vigorous dromedary, another in the rear dismounted, and +urging his fallen beast to rise by plunging a knife a good inch +deep into its haunches, a third lagging in the extreme +distance. Everyone for himself and God for us all!—so +we quickened our pace, looking anxiously before us for the hills +of Djobbah, which could not now be distant. At noon we came +in sight of them all at once, close on our right, wild and +fantastic cliffs, rising sheer on the margin of the sand +sea. We coasted them awhile, till at a turn the whole plain +of Djobbah and its landscape opened on our view.</p> +<p>“Here we had before us a cluster of black granite rock, +streaked with red, and about seven hundred feet, at a rough +guess, in height; beyond them a large barren plain, partly white +and encrusted with salt, partly green with tillage, and studded +with palm-groves, amongst which we could discern, not far off, +the village of Djobbah, much resembling that of Djowf in +arrangement and general appearance, only smaller, and without +castle or tower. Beyond the valley glistened a second line +of sand-hills, but less wild and desolate-looking than those +behind us, and far in the distance the main range of Djebel +Shomer, a long purple sierra of most picturesque outline. +Had we there and then mounted, as we afterward did, the heights +on our right, we should have also seen in the extreme southwest a +green patch near the horizon, where cluster the palm plantations +of Teymah, a place famed in Arab history, and by <a +name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 132</span>some +supposed identical with the Teman of Holy Writ.</p> +<p>“But for the moment a drop of fresh water and a shelter +from the July sun was much more in our thoughts than all the +Teymahs or Temans that ever existed. My camel, too, +was—not at the end of his wits, for he never had +any—but of his legs, and hardly capable of advance, while I +was myself too tired to urge him on vigorously, and we took a +fair hour to cross a narrow white strip of mingled salt and sand +that yet intervened between us and the village.</p> +<p>“Without its garden walls was pitched the very identical +tent of our noble guide, and here his wife and family were +anxiously awaiting their lord. Djedey’ invited +us—indeed he could not conformably with Shomer customs do +less—to partake of his board and lodging, and we had no +better course than to accept of both. So we let our camels +fling themselves out like dead or dying alongside of the +tabernacle, and entered to drink water mixed with sour +milk.” Here the caravan rested for a day.</p> +<p>“About sunrise on the 25th of July we left Djobbah, +crossed the valley to the southeast, and entered once more on a +sandy desert, but a desert, as I have before hinted, of a milder +and less inhospitable character than the dreary Nefood of two +days back. Here the sand is thickly sprinkled with shrubs +and not altogether devoid of herbs and grass; while the +undulations of the surface, running invariably from north to +south, according to the general rule of that phenomenon, are much +less deeply traced, though never wholly absent. <a +name="page133"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 133</span>We paced on +all day; at nightfall we found ourselves on the edge of a vast +funnel-like depression, where the sand recedes on all sides to +leave bare the chalky bottom-strata below; here lights glimmering +amid Bedouin tents in the depths of the valley invited us to try +our chance of a preliminary supper before the repose of the +night. We had, however, much ado to descend the cavity, so +steep was the sandy slope; while its circular form and spiral +marking reminded me of Edgar Poe’s imaginative +‘Maelstrom.’ The Arabs to whom the watch-fires +belonged were shepherds of the numerous Shomer tribe, whence the +district, plain and mountain, takes its name. They welcomed +us to a share of their supper; and a good dish of rice, instead +of insipid samh or pasty, augured a certain approach to +civilization.</p> +<p>“At break of day we resumed our march, and met with +camels and camel-drivers in abundance, besides a few sheep and +goats. Before noon we had got clear of the sandy patch, and +entered in its stead on a firm gravelly soil. Here we +enjoyed an hour of midday halt and shade in a natural cavern, +hollowed out in a high granite rock, itself an advanced guard of +the main body of Djebel Shomer. This mountain range now +rose before us, wholly unlike any other that I had ever seen; a +huge mass of crag and stone, piled up in fantastic disorder, with +green valleys and habitations intervening. The sun had not +yet set when we reached the pretty village of Kenah, amid groves +and waters—no more, however, running streams like those of +Djowf, but an artificial irrigation by means of wells and +buckets. At some <a name="page134"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 134</span>distance from the houses stood a +cluster of three or four large overshadowing trees, objects of +peasant veneration here, as once in Palestine. The welcome +of the inhabitants, when we dismounted at their doors, was hearty +and hospitable, nay, even polite and considerate; and a good +meal, with a dish of fresh grapes for dessert, was soon set +before us in the veranda of a pleasant little house, much +reminding me of an English farm-cottage, whither the good man of +the dwelling had invited us for the evening. All expressed +great desire to profit by our medical skill; and on our reply +that we could not conveniently open shop except at the capital, +Ha’yel, several announced their resolution to visit us +there; and subsequently kept their word, though at the cost of +about twenty-four miles of journey.</p> +<p>“We rose very early. Our path, well tracked and +trodden, now lay between ridges of precipitous rock, rising +abruptly from a level and grassy plain; sometimes the road was +sunk in deep gorges, sometimes it opened out on wider spaces, +where trees and villages appeared, while the number of wayfarers, +on foot or mounted, single or in bands, still increased as we +drew nearer to the capital. There was an air of newness and +security about the dwellings and plantations hardly to be found +nowadays in any other part of Arabia, Oman alone excepted. +I may add also the great frequency of young trees and ground +newly enclosed, a cheerful sight, yet further enhanced by the +total absence of ruins, so common in the East; hence the general +effect produced by Djebel Shomer, when contrasted with most other +<a name="page135"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +135</span>provinces or kingdoms around, near and far, is that of +a newly coined piece, in all its sharpness and shine, amid a +dingy heap of defaced currency. It is a fresh creation, and +shows what Arabia might be under better rule than it enjoys for +the most part: an inference rendered the more conclusive by the +fact that in natural and unaided fertility Djebel Shomer is +perhaps the least favored district in the entire central +peninsula.</p> +<p>“We were here close under the backbone of Djebel Shomer, +whose reddish crags rose in the strangest forms on our right and +left, while a narrow cleft down to the plain-level below gave +opening to the capital. Very hard to bring an army through +this against the will of the inhabitants thought I; fifty +resolute men could, in fact, hold the pass against thousands; nor +is there any other approach to Ha’yel from the northern +direction. The town is situated near the very centre of the +mountains; it was as yet entirely concealed from our view by the +windings of the road amid huge piles of rock. Meanwhile +from Djobbah to Ha’yel the whole plain gradually rises, +running up between the sierras, whose course from northeast to +southwest crosses two-thirds of the upper peninsula, and forms +the outwork of the central high country. Hence the name of +Nedjed, literally ‘highland,’ in contradistinction to +the coast and the outlying provinces of lesser elevation.</p> +<p>“The sun was yet two hours’ distance above the +western horizon, when we threaded the narrow and winding defile, +till we arrived at its farther end. <a +name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 136</span>Here we +found ourselves on the verge of a large plain, many miles in +length and breadth, and girt on every side by a high mountain +rampart, while right in front of us, at scarce a quarter of an +hour’s march, lay the town of Ha’yel, surrounded by +fortifications of about twenty feet in height, with bastion +towers, some round, some square, and large folding gates at +intervals; it offered the same show of freshness, and even of +something like irregular elegance, that had before struck us in +the villages on our way. This, however, was a full-grown +town, and its area might readily hold three hundred thousand +inhabitants or more, were its streets and houses close packed +like those of Brussels or Paris. But the number of citizens +does not, in fact, exceed twenty or twenty-two thousand, thanks +to the many large gardens, open spaces, and even plantations, +included within the outer walls, while the immense palace of the +monarch alone, with its pleasure-grounds annexed, occupies about +one-tenth of the entire city. Our attention was attracted +by a lofty tower, some seventy feet in height, of recent +construction and oval form, belonging to the royal +residence. The plain all around the town is studded with +isolated houses and gardens, the property of wealthy citizens, or +of members of the kingly family, and on the far-off skirts of the +plain appear the groves belonging to Kafar, ’Adwah, and +other villages, placed at the openings of the mountain gorges +that conduct to the capital. The town walls and buildings +shone yellow in the evening sun, and the whole prospect was one +of thriving security, delightful to view, though wanting in the +<a name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 137</span>peculiar +luxuriance of vegetation offered by the valley of Djowf. A +few Bedouin tents lay clustered close by the ramparts, and the +great number of horsemen, footmen, camels, asses, peasants, +townsmen, boys, women, and other like, all passing to and fro on +their various avocations, gave cheerfulness and animation to the +scene.</p> +<p>“We crossed the plain and made for the town gate, +opposite the castle; next, with no little difficulty, prevailed +on our camels to pace the high-walled street, and at last arrived +at the open space in front of the palace. It was yet an +hour before sunset, or rather more; the business of the day was +over in Ha’yel, and the outer courtyard where we now stood +was crowded with loiterers of all shapes and sizes. We made +our camels kneel down close by the palace gate, alongside of some +forty or fifty others, and then stepped back to repose our very +weary limbs on a stone bench opposite the portal, and awaited +what might next occur.”</p> +<h2><a name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +138</span>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Life in Ha’yel</span>.</p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">At</span> our first appearance a +slight stir takes place. The customary salutations are +given and returned by those nearest at hand; and a small knot of +inquisitive idlers, come up to see what and whence we are, soon +thickens into a dense circle. Many questions are asked, +first of our conductor, Djedey’, and next of ourselves; our +answers are tolerably laconic. Meanwhile a thin, +middle-sized individual, whose countenance bears the type of +smiling urbanity and precise etiquette, befitting his office at +court, approaches us. His neat and simple dress, the long +silver-circled staff in his hand, his respectful salutation, his +politely important manner, all denote him one of the palace +retinue. It is Seyf, the court chamberlain, whose special +duty is the reception and presentation of strangers. We +rise to receive him, and are greeted with a decorous ‘Peace +be with you, brothers,’ in the fulness of every inflection +and accent that the most scrupulous grammarian could +desire. We return an equally Priscianic salutation. +‘Whence have you come?’ is the first question. +‘May good attend you!’ Of course we declare +ourselves physicians from Syria, for our bulkier wares had <a +name="page139"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 139</span>been +disposed of in the Djowf, and we were now resolved to depend on +medical practice alone. ‘And what do you desire here +in our town? may God grant you success!’ says Seyf. +‘We desire the favor of God most high, and, secondly, that +of Telal,’ is our answer, conforming our style to the +correctest formulas of the country, which we had already begun to +pick up. Whereupon Seyf, looking very sweet the while, +begins, as in duty bound, a little encomium on his master’s +generosity and other excellent qualities, and assures us that we +have exactly reached right quarters.</p> +<p>“But alas! while my comrade and myself were exchanging +side-glances of mutual felicitation at such fair beginnings, +Nemesis suddenly awoke to claim her due, and the serenity of our +horizon was at once overcast by an unexpected and most unwelcome +cloud. My readers are doubtless already aware that nothing +was of higher importance for us than the most absolute incognito, +above all in whatever regarded European origin and +character. In fact, once known for Europeans, all intimate +access and sincerity of intercourse with the people of the land +would have been irretrievably lost, and our onward progress to +Nedjed rendered totally impossible. These were the very +least inconveniences that could follow such a detection; others +much more disagreeable might also be well apprehended. Now +thus far nothing had occurred capable of exciting serious +suspicion; no one had recognized us, or pretended to +recognize. We, too, on our part, had thought that Gaza, +Ma’an, and perhaps the Djowf, were the only localities <a +name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 140</span>where this +kind of recognition had to be feared. But we had reckoned +without our host; the first real danger was reserved for +Ha’yel, within the very limits of Nedjed, and with all the +desert-belt between us and our old acquaintances.</p> +<p>“For while Seyf was running through the preliminaries of +his politeness, I saw to my horror, amid the circle of +bystanders, a figure, a face well known to me scarce six months +before in Damascus, and well known to many others also, now +merchant, now trader, now post-contractor, shrewd, enterprising, +and active, though nigh fifty years of age, and intimate with +many Europeans of considerable standing in Syria and +Bagdad—one, in short, accustomed to all kinds of men, and +not to be easily imposed on by any.</p> +<p>“While I involuntarily stared dismay on my friend, and +yet doubted if it could possibly be he, all incertitude was +dispelled by his cheerful salutation, in the confidential tone of +an old acquaintance, followed by wondering inquiries as to what +wind had blown me hither, and what I meant to do here in +Ha’yel.</p> +<p>“Wishing him most heartily somewhere else, I had nothing +for it but to ‘fix a vacant stare,’ to give a formal +return of greeting, and then silence.</p> +<p>“But misfortunes never come single. While I was +thus on my defensive against so dangerous an antagonist in the +person of my free-and-easy friend, lo! a tall, sinister-featured +individual comes up, clad in the dress of an inhabitant of +Kaseem, and abruptly breaks in with, ‘And I too have seen +him <a name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 141</span>at +Damascus,’ naming at the same time the place and date of +the meeting, and specifying exactly the circumstances most +calculated to set me down for a genuine European.</p> +<p>“Had he really met me as he said? I cannot +precisely say; the place he mentioned was one whither men, +half-spies, half-travellers, and whole intriguers from the +interior districts, nay, even from Nedjed itself, not +unfrequently resort; and, as I myself was conscious of having +paid more than one visit there, my officious interlocutor might +very possibly have been one of those present on some such +occasion. So that although I did not now recognize him in +particular, there was a strong intrinsic probability in favor of +his ill-timed veracity; and his thus coming in to support the +first witness in his assertions rendered my predicament, already +unsafe, yet worse.</p> +<p>“But ere I could frame an answer or resolve what course +to hold, up came a third, who, by overshooting the mark, put the +game into our hands. He too salaams me as an old friend, +and then, turning to those around, now worked up to a most +extraordinary pitch of amazed curiosity, says, ‘And I also +know him perfectly well; I have often met him at Cairo, where he +lives in great wealth in a large house near the +Kasr-el-’Eynee; his name is ’Abd-es-Saleeb; he is +married, and has a very beautiful daughter, who rides an +expensive horse,’ etc.</p> +<p>“Here at last was a pure invention or mistake (for I +know not which it was) that admitted of a flat denial. +‘Aslahek Allah,’ ‘May Heaven set you +right,’ <a name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +142</span>said I; ‘never did I live at Cairo, nor have I +the blessing of any horse-riding young ladies for +daughters.’ Then, looking very hard at my second +detector, toward whom I had all the right of doubt, ‘I do +not remember having ever seen you; think well as to what you say; +many a man besides myself has a reddish beard and straw-colored +mustaches,’ taking pains, however, not to seem particularly +‘careful to answer him in this matter,’ but as if +merely questioning the precise identity. But for the first +of the trio I knew not what to do or to reply, so I continued to +look at him with a killing air of inquisitive stupidity, as +though not fully understanding his meaning.</p> +<p>“But Seyf, though himself at first somewhat staggered by +this sudden downpour of recognition, was now reassured by the +discomfiture of the third witness, and came to the convenient +conclusion that the two others were no better worthy of +credit. ‘Never mind them,’ exclaimed he, +addressing himself to us, ‘they are talkative liars, mere +gossipers; let them alone, they do not deserve attention; come +along with me to the k’hawah in the palace, and rest +yourselves.’ Then turning to my poor Damascene +friend, whose only wrong was to have been overmuch in the right, +he sharply chid him, and next the rest, and led us off, most glad +to follow the leader, through the narrow and dark portal into the +royal residence.</p> +<p>“Here we remained whilst coffee was, as wont, prepared +and served. Seyf, who had left us awhile, now came back to +say that Telal would soon return <a name="page143"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 143</span>from his afternoon walk in a garden +where he had been taking the air, and that if we would pass into +the outer court we should then and there have the opportunity of +paying him our introductory respects. He added that we +should afterward find our supper ready, and be provided also with +good lodgings for the night; finally, that the k’hawah and +what it contained were always at our disposition so long as we +should honor Ha’yel by our presence.</p> +<p>“We rose accordingly and returned with Seyf to the +outside area. It was fuller than ever, on account of the +expected appearance of the monarch. A few minutes later we +saw a crowd approach from the upper extremity of the place, +namely, that toward the market. When the new-comers drew +near, we saw them to be almost exclusively armed men, with some +of the more important-looking citizens, but all on foot. In +the midst of this circle, though detached from those around them, +slowly advanced three personages, whose dress and deportment, +together with the respectful distance observed by the rest, +announced superior rank. ‘Here comes Telal,’ +said Seyf, in an undertone.</p> +<p>“The midmost figure was in fact that of the prince +himself. Short of stature, broad-shouldered, and strongly +built, of a very dusky complexion, with long black hair, dark and +piercing eyes, and a countenance rather severe than open, Telal +might readily be supposed above forty years in age, though he is +in fact thirty-seven or thirty-eight at most. His step was +measured, his demeanor grave and somewhat haughty. His +dress, a long robe of cashmere shawl, covered <a +name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 144</span>the white +Arab shirt, and over all he wore a delicately worked cloak of +camel’s-hair from Oman, a great rarity, and highly valued +in this part of Arabia. His head was adorned by a broidered +handkerchief, in which silk and gold thread had not been spared, +and girt by a broad band of camel’s-hair entwined with red +silk, the manufacture of Meshid ’Alee. A gold-mounted +sword hung by his side, and his dress was perfumed with musk, in +a degree better adapted to Arab than to European nostrils. +His glance never rested for a moment; sometimes it turned on his +nearer companions, sometimes on the crowd; I have seldom seen so +truly an ‘eagle eye,’ in rapidity and in +brilliancy.</p> +<p>“By his side walked a tall, thin individual, clad in +garments of somewhat less costly material, but of gayer colors +and embroidery than those of the king himself. His face +announced unusual intelligence and courtly politeness; his sword +was not, however, adorned with gold, the exclusive privilege of +the royal family, but with silver only.</p> +<p>“This was Zamil, the treasurer and prime +minister—sole minister, indeed, of the autocrat. +Raised from beggary by Abdallah, the late king, who had seen in +the ragged orphan signs of rare capacity, he continued to merit +the uninterrupted favor of his patron, and after his death, had +become equally, or yet more, dear to Telal, who raised him from +post to post, till he at last occupied the highest position in +the kingdom after the monarch himself. Of the demurely +smiling Abd-el-Mahsin, the second companion of the king’s +evening walk, I will say nothing for the <a +name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 145</span>moment; we +shall have him before long for a very intimate acquaintance and a +steady friend.</p> +<p>“Everyone stood up as Telal drew nigh. Seyf gave +us a sign to follow him, made way through the crowd, and saluted +his sovereign with the authorized formula of ‘Peace be with +you, O the Protected of God!’ Telal at once cast on +us a penetrating glance, and addressed a question in a low voice +to Seyf, whose answer was in the same tone. The prince then +looked again toward us, but with a friendlier expression of +face. We approached and touched his open hand, repeating +the same salutation as that used by Seyf. No bow, +hand-kissing, or other ceremony is customary on these +occasions. Telal returned our greeting, and then, without a +word more to us, whispered a moment to Seyf, and passed on +through the palace gate.</p> +<p>“‘He will give you a private audience +to-morrow,’ said Seyf, ‘and I will take care that you +have notice of it in due time; meanwhile come to +supper.’ The sun had already set when we re-entered +the palace. This time, after passing the arsenal, we turned +aside into a large square court, distinct from the former, and +surrounded by an open veranda, spread with mats. Two large +ostriches, presents offered to Telal by some chiefs of the +Solibah tribe, strutted about the enclosure, and afforded much +amusement to the negro boys and scullions of the +establishment. Seyf conducted us to the further side of the +court, where we seated ourselves under the portico.</p> +<p>“Hither some black slaves immediately brought the +supper; the ‘pièce de résistance’ was, +as usual, a <a name="page146"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +146</span>huge dish of rice and boiled meat, with some thin cakes +of unleavened bread and dates, and small onions with chopped +gourds intermixed. The cookery was better than what we had +heretofore tasted, though it would, perhaps, have hardly passed +muster with a Vatel. We made a hearty meal, took coffee in +the k’hawah, and then returned to sit awhile and smoke our +pipes in the open air. Needs not say how lovely are the +summer evenings, how cool the breeze, how pure the sky, in these +mountainous districts.”</p> +<p>Palgrave gives a historical sketch of the rise of Prince Telal +to a position of power and importance in Central Arabia, scarcely +secondary to that of the Wahabee ruler of Nedjed. The +region of Djebel Shomer was subjected to the Wahabee rule during +the last century, and the severe discipline of the new creed was +forced upon its inhabitants. But, after the taking of +Derreyeh by Ibrahim Pasha, the people regained a partial +independence, and a rivalry for the chieftainship ensued between +the two noble houses of Djaaper and Beyt Alee. The leader +of the former was a young man named Abdallah, of more than +ordinary character and intelligence, wealthy and popular. +But he was defeated in the struggle, and about the year 1820 was +driven into exile.</p> +<p>With a small band of followers he reached the Wady Sirhan +(traversed by Palgrave on his way to the Djowf), where they were +attacked by the Aneyzeh Bedouins, all the rest slain, and +Abdallah left for dead on the sands. The Arab story is that +the locusts came around them, scattered the sand with their wings +and feet upon his wounds and thus stopped the <a +name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 147</span>flow of +blood, while a flock of partridges hung above him to screen him +from the burning sun. A merchant of Damascus, passing by +with his caravan, beheld the miracle, took the youth, bound up +his wounds, and restored him to health by the most tender +care. When he had recovered his vigor in Damascus, the +generous merchant sent him back to Arabia.</p> +<p>He went first to the Nedjed, entered the service of the +Wahabee chief, rose to high military rank, and finally, by his +own personal bravery, secured the sovereignty to Feysul, the +present (1863) ruler. The latter then gave him an army to +recover his heritage of Djebel Shomer, and about the year 1830 +his sway was secured in his native country. The rival clan +of Beyt Alee was extirpated, only one child being left, whom +Telal afterward, with a rare but politic generosity, restored to +wealth and honors.</p> +<p>Abdallah took every means to strengthen his power. He +found it necessary, through his dependence on Feysul, to +establish the Wahabee creed; he used the Bedouins as allies, in +order to repress the rivalry of the nobles, and thus gained power +at the expense of popularity. Many plots were formed +against him, many attempts made to assassinate him, but they all +failed: his lucky star attended him throughout. Up to this +time he had dwelt in a quarter of the capital which the old +chieftains and the nobility had mainly chosen for their domicile, +and where the new monarch was surrounded by men his equals in +birth and of even more ancient title to command. But now he +added a new quarter to the town, and <a name="page148"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 148</span>there laid the foundations of a vast +palace destined for the future abode of the king and the display +of all his grandeur, amid streets and nobles of his own +creation. The walls of the projected edifice were fast +rising when he died, almost suddenly, in 1844 or 1845, leaving +three sons—Telal, Meta’ab, and Mohammed—the +eldest scarce twenty years of age, besides his only surviving +brother Obeyd, who could not then have been much under fifty.</p> +<p>“Telal was already highly popular,” says Palgrave, +“much more so than his father, and had given early tokens +of those superior qualities which accompanied him to the +throne. All parties united to proclaim him sole heir to the +kingdom and lawful successor to the regal power, and thus the +rival pretensions of Obeyd, hated by many and feared by all, were +smothered at the outset and put aside without a contest.</p> +<p>“The young sovereign possessed, in fact, all that Arab +ideas require to insure good government and lasting +popularity. Affable toward the common people, reserved and +haughty with the aristocracy, courageous and skilful in war, a +lover of commerce and building in time of peace, liberal even to +profusion, yet always careful to maintain and augment the state +revenue, neither over-strict nor yet scandalously lax in +religion, secret in his designs, but never known to break a +promise once given, or violate a plighted faith; severe in +administration, yet averse to bloodshed, he offered the very type +of what an Arab prince should be. I might add, that among +all rulers or governors, European or Asiatic, with whose <a +name="page149"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +149</span>acquaintance I have ever chanced to be honored, I know +few equal in the true art of government to Telal, son of +Abdallah-ebn-Rasheed.</p> +<p>“His first cares were directed to adorn and civilize the +capital. Under his orders, enforced by personal +superintendence, the palace commenced by his father was soon +brought to completion. But he added, what probably his +father would hardly have thought of, a long row of warehouses, +the dependencies and property of the same palace; next he built a +market-place consisting of about eighty shops or magazines, +destined for public commerce and trade, and lastly constructed a +large mosque for the official prayers of Friday. Round the +palace, and in many other parts of the town, he opened streets, +dug wells, and laid out extensive gardens, besides strengthening +the old fortifications all round and adding new ones. At +the same time he managed to secure at once the fidelity and the +absence of his dangerous uncle by giving him charge of those +military expeditions which best satisfied the restless energy of +Obeyd. The first of these wars was directed, I know not on +what pretext, against Kheybar. But as Telal intended rather +to enforce submission than to inflict ruin, he associated with +Obeyd in the military command his own brother Meta’ab, to +put a check on the ferocity of the former. Kheybar was +conquered, and Telal sent thither, as governor in his name, a +young man of Ha’yel, prudent and gentle, whom I +subsequently met when he was on a visit at the capital.</p> +<p>“Not long after, the inhabitants of Kaseem, weary of +Wahabee tyranny, turned their eyes toward Telal, <a +name="page150"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 150</span>who had +already given a generous and inviolable asylum to the numerous +political exiles of that district. Secret negotiations took +place, and at a favorable moment the entire uplands of that +province—after a fashion not indeed peculiar to +Arabia—annexed themselves to the kingdom of Shomer by +universal and unanimous suffrage. Telal made suitable +apologies to the Nedjean monarch, the original sovereign of the +annexed district; he could not resist the popular wish; it had +been forced on him, etc.—but Western Europe is familiar +with the style. Feysul felt the inopportuneness of a +quarrel with the rapidly growing power to which he himself had +given origin only a few years before, and, after a wry face or +two, swallowed the pill. Meanwhile Telal knowing the +necessity of a high military reputation, both at home and abroad, +undertook in person a series of operations against Teyma’ +and its neighborhood, and at last against the Djowf itself. +Everywhere his arms were successful, and his moderation in +victory secured the attachment of the vanquished themselves.</p> +<p>“Toward his own subjects his conduct is uniformly of a +nature to merit their obedience and attachment, and few +sovereigns have here met with better success. Once a day, +often twice, he gives public audience, hears patiently, and +decides in person, the minutest causes with great good +sense. To the Bedouins, no insignificant portion of his +rule, he makes up for the restraint he imposes, and the tribute +he levies from them, by a profusion of hospitality not to be +found elsewhere in the whole of Arabia from Akabah to Aden. +His guests at the midday <a name="page151"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 151</span>and evening meal are never less than +fifty or sixty, and I have often counted up to two hundred at a +banquet, while presents of dress and arms are of frequent if not +daily occurrence. It is hard for Europeans to estimate how +much popularity such conduct brings an Asiatic prince. +Meanwhile the townsfolk and villagers love him for the more solid +advantages of undisturbed peace at home, of flourishing commerce, +of extended dominion, and military glory.</p> +<p>“To capital punishment he is decidedly adverse, and the +severest penalty with which he has hitherto chastised political +offences is banishment or prison. Indeed, even in cases of +homicide or murder, he has been known not unfrequently to avail +himself of the option allowed by Arab custom between a fine and +retaliation, and to buy off the offender, by bestowing on the +family of the deceased the allotted price of blood from his own +private treasury, and that from a pure motive of humanity. +When execution does take place, it is always by beheading; nor is +indeed any other mode of putting to death customary in +Arabia. Stripes, however, are not uncommon, though +administered on the broad back, not on the sole of the +foot. They are the common chastisement for minor offences, +like stealing, cursing, or quarrelling; in this last case both +parties usually come in for their share.</p> +<p>“With his numerous retainers he is almost +over-indulgent, and readily pardons a mistake or a negligence; +falsehood alone he never forgives; and it is notorious that +whoever has once lied to Telal must give up all hopes of future +favor.”</p> +<p><a name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 152</span>After +describing the public audience which is daily given by this +excellent prince, Palgrave describes the more private reception +which was accorded to himself and his companion:</p> +<p>“Telal, once free from the mixed crowd, pauses a moment +till we rejoin him. The simple and customary salutations +are given and returned. I then present him with our only +available testimonial, the scrap written by Hamood from the +Djowf. He opens it, and hands it over to Zamil, better +skilled in reading than his master. Then laying aside all +his wonted gravity, and assuming a good-humored smile, he takes +my hand in his right and my companion’s in his left, and +thus walks on with us through the court, past the mosque, and +down the market-place, while his attendants form a moving wall +behind and on either side.</p> +<p>“He was in his own mind thoroughly persuaded that we +were, as we appeared, Syrians; but imagined, nor was he entirely +in the wrong thus far, that we had other objects in view than +mere medical practice. But if he was right in so much, he +was less fortunate in the interpretation he chose to put on our +riddle, having imagined that our real scope must be to buy horses +for some government, of which we must be the agents; a conjecture +which had certainly the merit of plausibility. However, +Telal had, I believe, no doubt on the matter, and had already +determined to treat us well in the horse business, and to let us +have a good bargain, as it shortly appeared.</p> +<p>“Accordingly he began a series of questions and +cross-questions, all in a jocose way, but so that the <a +name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 153</span>very drift +of his inquiries soon allowed us to perceive what he really +esteemed us. We, following our previous resolution, stuck +to medicine, a family in want, hopes of good success under the +royal patronage and much of the same tenor. But Telal was +not so easily to be blinkered, and kept to his first +judgment. Meanwhile we passed down the street, lined with +starers at the king and us, and at last arrived at the outer door +of a large house near the farther end of the Sook or +market-place; it belonged to Hasan, the merchant from Meshid +’Alee.</p> +<p>“Three of the retinue stationed themselves by way of +guard at the street door, sword in hand. The rest entered +with the king and ourselves; we traversed the court-yard, where +the remainder of the armed men took position, while we went on to +the k’hawah. It was small, but well furnished and +carpeted. Here Telal placed us amicably by his side in the +highest place; his brother Mohammed and five or six others were +admitted, and seated themselves each according to his rank, while +Hasan, being master of the house, did the honors.</p> +<p>“Coffee was brought and pipes lighted. Meantime +Ebn-Rasheed renewed his interrogatory, skilfully throwing out +side remarks, now on the government of Syria, now on that of +Egypt, then on the Bedouins to the north of Djowf, or on the +tribes of Hedjaz, or on the banks of the Euphrates, thus to gain +light whence and to what end we had in fact come. Next he +questioned us on medicine, perhaps to discover whether we had the +right professional tone; then on horses, about which same noble +<a name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 154</span>animals +we affected an ignorance unnatural and very unpardonable in an +Englishman; but for which I hope afterward to make amends to my +readers. All was in vain; and after a full hour our noble +friend had only managed by his cleverness to get himself farther +off the right track than he had been at the outset. He felt +it, and determined to let matters have their own course, and to +await the result of time. So he ended by assuring us of his +entire confidence and protection, offering us, to boot, a lodging +on the palace grounds. But this we declined, being desirous +of studying the country as it was in itself, not through the +medium of a court atmosphere; so we begged that an abode might be +assigned us as near the market-place as possible; and this he +promised, though evidently rather put out by our independent +ways.</p> +<p>“Excellent water-melons, ready peeled and cut up, with +peaches hardly ripe, for it was the beginning of the season, were +now brought in, and we all partook in common. This was the +signal for breaking up; Telal renewed his proffers of favor and +patronage; and we were at last reconducted to our lodgings by one +of the royal guard.</p> +<p>“Seyf now went in search of a permanent dwelling-place +wherein to install us; and, before evening, succeeded in finding +one situated in a street leading at right angles to the market, +and at no unreasonable distance from the palace. Every door +was provided with its own distinct lock; the keys here are made +of iron, and in this respect Ha’yel has the better of any +other Arab town it was my chance to visit, where the <a +name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 155</span>keys were +invariably wooden, and thus very liable to break and get out of +order.</p> +<p>“The court-yard was soon thronged with visitors, some +from the palace, others from the town. One had a sick +relation, whom he begged us to come and see, another some +personal ailment, a third had called out of mere politeness or +curiosity; in short, men of all conditions and of all ages, but +for the most part open and friendly in manner, so that we could +already anticipate a very speedy acquaintance with the town and +whatever it contained.</p> +<p>“The nature of our occupations now led to a certain +daily routine, though it was often agreeably diversified by +incidental occurrences. Perhaps a leaf taken at random from +my journal, now regularly kept, may serve to set before my +readers a tolerable sample of our ordinary course of life and +society at Ha’yel, while it will at the same time give a +more distinct idea of the town and people than we have yet +supplied.</p> +<p>“Be it, then, the 10th of August, whose jotted notes I +will put together and fill up the blanks. I might equally +have taken the 9th or the 11th, they are all much the same; but +the day I have chosen looks a little the closer written of the +two, and for that sole reason I prefer giving it.</p> +<p>“On that day, then, in 1862, about a fortnight after our +establishment at Ha’yel, and when we were, in consequence, +fully inured to our town existence, Seleem Abou +Mahmood-el-’Eys and Barakat-esh-Shamee, that is, my +companion and myself, rose, not from our beds, for we had none, +but from our <a name="page156"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +156</span>roof-spread carpets, and took advantage of the silent +hour of the first faint dawn, while the stars yet kept watch in +the sky over the slumbering inhabitants of Shomer, to leave the +house for a cool and undisturbed walk ere the sun should arise +and man go forth unto his work and to his labor. We locked +the outer door, and then passed into the still twilight gloom +down the cross-street leading to the market-place, which we next +followed up to its farther or southwestern end, where large +folding-gates separate it from the rest of the town. The +wolfish city-dogs, whose bark and bite, too, render walking the +streets at night a rather precarious business, now tamely stalked +away in the gloaming, while here and there a crouching camel, the +packages yet on his back, and his sleeping driver close by, +awaited the opening of the warehouse at whose door they had +passed the night. Early though it was, the market gates +were already unclosed, and the guardian sat wakeful in his +niche. On leaving the market we had yet to go down a broad +street of houses and gardens cheerfully intermixed, till at last +we reached the western wall of the town, or, rather, of the new +quarter added by ’Abdallah, where the high portal between +round flanking towers gave us issue on the open plain, blown over +at this hour by a light gale of life and coolness. To the +west, but some four or five miles distant, rose the serrated mass +of Djebel Shomer, throwing up its black fantastic peaks, now +reddened by the reflected dawn, against the lead-blue sky. +Northward the same chain bends round till it meets the town, and +then stretches away for a length of ten or twelve <a +name="page157"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 157</span>days’ +journey, gradually losing in height on its approach to Meshid +’Alee and the valley of the Euphrates. On our south +we have a little isolated knot of rocks, and far off the extreme +ranges of Djebel Shomer, or ’Aja, to give it its historical +name, intersected by the broad passes that lead on in the same +direction to Djebel Solma. Behind us lies the +capital. Telal’s palace, with its high oval keep, +houses, gardens, walls, and towers, all coming out black against +the ruddy bars of eastern light, and behind, a huge pyramidal +peak almost overhanging the town, and connected by lower rocks +with the main mountain range to north and south, those stony ribs +that protect the central heart of the kingdom. In the plain +itself we can just distinguish by the doubtful twilight several +blackish patches irregularly scattered over its face, or seen as +though leaning upward against its craggy verge; these are the +gardens and country houses of ’Obeyd and other chiefs, +besides hamlets and villages, such as Kefar and ’Adwah, +with their groves of palm and ‘ithel’ (the Arab +larch), now blended in the dusk. One solitary traveller on +his camel, a troop of jackals sneaking off to their rocky cavern, +a few dingy tents of Shomer Bedouins, such are the last details +of the landscape. Far away over the southern hills beams +the glory of Canopus, and announces a new Arab year; the +pole-star to the north lies low over the mountain tops.</p> +<p>“We pace the pebble-strown flat to the south till we +leave behind us the length of the town wall, and reach the little +cluster of rocks already mentioned. We scramble up to a +sort of niche near its summit, <a name="page158"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 158</span>whence, at a height of a hundred +feet or more, we can overlook the whole extent of the plain and +wait the sunrise. Yet before the highest crags of Shomer +are gilt with its first rays, or the long giant shadows of the +easterly chain have crossed the level, we see groups of peasants, +who, driving their fruit and vegetable-laden asses before them, +issue like little bands of ants from the mountain gorges around, +and slowly approach on the tracks converging to the +capital. Horsemen from the town ride out to the gardens, +and a long line of camels on the westerly Medina road winds up +toward Ha’yel. We wait ensconced in our rocky lookout +and enjoy the view till the sun has risen, and the coolness of +the night air warms rapidly into the sultry day; it is time to +return. So we quit our solitary perch and descend to the +plain, where, keeping in the shadow of the western +fortifications, we regain the town gate and thence the +market.</p> +<p>“There all is now life and movement; some of the +warehouses, filled with rice, flour, spices, or coffee, and often +concealing in their inner recesses stores of the prohibited +American weed, are already open; we salute the owners while we +pass, and they return a polite and friendly greeting. +Camels are unloading in the streets, and Bedouins standing by, +looking anything but at home in the town. The shoemaker and +the blacksmith, those two main props of Arab handicraft, are +already at their work, and some gossiping bystanders are +collected around them. At the corner where our cross-street +falls into the market-place, three or four country women are <a +name="page159"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 159</span>seated, +with piles of melons, gourds, egg-plant fruits, and the other +garden produce before them for sale. My companion falls a +haggling with one of these village nymphs, and ends by obtaining +a dozen ‘badinjans’ and a couple of water-melons, +each bigger than a man’s head, for the equivalent of an +English twopence. With this purchase we return home, where +we shut and bolt the outer door, then take out of a flat basket +what has remained from over night of our wafer-like Ha’yel +bread, and with this and a melon make a hasty breakfast. I +say a hasty one, for although it is only half an hour after +sunrise, repeated knocks at our portal show the arrival of +patients and visitors: early rising being here the fashion, and +in reason must be wherever artificial lighting is scanty. +However, we do not at once open to our friends, nor will they +take offence at the delay, but remain where they are, chatting +together before our door till we admit them; of so little value +is time here.</p> +<p>“In comes a young man of good appearance, clad in the +black cloak common to all of the middle or upper classes in +Central Arabia; in his hand he bears a wand of the Sidr or +lotos-wood. A silver-hilted sword and a glistening +Kafee’yah announce him to be a person of some importance, +while his long, black ringlets, handsome features, and slightly +olive complexion, with a tall stature and easy gait, declare him +a native of Djebel Shomer, and townsman of Ha’yel; it is +’Ojeyl, the eldest-born of a large family, and successor to +the comfortable house and garden of his father, not long since +deceased, in a <a name="page160"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +160</span>quarter of the town some twenty minutes’ walk +distant. He leads by the hand his younger brother, a +modest-looking lad of fair complexion and slim make, but almost +blind, and evidently out of health also. After passing +through the preliminary ceremonies of introduction to Barakat, he +approaches my recess, and standing without, salutes me with the +greatest deference. Thinking him a desirable acquaintance I +receive him very graciously, and he begs me to see what is the +matter with his brother. I examine the case, finding it to +be within the limits of my skill, and not likely to require more +than a very simple course of treatment. Accordingly I make +my bargain for the chances of recovery, and find ’Ojeyl +docile to the terms proposed, and with little disposition, all +things considered, to backwardness in payment. Arabs, +indeed, are in general close in driving a bargain and open in +downright giving; they will chaffer half a day about a penny, +while they will throw away the worth of pounds on the first +asker. But ’Ojeyl was one of the best specimens of +the Ha’yel character, and of the clan Ta’i, renowned +in all times for their liberal ways and high sense of +honor. I next proceed to administer to my patient such +drugs as his state requires, and he receives them with that air +of absolute and half-religious confidence which well-educated +Arabs show to their physician, whom they regard as possessed of +an almost sacred and supernatural power—a feeling, by the +way, hardly less advantageous to the patient than to the +practitioner, and which may often contribute much to the success +of the treatment.</p> +<p><a name="page161"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +161</span>“During the rest of my stay at Ha’yel, +’Ojeyl continued to be one of my best friends, I had almost +said disciples; our mutual visits were frequent, and always +pleasing and hearty. His brother’s cure, which +followed in less than a fortnight, confirmed his attachment, nor +had I reason to complain of scantiness in his retribution.</p> +<p>“Meanwhile the court-yard has become full of +visitors. Close by my door I see the intelligent and +demurely smiling face of ’Abd-el-Mahsin, where he sits +between two pretty and well-dressed boys; they are the two elder +children of Telal—Bedr and Bander. Their guardsman, a +negro slave with a handsome cloak and sword, is seated a little +lower down; farther on are two townsmen, one armed, the other +with a wand at his side. A rough, good-natured youth, of a +bronzed complexion, and whose dingy clothes bespeak his +mechanical profession, is talking with another of a dress +somewhat different in form and coarser in material than that +usually worn in Ha’yel; this latter must be a peasant from +some one of the mountain villages. Two Bedouins, ragged and +uncouth, have straggled in with the rest; while a tall, +dark-featured youth, with a gilded hilt to his sword, and more +silk about him than a Wahabee would approve, has taken his place +opposite to ’Abd-el-Mahsin, and is trying to draw him into +conversation. But this last has asked Barakat to lend him +one of my Arabic books to read, and is deeply engaged in its +perusal.</p> +<p>“’Ojeyl has taken leave, and I give the next turn +of course to ’Abd-el-Mahsin. He informs me that Telal +has sent me his two sons, Bedr and Bander, that <a +name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 162</span>I may +examine their state of health, and see if they require +doctoring. This is in truth a little stroke of policy on +Telal’s part, who knows equally with myself that the boys +are perfectly well and want nothing at all. But he wishes +to give us a mark of his confidence, and at the same time to help +us in establishing our medical reputation in the town; for though +by no means himself persuaded of the reality of our doctoral +title, he understands the expediency of saving appearances before +the public.</p> +<p>“Well, the children are passed in review with all the +seriousness due to a case of heart complaint or brain fever, +while at a wink from me Barakat prepares in the kitchen a draught +of cinnamon water, which, with sugar, named medicine for the +occasion, pleases the young heirs of royalty and keeps up the +farce; ’Abd-el-Mahsin expatiating all the time to the +bystanders on the wonderful skill with which I have at once +discovered the ailments and their cure, and the small boys +thinking that if this be medicine they will do their best to be +ill for it every day.</p> +<p>“’Abd-el-Mahsin now commits them to the negro, +who, however, before taking them back to the palace, has his own +story to tell of some personal ache, for which I prescribe +without stipulating for payment, since he belongs to the palace, +where it is important to have the greatest number of friends +possible, even on the back stairs. But ’Abd-el-Mahsin +remains, reading, chatting, quoting poetry, and talking history, +recent events, natural philosophy, or medicine, as the case may +be.</p> +<p>“Let us now see some of the other patients. The <a +name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 163</span>gold-hilted +swordsman has naturally a special claim on our attention. +He is the son of Rosheyd, Telal’s maternal uncle. His +palace stands on the other side of the way, exactly opposite to +our house; and I will say nothing more of him for the present, +intending to pay him afterward a special visit, and thus become +more thoroughly acquainted with the whole family.</p> +<p>“Next let us take notice of those two townsmen who are +conversing, or rather ‘chaffing,’ together. +Though both in plain apparel, and much alike in stature and +features, there is yet much about them to distinguish the two; +one has a civilian look, the other a military. He of the +wand is no less a personage than Mohammed-el-Kadee, chief justice +of Ha’yel, and of course a very important individual in the +town. However, his exterior is that of an elderly, +unpretentious, little man, and one, in spite of the proverb which +attributes gravity to judges, very fond of a joke, besides being +a tolerable representative of what may here be called the +moderate party, neither participating in the fanaticism of the +Wahabee, nor yet, like the most of the indigenous chiefs, hostile +to Mahometanism; he takes his cue from the court direction and is +popular with all factions because belonging properly to none.</p> +<p>“He requires some medical treatment for himself, and +more for his son, a big, heavy lad with a swollen arm, who has +accompanied him hither. Here, too, is a useful +acquaintance, well up to all the scandal and small talk of the +town, and willing to communicate it. Our visits were +frequent, and I found his house <a name="page164"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 164</span>well stored with books, partly +manuscript, partly printed in Egypt, and mainly on legal or +religious subjects.</p> +<p>“Of the country folks in the villages around, like +Mogah, Delhemee’eh, and the rest, Mohammed-el-Kadee used to +speak with a sort of half-contemptuous pity, much like a Parisian +talking of Low Bretons; in fact, the difference between these +rough and sturdy boors and the more refined inhabitants of the +capital is, all due proportion allowed, no less remarkable here +than in Europe itself. We will now let one of them come +forward in his own behalf, and my readers shall be judges.</p> +<p>“It is accordingly a stout clown from Mogah, scantily +dressed in working wear, and who has been occupied for the last +half hour in tracing sundry diagrams on the ground before him +with a thick peach-tree switch, thus to pass his time till his +betters shall have been served. He now edges forward, and +taking his seat in front of the door, calls my attention with an +‘I say, doctor.’ Whereon I suggest to him that +his bulky corporation not being formed of glass or any other +transparent material, he has by his position entirely intercepted +whatever little light my recess might enjoy. He apologizes, +and shuffles an inch or two sideways. Next I inquire what +ails him, not without some curiosity to hear the answer, so +little does the herculean frame before me announce disease. +Whereto Do’eymis, or whatever may be his name, replies, +‘I say, I am all made up of pain.’ This +statement, like many others, appears to me rather too general to +be exactly true. So I proceed <a name="page165"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 165</span>in my interrogatory: ‘Does +your head pain you?’ ‘No.’ (I might +have guessed that; these fellows never feel what our +cross-Channel friends entitle ‘<i>le mal des beaux +esprits</i>.’) ‘Does your back +ache?’ ‘No.’ ‘Your +arms?’ ‘No.’ ‘Your +legs?’ ‘No.’ ‘Your +body?’ ‘No.’ ‘But,’ I +conclude, ‘if neither your head nor your body, back, arms, +or legs pain you, how can you possibly be such a composition of +suffering?’ ‘I am all made up of pain, +doctor,’ replies he, manfully intrenching himself within +his first position. The fact is, that there is really +something wrong with him, but he does not know how to localize +his sensations. So I push forward my inquiries, till it +appears that our man of Mogah has a chronic rheumatism; and on +ulterior investigation, conducted with all the skill that Barakat +and I can jointly muster, it comes out that three or four months +before he had an attack of the disease in its acute form, +accompanied by high fever, since which he has never been himself +again.</p> +<p>“This might suffice for the diagnosis, but I wish to see +how he will find his way out of more intricate questions; +besides, the townsmen sitting by, and equally alive to the joke +with myself, whisper, ‘Try him again.’ In +consequence, I proceed with, ‘What was the cause of your +first illness?’ ‘I say, doctor, its cause was +God,’ replies the patient. ‘No doubt of +that,’ say I; ‘all things are caused by God: but what +was the particular and immediate occasion?’ +‘Doctor, its cause was God, and secondly, that I ate +camel’s flesh when I was cold,’ rejoins my scientific +friend. ‘But was there nothing else?’ I +suggest, <a name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +166</span>not quite satisfied with the lucid explanation just +given. ‘Then, too, I drank camel’s milk; but it +was all, I say, from God, doctor,’ answers he.</p> +<p>“Well, I consider the case, and make up my mind +regarding the treatment. Next comes the grand question of +payment, which must be agreed on beforehand, and rendered +conditional on success; else no fees for the doctor, not at +Ha’yel only, but throughout Arabia. I inquire what he +will give me on recovery. ‘Doctor,’ answers the +peasant, ‘I will give you, do you hear? I say, I will +give you a camel.’ But I reply that I do not want +one. ‘I say, remember God,’ which being +interpreted here means, ‘do not be unreasonable; I will +give you a fat camel, everyone knows my camel; if you choose, I +will bring witnesses, I say.’ And while I persist in +refusing the proffered camel, he talks of butter, meal, dates, +and such like equivalents.</p> +<p>“There is a patient and a paymaster for you. +However, all ends by his behaving reasonably enough; he follows +my prescriptions with the ordinary docility, gets better, and +gives me for my pains an eighteen-penny fee.”</p> +<p>During this residence in Ha’yel, Palgrave made many +friends, and soon established those relations of familiar +intercourse which are so much easier in Moslem than in Christian +lands—a natural result of the preservation of the old +importance, which in the earliest Hebrew days was attached to +“the stranger.” Palgrave’s intimacies +embraced many families related to Telal, and others, whose +knowledge of Arabian history or literature made their +acquaintance <a name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +167</span>welcome. His own knowledge of these subjects, +fortunately, was equal to theirs, and, from the number of his +invitations to dinners and suppers, he seems to have been a +welcome guest to the better classes of Ha’yel. One of +the aristocracy, by name Dohey, was his most agreeable +acquaintance; and we quote the following pleasant account of his +intercourse:</p> +<p>“Dohey’s invitations were particularly welcome, +both from the pleasantness of his dwelling-place, and from the +varied and interesting conversation that I was sure to meet with +there. This merchant, a tall and stately man of between +fifty and sixty years of age, and whose thin features were +lighted up by a lustre of more than ordinary intelligence, was a +thorough Ha’yelite of the old caste, hating Wahabees from +the bottom of his heart, eager for information on cause and +effect, on lands and governments, and holding commerce and social +life for the main props if not the ends of civil and national +organization. His uncle, now near eighty years old, to +judge by conjecture in a land where registers are not much in +use, had journeyed to India, and traded at Bombay; in token +whereof he still wore an Indian skullcap and a cashmere +shawl. The rest of the family were in keeping with the +elder members, and seldom have I seen more dutiful children or a +better educated household. My readers will naturally +understand that by education I here imply its moral not its +intellectual phase. The eldest son, himself a middle-aged +man, would never venture into his father’s presence without +unbuckling his sword and leaving it in <a +name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 168</span>the +vestibule, nor on any account presume to sit on a level with him +or by his side in the divan.</p> +<p>“The divan itself was one of the prettiest I met with in +these parts. It was a large square room, looking out on the +large house-garden, and cheerfully lighted up by trellised +windows on two sides, while the wall of the third had purposely +been discontinued at about half its height, and the open space +thus left between it and the roof propped by pillars, between +which ‘a fruitful vine by the sides of the house’ was +intertwined so as to fill up the interval with a gay net-work of +green leaves and tendrils, transparent like stained glass in the +eastern sunbeams. Facing this cheerful light, the floor of +the apartment was raised about two feet above the rest, and +covered with gay Persian carpets, silk cushions, and the best of +Arab furniture. In the lower half of the k’hawah, and +at its farthest angle, was the small stone coffee-stove, placed +at a distance where its heat might not annoy the master and his +guests. Many of the city nobility would here resort, and +the talk generally turned on serious subjects, and above all on +the parties and politics of Arabia; while Dohey would show +himself a thorough Arab patriot, and at the same time a courteous +and indulgent judge of foreigners, qualities seldom to be met +with together in any notable degree, and therefore more +welcome.</p> +<p>“Many a pleasant hour have I passed in this half +greenhouse, half k’hawah, mid cheerful faces and varied +talk, while inly commenting on the natural resources of this +manly and vigorous people, and <a name="page169"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 169</span>straining the eye of forethought to +discern through the misty curtain of the future by what outlet +their now unfruitful, because solitary, good may be brought into +fertilizing contact with that of other more advanced nations, to +the mutual benefit of each and all.</p> +<p>“Talk went on with the ease and decorum characteristic +of good Eastern society, without the flippancy and excitement +which occasionally mars it in some countries, no less than +over-silence does in others. To my mind the Easterns are +generally superior in the science of conversation to the +inhabitants of the West; perhaps from a greater necessity of +cultivating it, as the only means of general news and intercourse +where newspapers and pamphlets are unknown.</p> +<p>“Or else some garden was the scene of our afternoon +leisure, among fruit-trees and palms, by the side of a +watercourse, whose constant supply from the well hid from view +among thick foliage, seemed the work not of laborious art, but of +unassisted nature. Here, stretched in the cool and welcome +shade, would we for hours canvass with ’Abd-el-Mahsin, and +others of similar pursuits, the respective merits of Arab poets +and authors, of Omar-ebn-el-Farid or Aboo’l ’Ola, in +meetings that had something of the Attic, yet with just enough of +the Arab to render them more acceptable by their Semitic +character of grave cheerfulness and mirthful composure.</p> +<p>“Or when the stars came out, Barakat and myself would +stroll out of the heated air of the streets <a +name="page170"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 170</span>and market +to the cool open plain, and there pass an hour or two alone, or +in conversation with what chance passer-by might steal on us, +half-unperceived and unperceiving in the dusk, and amuse +ourselves with his simplicity if he were a Bedouin, or with his +shrewdness if a townsman.</p> +<p>“Thus passed our ordinary life at Ha’yel. +Many minor incidents occurred to diversify it, many of the little +ups and downs that human intercourse never fails to furnish; +sometimes the number of patients and the urgency of their +attendance allowed of little leisure for aught except our +professional duties; sometimes a day or two would pass with +hardly any serious occupation. But of such incidents my +readers have a sufficient sample in what has been already set +down. Suffice to say, that from the 27th of July to the 8th +of September we remained doctoring in the capital or in its +immediate neighborhood.”</p> +<p>By this time Palgrave had obtained sufficient knowledge of the +country, and was anxious to advance farther eastward before the +autumn—the best season for travel—should be +spent. Now, the journey across the Shomer frontier could +only be pursued with Telal’s cognizance, and by his good +will. In fact, a passport bearing the royal signature is +indispensable for all who desire to cross the boundary, +especially into the Wahabee territory; without such a document in +hand no one would venture to conduct them.</p> +<p>“Accordingly,” he says, “we requested and +obtained a special audience at the palace. Telal, of <a +name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 171</span>whose +good-will we had received frequent, indeed daily, proofs during +our sojourn at Ha’yel, proved a sincere friend—patron +would be a juster word—to the last; exemplifying the Scotch +proverb about the guest not only who ‘will stay,’ but +also who ‘maun gang.’ To this end he then +dictated to Zamil, for Telal himself is no scribe, a passport or +general letter of safe conduct, enough to insure us good +treatment within the limits of his rule, and even beyond.</p> +<p>“When this was written, Telal affixed his seal, and rose +to leave us alone with Zamil, after a parting shake of the hand, +and wishing us a prosperous journey and speedy return. Yet +with all these motives for going, I could not but feel reluctant +to quit a pleasing town, where we certainly possessed many +sincere friends and well-wishers, for countries in which we could +by no means anticipate equal favor, or even equal safety. +Indeed, so ominous was all that we heard about Wahabee Nedjed, so +black did the landscape before us look, on nearer approach, that +I almost repented of my resolution, and was considerably inclined +to say, ‘Thus far enough, and no farther.’</p> +<p>“’Obeyd, Telal’s uncle, had left +Ha’yel the day before on a military expedition against the +Bedouins of the West. In common with all the sight-seers of +the town, we had gone to witness his departure. It was a +gay and interesting scene. ’Obeyd had caused his tent +to be pitched in the plain without the northern walls, and there +reviewed his forces. About one-third were on horseback, the +rest were mounted <a name="page172"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +172</span>on light and speedy camels; all had spears and +matchlocks, to which the gentry added swords; and while they rode +hither and thither in sham manœuvres over the parade +ground, the whole appearance was very picturesque and tolerably +martial. ’Obeyd now unfurled his own peculiar +standard, in which the green color, distinctive of Islam, had +been added border-wise to the white ground of the ancestral +Nedjean banner, mentioned fourteen centuries back by +’Omar-ebn-Kelthoom, the poet of Taghleb, and many +others. Barakat and myself mixed with the crowd of +spectators. ’Obeyd saw us, and it was now several +days since we had last met. Without hesitating he cantered +up to us, and while he tendered his hand for a farewell shake, he +said: ‘I have heard that you intend going to Ri’ad; +there you will meet with ’Abdallah, the eldest son of +Feysul; he is my particular friend; I should much desire to see +you high in his good graces, and to that end I have written him a +letter in your behalf, of which you yourselves are to be the +bearers; you will find it in my house, where I have left it for +you with one of my servants.’ He then assured us that +if he found us still at Ha’yel on his return, he would +continue to befriend us in every way; but that if we journeyed +forward to Nedjed, we should meet with a sincere friend in +’Abdallah, especially if we gave him the letter in +question.</p> +<p>“He then took his leave with a semblance of affectionate +cordiality that made the bystanders stare; thus supporting to the +last the profound dissimulation which he had only once belied for +a moment. <a name="page173"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +173</span>The letter was duly handed over to us the same +afternoon by his head steward, whom he had left to look after the +house and garden in his absence. Doubtless my readers will +be curious to know what sort of recommendation ’Obeyd had +provided us with. It was written on a small scrap of thick +paper, about four inches each way, carefully folded up and +secured by three seals. However, ‘our fears +forgetting manners,’ we thought best with Hamlet to make +perusal of this grand commission before delivering it to its +destination. So we undid the seals with precautions +admitting of reclosing them in proper form, and read the royal +knavery. I give it word for word; it ran thus: ‘In +the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate, we, +’Obeyd-ebn-Rasheed, salute you, O ’Abdallah, son of +Feysul-ebn-Sa’ood, and peace be on you, and the mercy of +God and His blessings.’ (This is the invariable +commencement of all Wahabee epistles, to the entire omission of +the complimentary formulas used by other Orientals.) +‘After which,’ so proceeded the document, ‘we +inform you that the bearers of this are one Seleem-el-’Eys, +and his comrade, Barakat-esh-Shamee, who give themselves out for +having some knowledge in’—here followed a word of +equivocal import, capable of interpretation alike by +‘medicine’ or ‘magic,’ but generally used +in Nedjed for the latter, which is at Ri’ad a capital +crime. ‘Now may God forbid that we should hear of any +evil having befallen you. We salute also your father, +Feysul, and your brothers, and all your family, and anxiously +await your news in answer. Peace be with you.’ +Here followed the signet impression.</p> +<p><a name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +174</span>“A pretty recommendation, especially under the +actual circumstances! However, not content with this, +’Obeyd found means to transmit further information +regarding us, and all in the same tenor, to Ri’ad, as we +afterward discovered. For his letter, I need hardly say +that it never passed from our possession, where it yet remains as +an interesting autograph, to that of ’Abdallah; with whom +it would inevitably have proved the one only thing wanting, as we +shall subsequently see, to make us leave the forfeit of our lives +in the Nedjean man-trap.</p> +<p>“Before evening three men knocked at our door; they were +our future guides. The eldest bore the name of Mubarek, and +was a native of the suburbs of Bereydah; all three were of the +genuine Kaseem breed, darker and lower in stature than the +inhabitants of Ha’yel, but not ill-looking, and extremely +affable in their demeanor.</p> +<p>“We had soon made all necessary arrangements for our +departure, got in a few scattered debts, packed up our +pharmacopoeia, and nothing now remained but the pleasurable pain +of farewells. They were many and mutually sincere. +Meta’ab had indeed made his a few days before, when he a +second time left Ha’yel for the pastures; Telal we had +already taken leave of, but there remained his younger brother +Mohammed to give us a hearty adieu of good augury. Most of +my old acquaintance or patients, Dohey the merchant, Mohammed the +judge, Doheym and his family, not forgetting our earliest friend +Seyf the chamberlain, Sa’eed, the cavalry officer, and +others of the court, freemen and slaves, white or black (for <a +name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 175</span>negroes +readily follow the direction indicated by their masters, and are +not ungrateful if kindly treated, while kept in their due +position), and many others of whose names Homer would have made a +catalogue and I will not, heard of our near departure and came to +express their regrets, with hopes of future meeting and +return.”</p> +<p>“Early next morning, before day, Mubarek and another of +his countrymen, named Dahesh, were at our door with the +camels. Some of our town friends had also come, even at +this hour, to accompany us as far as the city gates. We +mounted our beasts, and while the first sunbeams streamed level +over the plain, passed through the southwestern portal beyond the +market-place, the 8th of September, 1862, and left the city of +Ha’yel.”</p> +<h2><a name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +176</span>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Journey to Bereydah</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Another</span> stage of our way. +From Gaza to Ma’an, from Ma’an to the Djowf, from the +Djowf to Ha’yel, three such had now been gone over, not +indeed without some fatigue or discomfort, yet at comparatively +little personal risk, except what nature herself, not man, might +occasion. For to cross the stony desert of the northern +frontier, or the sandy Nefood in the very height of summer, could +not be said to be entirely free from danger, where in these +waterless wastes thirst, if nothing else, may alone, and often +does, suffice to cause the disappearance of the over-venturous +traveller, nay, even of many a Bedouin, no less effectually than +a lance-thrust or a musket-ball. But if nature had been so +far unkind, of man at least we had hitherto not much to complain; +the Bedouins on the route, however rough and uncouth in their +ways, had, with only one exception, meant us fairly well, and the +townsmen in general had proved friendly and courteous beyond our +expectation. Once within the established government limits +of Telal, and among his subjects, we had enjoyed our share in the +common security afforded to wayfarers and inhabitants for life +and property, while good success had hitherto accompanied +us. <a name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +177</span>‘Judge of the day by its dawn,’ say the +Arabs; and although this proverb, like all proverbs, does not +always hold exactly true, whether for sunshine or cloud, yet it +has its value at times. And thus, whatever unfavorable +predictions or dark forebodings our friends might hint regarding +the inner Nedjed and its denizens, we trusted that so favorable a +past augured somewhat better things for the future.</p> +<p>“From physical and material difficulties like those +before met with, there was henceforward much less to fear. +The great heats of summer were past, the cooler season had set +in; besides, our path now lay through the elevated table-land of +Central Arabia, whose northern rim we had already surmounted at +our entrance on the Djebel Shomer. Nor did there remain any +uncultivated or sandy track to cross comparable to the Nefood of +Djowf between Ha’yel and Ri’ad; on the contrary, we +were to expect pasture lands and culture, villages and +habitations, cool mountain air, and a sufficiency, if not an +abundance, of water. Nor were our fellow-companions now +mere Bedouins and savages, but men from town or village life, +members of organized society, and so far civilized beings.</p> +<p>“When adieus, lookings back, wavings of the hand, and +all the customary signs of farewell and good omen were over +between our Ha’yel friends and ourselves, we pursued our +road by the plain which I have already described as having been +the frequent scene of our morning walks; but instead of following +the southwesterly path toward Kefar, whose groves and roof-tops +now rose in a blended mass before us, <a name="page178"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 178</span>we turned eastward, and rounded, +though at some distance, the outer wall of Ha’yel for +nearly half an hour, till we struck off by a southeasterly track +across stony ground, diversified here and there by wells, each +with a cluster of gardens and a few houses in its +neighborhood. At last we reached a narrow winding pass +among the cliffs of Djebel ’Aja’, whose mid-loop +encircles Ha’yel on all sides, and here turned our heads to +take a last far-off view of what had been our home, or the +agreeable semblance of a home, for several weeks.</p> +<p>“Our only companions as yet were Mubarek and +Dahesh. We had outstripped the rest, whose baggage and +equipments had required a more tedious arrangement than our +own. Before long they came up—a motley crew. +Ten or thereabouts of the Kaseem, some from Bereydah itself, +others from neighboring towns; two individuals, who gave +themselves out, but with more asseveration than truth, to be +natives of Mecca itself; three Bedouins, two of whom belonged to +the Shomer clan, the third an ’Anezah of the north; next a +runaway negro, conducting four horses, destined to pass the whole +breadth of Arabia, and to be shipped off at Koweyt, on the +Persian Gulf, for Indian sale; two merchants, one from Zulphah, +in the province of Sedeyr, the other from Zobeyr, near Bussora; +lastly, two women, wives of I know not exactly whom in the +caravan, with some small children; all this making up, ourselves +included, a band of twenty-seven or twenty-eight persons, the +most mounted on camels, a few on horseback, and accompanied by a +few beasts of <a name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +179</span>burden alongside—such was our Canterbury +pilgrims’ group.</p> +<p>“Thus assembled, on we went together, now amid granite +rocks, now crossing grassy valleys, till near sunset we stopped +under a high cliff, at the extreme southerly verge of Djebel +’Aja’, or, in modern parlance, of Djebel +Shomer. The mountain here extended far away to right and +left, but in front a wide plain of full twenty miles across +opened out before us, till bounded southward by the long bluish +chain of Djebel Solma, whose line runs parallel to the heights we +were now to leave, and belongs to the same formation and rocky +mass denominated in a comprehensive way the mountains of +Ta’i or Shomer.</p> +<p>“At about three in the afternoon, next day, we saw, some +way off to our west, a troop of Bedouins coming up from the +direction of Medina. While they were yet in the distance, +and half-hidden from view by the shrubs and stunted acacias of +the plain, we could not precisely distinguish their numbers; but +they were evidently enough to make us desire, with Orlando, +‘that we might be better strangers.’ On our +side we mustered about fifteen matchlocks, besides a few spears +and swords. The Bedouins had already perceived us, and +continued to approach, though in the desultory and circuitous way +which they affect when doubtful of the strength of their +opponent; still they gained on us more than was pleasant.</p> +<p>“Fourteen armed townsmen might stand for a reasonable +match against double the number of Bedouins, and in any case we +had certainly nothing better <a name="page180"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 180</span>to do than to put a bold face on the +matter. The ’Eyoon chief, Foleyh, with two of his +countrymen and Ghashee, carefully primed their guns, and then set +off at full gallop to meet the advancing enemy, brandishing their +weapons over their heads, and looking extremely fierce. +Under cover of this manœuvre the rest of our band set about +getting their arms ready, and an amusing scene ensued. One +had lost his match, and was hunting for it in his housings; +another, in his haste to ram the bullet home had it stick midway +in the barrel, and could neither get it up nor down; the lock of +a third was rusty and would not do duty; the women began to whine +piteously; the two Meccans, who for economy’s sake were +both riding one only camel, a circumstance which caused between +them many international squabbles, tried to make their beast +gallop off with them, and leave the others to their fate; while +the more courageous animal, despising such cowardly measures, +insisted on remaining with his companions and sharing their lot; +all was thoroughly Arab, much hubbub and little done. Had +the menacing feint of the four who protected our rear proved +insufficient, we might all have been in a very bad predicament, +and this feeling drew every face with reverted gaze in a backward +direction. But the Harb banditti, intimidated by the bold +countenance of Foleyh and his companions, wheeled about and +commenced a skirmishing retreat, in which a few shots, guiltless +of bloodshed, were fired for form’s sake on either side, +till at last our assailants fairly disappeared in the remote +valley.</p> +<p>“Our valiant champions now returned from <a +name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 181</span>pursuit, +much elated with their success, and we journeyed on together, +skirting the last rocky spur of Solma, close by the spot where +Hatim Ta’i, the well-known model, half mythic and half +historical, of Arab hospitality and exaggerated generosity, is +said to be buried. Here we crossed some low hills that form +a sort of offshoot to the Solma mountain, and limit the valley; +and the last rays of the setting sun gilding to our view, in a +sandy bottom some way off, the palm-trees of Feyd.</p> +<p>“Feyd may be taken as a tolerable sample of the villages +met with throughout Northern or Upper Kaseem, for they all bear a +close likeness in their main features, though various in +size. Imagine a little sandy hillock of about sixty or +seventy feet high, in the midst of a wide and dusty valley; part +of the eminence itself and the adjoining bottom is covered by low +earth-built houses, intermixed with groups of the feathery +ithel. The grounds in the neighborhood are divided by brick +walls into green gardens, where gourds and melons, leguminous +plants and maize, grow alongside of an artificial irrigation from +the wells among them; palms in plenty—they were now heavy +laden with red-brown fruits; and a few peach or apricot trees +complete the general lineaments. The outer walls are low, +and serve more for the protection of the gardens than of the +dwellings; here are neither towers nor trenches, nor even, at +least in many places, any central castle or distinguishable +residence for the chief; his habitation is of the same +one-storied construction as those of his neighbors, only a little +larger. Some of the townlets are quite recent, and date +from <a name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 182</span>the +Shomer annexation, which gave this part of the province a degree +of quiet and prosperity unknown under their former Wahabee +rulers.</p> +<p>“Next morning, the 10th of September, we were all up by +moonlight, two or three hours before dawn, and off on our road to +the southeast. The whole country that we had to traverse +for the next four days was of so uniform a character that a few +words of description may here serve for the landscape of this +entire stage of our journey.</p> +<p>“Upper Kaseem is an elevated plateau or steppe, and +forms part of a long upland belt, crossing diagonally the +northern half of the peninsula; one extremity reaches the +neighborhood of Zobeyr and the Euphrates, while the other extends +downward to the vicinity of Medina. Its surface is in +general covered with grass in the spring and summer seasons, and +with shrubs and brushwood at all times, and thus affords +excellent pasture for sheep and camels. Across it blows the +fresh eastern gale, so celebrated in Arab poetry under the name +of ‘Seba Nedjin,’ or ‘Zephyr of Nedjed’ +(only it comes from precisely the opposite corner to the Greek or +Roman Zephyr), and continually invoked by sentimental bards to +bring them news of imaginary loves or pleasing +reminiscences. No wonder; for most of these versifiers +being themselves natives of the barren Hedjaz or the scorching +Tehama, perhaps inhabitants of Egypt and Syria, and knowing +little of Arabia, except what they have seen on the dreary Meccan +pilgrim road, they naturally look back to with longing, and +frequently record, whatever glimpses chance may have allowed them +of <a name="page183"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 183</span>the +cooler and more fertile highlands of the centre, denominated by +them Nedjed, in a general way, with their transient experience of +its fresh and invigorating climate, of its courteous men and +sprightly maidens.</p> +<p>“But when, nor is this seldom, the sweet smell of the +aromatic thyme-like plants that here abound mixes with the light +morning breeze and enhances its balmy influence, then indeed can +one excuse the raptures of an Arab Ovid or Theocritus, and +appreciate—at least I often did—their yearnings after +Nedjed, and all the praises they lavish on its memory.</p> +<blockquote><p>“Then said I to my companion, while the +camels were hastening<br /> + To bear us down the pass between Meneefah and +Demar,<br /> +‘Enjoy while thou canst the sweets of the meadows of +Nedjed:<br /> + With no such meadows and sweets shalt thou meet +after this evening.</p> +<p>Ah! heaven’s blessing on the scented gales of Nedjed,<br +/> + And its greensward and groves glittering from the +spring shower,<br /> +And thy dear friends, when thy lot was cast awhile in Nedjed,<br +/> + Little hadst thou to complain of what the days +brought thee;</p> +<p>Months flew past, they passed and we perceived not,<br /> + Nor when their moons were new, nor when they +waned.’”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>For three days more they travelled forward over this +undulating table-land, making from sixty to seventy miles a +day. The view was extensive, but rather monotonous. +There were no high mountains, no rivers, no lakes, no deep +valleys; but a constant <a name="page184"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 184</span>repetition of stony uplands, shallow +and sandy hollows, and villages surrounded by belts of +palm-groves, the extent and direction of which indicated the +subterranean water-courses.</p> +<p>On the third evening they reached Kowarah, the most southern +station in Telal territory—a large village, lying in a +wooded and well-watered hollow. Here they still found the +order and security which that ruler had established, and +maintained everywhere throughout his dominions. Leaving the +next morning, the 14th of September, they crossed a few low +hills, came to a sudden dip in the general level of the country, +and then the extent of Southern Kaseem burst suddenly upon their +view.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p184b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The village of El Suwayrkiyah" +title= +"The village of El Suwayrkiyah" +src="images/p184s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>“Now, for the first time,” says Palgrave, +“we could in some measure appreciate the strength of the +Wahabee in his mastery over such a land. Before us to the +utmost horizon stretched an immense plain, studded with towns and +villages, towers and groves, all steeped in the dazzling noon, +and announcing everywhere life, opulence, and activity. The +average breadth of this populous district is about sixty miles, +its length twice as much, or more; it lies full two hundred feet +below the level of the uplands, which here break off like a +wall. Fifty or more good-sized villages and four or five +large towns form the commercial and agricultural centres of the +province, and its surface is moreover thickly strewn with smaller +hamlets, isolated wells, and gardens, and traversed by a net-work +of tracks in every direction. Here begin, and hence extend +to Djebel Toweyk itself, the series of high watch-towers that +afford the <a name="page185"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +185</span>inhabitants a means, denied otherwise by their level +flats, of discerning from afar the approach of foray or invasion, +and thus preparing for resistance. For while no part of +Central Arabia has an older or a better established title to +civilization or wealth, no part also has been the starting-point +and theatre of so many wars, or witnessed the gathering of such +numerous armies.</p> +<p>“We halted for a moment on the verge of the uplands to +enjoy the magnificent prospect before us. Below lay the +wide plain; at a few miles’ distance we saw the thick +palm-groves of ’Eyoon, and what little of its towers and +citadel the dense foliage permitted to the eye. Far off on +our right, that is, to the west, a large dark patch marked the +tillage and plantations which girdle the town of Rass; other +villages and hamlets, too, were thickly scattered over the +landscape. All along the ridge where we stood, and visible +at various distances down the level, rose the tall, circular +watch-towers of Kaseem. But immediately before us stood a +more remarkable monument, one that fixed the attention and wonder +even of our Arab companions themselves.</p> +<p>“For hardly had we descended the narrow path where it +winds from ledge to ledge down to the bottom, when we saw before +us several huge stones, like enormous bowlders, placed endways +perpendicularly on the soil, while some of them yet upheld +similar masses laid transversely over their summit. They +were arranged in a curve, once forming part, it would appear, of +a large circle, and many other like fragments lay rolled on the +ground at a moderate <a name="page186"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 186</span>distance; the number of those still +upright was, to speak by memory, eight or nine. Two, at +about ten or twelve feet apart one from the other, and resembling +huge gate-posts, yet bore their horizontal lintel, a long block +laid across them; a few were deprived of their upper traverse, +the rest supported each its headpiece in defiance of time and of +the more destructive efforts of man. So nicely balanced did +one of these cross-bars appear that, in hope it might prove a +rocking-stone, I guided my camel right under it, and then +stretching up my riding-stick at arm’s-length could just +manage to touch and push it, but it did not stir. Meanwhile +the respective heights of camel, rider, and stick taken together +would place the stone in question full fifteen feet from the +ground.</p> +<p>“These blocks seem, by their quality, to have been hewn +from the neighboring limestone cliff, and roughly shaped, but +present no further trace of art, no groove or cavity of +sacrificial import, much less anything intended for figure or +ornament. The people of the country attribute their +erection to Darim, and by his own hands, too, seeing that he was +a giant; perhaps, also, for some magical ceremony, since he was a +magician. Pointing toward Rass, our companions affirmed +that a second and similar stone circle, also of gigantic +dimensions, existed there; and, lastly, they mentioned a third +toward the southwest, that is, on the confines of Hedjaz.</p> +<p>“Here, as in most parts of Arabia, the staple article of +cultivation is the date-palm. Of this tree there are, +however, many widely differing species, and Kaseem can boast of +containing the best known <a name="page187"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 187</span>anywhere, the Khalas of Hasa alone +excepted. The ripening season coincides with the latter +half of August and the first of September, and we had thus an +ample opportunity for testing the produce. Those who, like +most Europeans at home, only know the date from the dried +specimens of that fruit shown beneath a label in shop-windows, +can hardly imagine how delicious it is when eaten fresh and in +Central Arabia. Nor is it, when newly gathered, heating, a +defect inherent to the preserved fruit everywhere; nor does its +richness, however great, bring satiety: in short, it is an +article of food alike pleasant and healthy. Its cheapness +in its native land might astonish a Londoner. Enough of the +very best dates from the Bereydah gardens to fill a large Arab +handkerchief, about fifteen inches each way, almost to bursting, +cost Barakat and myself the moderate sum of three +farthings. We hung it up from the roof-beam of our +apartment to preserve the luscious fruit from the ants, and it +continued to drip molten sweetness into a sugary pool on the +floor below for three days together, before we had demolished the +contents, though it figured at every dinner and supper during +that period.</p> +<p>“We were soon under the outer walls of ’Eyoon, a +good-sized town containing at least ten thousand inhabitants +according to my rough computation. Its central site, at the +very juncture of the great northern and western lines of +communication, renders it important, and for this reason it is +carefully fortified, that is, for the country, and furnished with +watchtowers much resembling manufactory chimneys, in <a +name="page188"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 188</span>size and +shape, beside a massive and capacious citadel. My readers +may anticipate analogous, though proportionate, features in most +other towns and villages of this province.</p> +<p>“Between the town-walls and the sand-hills close by was +a sheltered spot, where we took about four hours of sleep, till +the waning moon rose. Then all were once more in movement, +camels gnarling, men loading, and the doctor and his apprentice +mounting their beasts, all for Bereydah. But that town was +distant, and when day broke at last there was yet a long road to +traverse. This now lay amid mounds and valleys, thick with +the vegetation already described; and somewhat after sunrise we +took a full hour to pass the gardens and fields of Ghat, a +straggling village, where a dozen wells supplied the valley with +copious irrigation. On the adjoining hillocks—I may +not call them heights—was continued the series of +watch-towers, corresponding with others farther off that belonged +to villages seen by glimpses in the landscape; I heard, but soon +forgot, their names.</p> +<p>“A march of ten or twelve hours had tired us, and the +weather was oppressively close, no uncommon phenomenon in Kaseem, +where, what between low sandy ground and a southerly latitude, +the climate is much more sultry than in Djebel Shomer, or the +mountains of Toweyk. So that we were very glad when the +ascent of a slight eminence discovered to our gaze the +long-desired town of Bereydah, whose oval fortifications rose to +view amid an open and cultivated plain. It was a view for +Turner. An enormous watch-tower, near a hundred feet in <a +name="page189"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 189</span>height, a +minaret of scarce inferior proportions, a mass of bastioned +walls, such as we had not yet witnessed in Arabia, green groves +around and thickets of ithel, all under the dreamy glare of noon, +offered a striking spectacle, far surpassing whatever I had +anticipated, and announced populousness and wealth. We +longed to enter those gates and walk those streets. But we +had yet a delay to wear out. At about a league from the +town our guide, Mubarek, led us off the main road to the right, +up and down several little but steep sand-hills, and hot +declivities, till about two in the afternoon, half-roasted with +the sun, we reached, never so weary, his garden gate.</p> +<p>“The morning was bright, yet cool, when we got free of +the maze of ithel and sand-slopes, and entered the lanes that +traverse the garden circle round the town, in all quiet and +security. But our approach to Bereydah was destined to +furnish us an unexpected and undesired surprise, though indeed +less startling than that which discomposed our first arrival at +Ha’yel. We had just passed a well near the angle of a +garden wall, when we saw a man whose garb and appearance at once +bespoke him for a muleteer of the north, watering a couple of +mules at the pool hard by. Barakat and I stared with +astonishment, and could hardly believe our eyes. For since +the day we left Gaza for the southeastern desert we had never met +with a like dress, nor with these animals; and how, then, came +they here? But there was no mistaking either the man or the +beasts, and as the muleteer raised his head to look at the +passers-by, he also started at our sight, and evidently <a +name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 190</span>recognized +in us something that took him unawares. But the riddle was +soon solved. A few paces farther on, our way opened out on +the great plain that lies immediately under the town walls to the +north. This space was now covered with tents and thronged +with men of foreign dress and bearing, mixed with Arabs of town +and desert, women and children, talking and quarrelling, buying +and selling, going and coming; everywhere baskets full of dates +and vegetables, platters bearing eggs and butter, milk and whey, +meat hung on poles, bundles of firewood, etc., stood ranged in +rows, horsemen and camel-men were riding about between groups +seated round fires or reclining against their baggage; in the +midst of all this medley a gilt ball surmounted a large white +pavilion of a make that I had not seen since last I left India, +some eleven years before, and numerous smaller tents of striped +cloth, and certainly not of Arab fashion, clustered around; a +lively scene, especially of a clear morning, but requiring some +explanation from its exotic and non-Arab character. These +tents belonged to the great caravan of Persian pilgrims, on their +return from Medina to Meshid ’Alee by the road of Kaseem, +and hence all this unusual concourse and bustle.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p190b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"An Arab Encampment" +title= +"An Arab Encampment" +src="images/p190s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>“Passing a little on to the east, we left the crowded +encampment on one side and turned to enter the city gates. +Here, and this is generally the case in the larger Arab towns of +old date, the fortifications surround houses alone, and the +gardens all lie without, sometimes defended—at +’Oneyzah, for example—by a second outer girdle of +walls and <a name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +191</span>towers, but sometimes, as at Bereydah, devoid of any +mural protection. The town itself is composed exclusively +of streets, houses, and market-places, and bears in consequence a +more regular appearance than the recent and village-like +arrangements of the Djowf and even of Ha’yel. We +passed a few streets, tolerably large but crooked, and then made +the camels kneel down in a little square or public place, where I +remained seated by them on the baggage, switch in hand, like an +ordinary Arab traveller, and Barakat with Mubarek went in search +of lodgings.</p> +<p>“Very long did the half-hour seem to me during which I +had thus to mount guard till my companions returned from their +quest; the streets were full of people, and a disagreeable crowd +of the lower sort was every moment collecting round myself and my +camels, with all the inquisitiveness of the idle and vulgar in +every land. At last my companions came back to say that +they had found what they wanted; a kick or two brought the camels +on their legs again, and we moved off to our new quarters.</p> +<p>“The house in question was hardly more than five +minutes’ walk from the north gate, and at about an equal +distance only from the great market-place on the other +side. Its position was therefore good. It possessed +two large rooms on the ground story, and three smaller, besides a +spacious court-yard, surrounded by high walls. A winding +stair of irregular steps and badly lighted, like all in the +Nedjed, led up to an extent of flat roof, girt round by a parapet +six feet high, and divided into two compartments by <a +name="page192"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 192</span>a +cross-wall, thus affording a very tolerable place for occupation +morning and evening, at the hours when the side-walls might yet +project enough shade to shelter those seated alongside of them, +besides an excellent sleeping place for night.”</p> +<p>The day after their arrival they made a call upon Mohanna, the +ruler of Bereydah, in order to ask his assistance in proceeding +to Nedjed. But he was too busy in devising means to exact +more tribute-money from the Persian pilgrims to give any notice +to two persons whose dress and appearance gave no token of +wealth. This neglect afterward proved to be a piece of good +fortune. They then spent several days in a vain attempt to +find camels and guides; no one was willing to undertake the +service. The central province of Nedjed, the genuine +Wahabee country, is to the rest of Arabia a sort of lion’s +den, into which few venture and yet fewer return. An +elderly man of Bereydah, of whom Palgrave demanded information, +simply replied, “It is Nedjed; he who enters it does not +come out again,” and this is almost literally true. +Its mountains, once the fastnesses of robbers and assassins, are +at the present day equally, or even more, formidable as the +stronghold of fanatics who consider everyone save themselves an +infidel or a heretic, and who regard the slaughter of an infidel +or a heretic as a duty, at least a merit. In addition to +this general cause of anticipating a worse than cold reception in +Nedjed, wars and bloodshed, aggression and tyranny, have +heightened the original antipathy of the surrounding population +into special and definite resentment for wrongs received, perhaps +<a name="page193"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +193</span>inflicted, till Nedjed has become for all but her born +sons doubly dangerous and doubly hateful.</p> +<p>Another circumstance, which seemed to make Palgrave’s +situation more difficult, although it was equally fortunate in +the end, was a rebellion which had broken out in the neighboring +city of ’Oneyzah, headed by Zamil, a native chief. +The town was at that time besieged by the Wahabees, yet held out +gallantly, and the sympathy of the people of all Kaseem was so +strongly on the side of Zamil, that only the presence of the +Wahabee troops in Bereydah kept that city, also, from +revolt. The rebels had sent deputations to Mecca and also +to Djebel Shomer for assistance, and there seemed to be some +possibility of a general Central Arabian revolt against the hated +Wahabee supremacy. It seemed thus to be a most unpropitious +time for penetrating the stronghold of Nedjed. Palgrave did +not so much fear the suspicion of being a European, as that of +being an Ottoman spy. His first need, however, was the +means of going forward safely. He thus described how an +apparent chance made him acquainted with the man to whom almost +the entire success of his later travels was due:</p> +<p>“It was the sixth day after our arrival, and the 22d of +September, when about noon I was sitting alone and rather +melancholy, and trying to beguile the time with reading the +incomparable Divan of Ebn-el-Farid, the favorite companion of my +travels. Barakat had at my request betaken himself out of +doors, less in hopes of success than to ‘go to and fro in +the earth and walk up and down in it;’ nor did <a +name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 194</span>I now dare +to expect that he would return any wiser than he had set +forth. When lo! after a long two hours’ absence he +came in with cheerful face, index of good tidings.</p> +<p>“Good, indeed, they were, none better. Their +bearer said, that after roaming awhile to no purport through the +streets and market-place, he had bethought him of a visit to the +Persian camp. There, while straying among the tents, +‘like a washerwoman’s dog,’ as a Hindoo would +say, he noticed somewhat aloof from the crowd a small group of +pilgrims seated near their baggage on the sand, while curls of +smoke going up from amid the circle indicated the presence of a +fire, which at that time of day could be for nothing else than +coffee. Civilized though Barakat undoubtedly was, he was +yet by blood and heart an Arab, and for an Arab to see +coffee-making and not to put himself in the way of getting a +share would be an act of self-restraint totally unheard of. +So he approached the group, and was of course invited to sit down +and drink. The party consisted of two wealthy Persians, +accompanied by three or four of that class of men, half-servants, +half-companions, who often hook on to travellers at Bagdad or its +neighborhood, besides a mulatto of Arabo-negrine origin, and his +master, this last being the leader of the band, and the giver of +the aromatic entertainment.</p> +<p>“Barakat’s whole attention was at once engrossed +by this personage. A remarkably handsome face, of a type +evidently not belonging to the Arab peninsula, long hair curling +down to the shoulders, an over-dress <a name="page195"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 195</span>of fine spun silk, somewhat soiled +by travel, a colored handkerchief of Syrian manufacture on the +head, a manner and look indicating an education much superior to +that ordinary in his class and occupation, a +camel-driver’s, were peculiarities sufficient of themselves +to attract notice, and give rise to conjecture. But when +these went along with a welcome and a salute in the forms and +tone of Damascus or Aleppo, and a ready flow of that +superabundant and overcharged politeness for which the Syrian +subjects of the Turkish empire are renowned, Barakat could no +longer doubt that he had a fellow-countryman, and one, too, of +some note, before him.</p> +<p>“Such was in fact the case. Aboo-’Eysa, to +give him the name by which he was commonly known in these parts, +though in his own country he bears another denomination, was a +native of Aleppo, and son of a not unimportant individual in that +fair city. His education, and the circumstances of his +early youth, had rendered him equally conversant with townsmen +and herdsmen, with citizens and Bedouins, with Arabs and +Europeans. By lineal descent he was a Bedouin, since his +grandfather belonged to the Mejadimah, who are themselves an +offshoot of the Benoo-Khalid; but in habits, thoughts, and +manners he was a very son of Aleppo, where he had passed the +greater part of his boyhood and youth. When about +twenty-five years of age he became involved, culpably or not, in +the great conspiracy against the Turkish government which broke +out in the Aleppine insurrection of 1852. Like many others +he was compelled to anticipate consequences by a prompt +flight.</p> +<p><a name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +196</span>“After trying commerce in order to retrieve his +ruined fortunes, but with ill success, Aboo-’Eysa engaged +in the horse trade between Persia and Arabia, and also +failed. He then went to Ri’ad, the capital of Nedjed, +and by presents to Feysul, the chief, obtained a post as guide to +the Persian caravans of pilgrims to Mecca, across Arabia. +At this time he had followed that career for three years, and had +amassed considerable wealth, for his politeness, easy manners, +and strict probity made him popular with the pilgrims.</p> +<p>“He recognized a fellow-countryman in Barakat,” +says Palgrave, “received him with marked politeness, and +carefully informed himself of our whence and whither. +Barakat, overjoyed to find at last a kind of opening after +difficulties that had appeared to obstruct all further progress, +made no delay in inquiring whether he would undertake our +guidance to Ri’ad. Aboo-’Eysa replied that he +was just on the point of separating from his friends the +Persians, whose departure would leave camels enough and to spare +at his disposition, and that so far there was no hindrance to the +proposal. As for the Wahabees and their unwillingness to +admit strangers within their limits, he stated himself to be well +known to them, and that in his company we should have nothing to +fear from their suspicious criticism.”</p> +<p>The agreement was made at once, and the travellers now only +waited until their new companion should have made some final +arrangements with the Persian pilgrims, who were to travel +directly from Bereydah to Bagdad. In the meantime, the +former <a name="page197"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +197</span>took advantage of the delay to see as much as possible +of the place, and even to make excursions in the neighborhood, +especially in the direction of the beleaguered city of +’Oneyzah. Palgrave’s description of the place +shows that it possesses the same general features as the other +Arabian towns, yet may be quoted for its intrinsic +picturesqueness:</p> +<p>“Barakat and myself have made our morning household +purchases at the fair, and the sun being now an hour or more +above the horizon, we think it time to visit the market-place of +the town, which would hardly be open sooner. We re-enter +the city gate, and pass on our way by our house door, where we +leave our bundle of eatables, and regain the high street of +Bereydah. Before long we reach a high arch across the road; +this gate divides the market from the rest of the quarter. +We enter. First of all we see a long range of +butchers’ shops on either side, thick hung with flesh of +sheep and camel, and very dirtily kept. Were not the air +pure and the climate healthy, the plague would assuredly be +endemic here; but in Arabia no special harm seems to +follow. We hasten on, and next pass a series of cloth and +linen warehouses, stocked partly with home manufacture, but more +imported; Bagdad cloaks and head-gear, for instance, Syrian +shawls and Egyptian slippers. Here markets follow the law +general throughout the East, that all shops or stores of the same +description should be clustered together, a system whose +advantages on the whole outweigh its inconveniences, at least for +small towns like these. In the large cities and capitals of +Europe greater extent <a name="page198"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 198</span>of locality requires evidently a +different method of arrangement; it might be awkward for the +inhabitants of Hyde Park were no hatters to be found nearer than +the Tower. But what is Bereydah compared even with a +second-rate European city? However, in a crowd, it yields +to none; the streets at this time of the day are thronged to +choking, and to make matters worse, a huge, splay-footed camel +comes every now and then, heaving from side to side like a +lubber-rowed boat, with a long beam on his back menacing the +heads of those in the way, or with two enormous loads of +firewood, each as large as himself, sweeping the road before him +of men, women, and children, while the driver, high-perched on +the hump, regards such trifles with the most supreme +indifference, so long as he brushes his path open. +Sometimes there is a whole string of these beasts, the head-rope +of each tied to the crupper of his precursor, very uncomfortable +passengers when met with at a narrow turning.</p> +<p>“Through such obstacles we have found or made our way, +and are now amid leather and shoemakers’ shops, then among +coppersmiths and ironsmiths, whose united clang might waken the +dead or kill the living, till at last we emerge on the central +town-square, not a bad one either, nor very irregular, +considering that it is in Kaseem.</p> +<p>“The vegetable and fruit market is very extensive, and +kept almost exclusively by women; so are also the shops for +grocery and spices. Nor do the fair sex of Bereydah seem a +whit inferior to their rougher partners in knowledge of business +and thrifty <a name="page199"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +199</span>diligence. ‘Close-handedness beseems a +woman no less than generosity a man,’ says an Arab poet, +unconsciously coinciding with Lance of Verona in his comments on +the catalogue of his future spouse’s +‘conditions.’</p> +<p>“The whole town has an aspect of old but declining +prosperity. There are few new houses, but many falling into +ruin. The faces, too, of most we meet are serious, and +their voices in an undertone. Silk dresses are prohibited +by the dominant faction, and tobacco can only be smoked within +doors, and by stealth. Every now and then zealous Wahabee +missionaries from Ri’ad pay a visit of reform and preaching +to unwilling auditors, and disobedience to the customs of the +Nedjean sect is noticed and punished, often severely.</p> +<p>“Enough of the town; the streets are narrow, hot, and +dusty; the day, too, advances; but the gardens are yet +cool. So we dash at a venture through a labyrinth of +by-ways and cross-ways till we find ourselves in the wide street +that, like a boulevard in France, runs immediately along but +inside the walls.</p> +<p>“We stroll about in the shade, hide ourselves amid the +high maize to smoke a quiet pipe unobserved by prying Nedjean +eyes, and then walk on till at some distance we come under a high +ridge of sand.</p> +<p>“While on one of our suburban excursions we took the +direction of ’Oneyzah, but found it utterly impossible to +arrive within its walls; so we contented ourselves with an +outside and distant view of this large and populous town; the +number of its <a name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +200</span>houses, and their size, judging by the overtopping +summits that marked out the dwelling of Zamil and his family, far +surpassed anything in Bereydah. The outer fortifications +are enormously thick, and the girdle of palm-trees between them +and the town affords a considerable additional defence to the +latter. For all I could see there is little stonework in +the construction; they appear almost exclusively of unbaked +bricks; yet even so they are formidable defences for +Arabia. The whole country around, and whatever lay +northeast toward Bereydah, was more or less ravaged by the war; +and we were blamed by our friends as very rash in having ventured +thus far; in fact, it was a mere chance that we did not fall in +with skirmishers or plunderers; and in such a case the military +discipline of Kaseem would hardly have insured our safety.</p> +<p>“When all was ready for the long-expected departure, it +was definitely fixed for the 3d of October, a Friday, I think, at +nightfall. Since our first interview Barakat and myself had +not again presented ourselves before Mohanna, except in chance +meetings, accompanied by distant salutations in the street or +market-place; and we did not see any need for paying him a +special farewell call. Indeed, after learning who and what +he was, we did our best not to draw his gray eye on us, and +thereby escaped some additional trouble and surplus duties to +pay, nor did any one mention us to him. At star-rise we +bade our host and householder Ahmed a final adieu, and left the +town with Aboo-’Eysa for our guide.”</p> +<h2><a name="page201"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +201</span>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Journey To Ri’ad The Capital Of +Nedjed</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> roads lay before us. The +shorter, and for that reason the more frequented of the two, led +southeast-by-east through Woshem and Wady Haneefah to +Ri’ad. But this track passed through a district often +visited at the present moment by the troops of ’Oneyzah and +their allies, and hence our companions, not over-courageous for +the most, were afraid to follow it. Another road, much more +circuitous, but farther removed from the scene of military +operations, led northeast to Zulphah, and thence entered the +province of Sedeyr, which it traversed in a southeasterly or +southern direction, and thus reached the ’Aared. Our +council of war resolved on the latter itinerary, nor did we +ourselves regret a roundabout which promised to procure us the +sight of much that we might scarcely have otherwise an +opportunity of visiting. Barakat and I were mounted on two +excellent dromedaries of Aboo-’Eysa’s stud; the +Na’ib <a name="citation201"></a><a href="#footnote201" +class="citation">[201]</a> was on a lovely gray she camel with <a +name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 202</span>a handsome +saddle, crimson and gold. The Meccans shared between them a +long-backed black beast; the rest were also mounted on camels or +dromedaries, since the road before us was impracticable for +horses, at any rate at this time of year.</p> +<p>“Our road lay in Kaseem, whose highlands we rejoined +once more, and traversed till sunset. The view was very +beautiful from its extent and variety of ups and downs, in broad, +grassy hills; little groups of trees stood in scattered +detachments around; and had a river, that desideratum of Arabia, +been in sight, one might almost have fancied one’s self in +the country bordering the Lower Rhine for some part of its +course; readers may suppose, too, that there was less verdure +here than in the European parallel—my comparison bears only +on the general turn of the view. No river exists nearer +Kaseem than Shatt (Euphrates), some hundred leagues off, and our +eyes had been too long accustomed to the deceptive pools of the +mirage to associate with them even a passing idea of aught save +drought and heat.</p> +<p>“We journeyed on till dark, and then reached certain +hillocks of a different character from the hard ground lately +under our feet. Here began the Nefood, whose course from +the southwest to northeast, and then north, parts between Kaseem, +Woshem, and Sedeyr. I have already said something of these +sandy inlets when describing that which we crossed three months +ago between Djowf and Shomer.</p> +<p><a name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +203</span>“On the verge of the desert strip we now halted a +little to eat a hasty supper, and to drink—the Arabs coffee +and the Persians tea. But journeying in these sands, under +the heat of the day, is alike killing to man and beast, and +therefore Aboo-’Eysa had resolved that we should cross the +greater portion under favor of the cooler hours of night.</p> +<p>“All night, a weary night, we waded up and down through +waves of sand, in which the camels often sank up to their knees, +and their riders were obliged to alight and help them on.</p> +<p>“Now by full daylight appeared the true character of the +region which we were traversing; its aspect resembled the Nefood +north of Djebel Shomer, but the undulations were here higher and +deeper, and the sand itself lighter and less stable. In +most spots neither shrub nor blade of grass could fix its root, +in others a scanty vegetation struggled through, but no trace of +man anywhere. The camels ploughed slowly on; the Persians, +unaccustomed to such scenes, were downcast and silent; all were +tired, and no wonder. At last, a little before noon, and +just as the sun’s heat was becoming intolerable, we reached +the verge of an immense crater-like hollow, certainly three or +four miles in circumference, where the sand-billows receded on +every side, and left in the midst a pit seven or eight hundred +feet in depth, at whose base we could discern a white gleam of +limestone rock, and a small group of houses, trees, and gardens, +thus capriciously isolated in the very heart of the desert.</p> +<p>“This was the little village and oasis of Wasit, or <a +name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 204</span>‘the +intermediary,’ so called because a central point between +the three provinces of Kaseem, Sedeyr, and Woshem, yet belonging +to none of them. Nor is it often visited by wayfarers, as +we learned from the inhabitants, men simple and half-savage, from +their little intercourse with the outer world, and unacquainted +even with the common forms of Islamitic prayer, though dwelling +in the midst of the Wahabee dominions.</p> +<p>“A long, winding descent brought us to the bottom of the +valley, where on our arrival men and boys came out to stare at +the Persians, and by exacting double prices for fruit and +camel’s milk proved themselves not altogether such fools as +they looked. For us, regarded as Arabs, we enjoyed their +hospitality—it was necessarily a limited one—gratis; +whereupon the Na’ib grew jealous, and declaimed against the +Arabs as ‘infidels,’ for not treating with suitable +generosity pilgrims like themselves returning from the +‘house of God.’</p> +<p>“To get out of this pit was no easy matter; <i>facilis +descensus</i>, etc., thought I; no ascending path showed itself +in the required direction, and every one tried to push up his +floundering beast where the sand appeared at a manageable slope, +and firm to the footing. Camels and men fell and rolled +back down the declivity, till some of the party shed tears of +vexation, and others, more successful, laughed at the annoyance +of their companions. Aboo-’Eysa ran about from one to +the other, attempting to direct and keep them together, till +finally, as Heaven willed, we reached the upper rim to the +north.</p> +<p><a name="page205"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +205</span>“Before us lay what seemed a storm-driven sea of +fire in the red light of afternoon, and through it we wound our +way, till about an hour before sunset we fell in with a sort of +track or furrow. Next opened out on our road a long +descent, at whose extreme base we discerned the important and +commercial town of Zulphah. Beyond it rose the wall-like +steeps of Djebel Toweyk, so often heard of, and now seen close at +hand. Needless to say how joyfully we welcomed the first +view of that strange ridge, the heart and central knot of Arabia, +beyond which whatever lay might almost be reckoned as a return +journey.</p> +<p>“We had now, in fact, crossed the Nefood, and had at our +feet the great valley which constitutes the main line of +communication between Nedjed and the north, reaching even to the +Tigris and Bagdad.</p> +<p>“We passed the whole length of the town of Zulphah, +several streets of which had been lately swept away by the winter +torrents that pour at times their short-lived fury down this +valley. Before us to the southeast stretched the long +hollow; on our right was the Nefood, on our left Djebel Toweyk +and the province of Sedeyr. The mountain air blew cool, and +this day’s journey was a far pleasanter one than its +predecessor. We continued our march down the valley till +the afternoon, when we turned aside into a narrow gorge running +up at a sharp angle to the northeast, and thus entered between +the heights of Djebel Toweyk itself.</p> +<p>“This mountain essentially constitutes Nedjed. It +is a wide and flat chain, or rather plateau, whose general form +is that of a huge crescent. If I may <a +name="page206"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 206</span>be +permitted here to give my rough guess regarding the elevation of +the main plateau, a guess grounded partly on the vegetation, +climate, and similar local features, partly on an approximate +estimate of the ascent itself, and of the subsequent descent on +the other or sea side, I should say that it varies from a height +of one to two thousand feet above the surrounding level of the +peninsula, and may thus be about three thousand feet at most +above the sea. Its loftiest ledges occur in the Sedeyr +district, where we shall pass them before long; the centre and +the southwesterly arm is certainly lower. Djebel Toweyk is +the middle knot of Arabia, its Caucasus, so to say; and is still, +as it has often been in former times, the turning-point of the +whole, or almost the whole, peninsula in a political and national +bearing.</p> +<p>“The climate of the northern part of Djebel Toweyk, +whether plateau or valley, coincident with the province of +Sedeyr, is perhaps one of the healthiest in the world; an +exception might be made in favor of Djebel Shomer alone. +The above named districts resemble each other closely in dryness +of atmosphere, and the inhabitants of Sedeyr, like those of +Shomer, are remarkable for their ruddy complexion and +well-developed stature. But when we approach the centre of +the mountain crescent, where its whole level lowers, while the +more southerly latitude brings it nearer to the prevailing +influences of the tropical zone, the air becomes damper and more +relaxing, and a less salubrious climate pictures itself in the +sallower faces and slender make of its denizens.</p> +<p><a name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +207</span>“Two days later we attained the great plateau, of +which I have a few pages since given an anticipated +description.</p> +<p>“About noon we halted in a brushwood-covered plain to +light fire and prepare coffee. After which we pursued our +easterly way, still a little to the north, now and then meeting +with travellers or peasants; but a European would find these +roads very lonely in comparison with those of his own +country. All the more did I admire the perfect submission +and strict police enforced by the central government, so that +even a casual robbery is very rare in the provinces, and +highwaymen are totally out of the question. At last, near +the same hour of afternoon that had brought us the day before to +Ghat, we came in sight of Mejmaa’, formerly capital of the +province, and still a place of considerable importance, with a +population, to judge by appearances and hearsay, of between ten +and twelve thousand souls.</p> +<p>“We were up early next morning, for the night air was +brisk, and a few hours of sleep had sufficed us.</p> +<p>“After sunrise we came on a phenomenon of a nature, I +believe, without a second or a parallel in Central Arabia, yet +withal most welcome, namely, a tolerably large source of running +water, forming a wide and deepish stream, with grassy banks, and +frogs croaking in the herbage. We opened our eyes in +amazement; it was the first of the kind that we had beheld since +leaving the valley of Djowf. But though a living, it is a +short-lived rivulet, reaching only four or five hours’ +distance to Djelajil, where it is lost amid the plantations of +the suburbs.</p> +<p><a name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +208</span>“We had not long traversed the Meteyr encampment, +when we came in view of the walls of Toweym, a large town, +containing between twelve and fifteen thousand inhabitants, +according to the computation here in use, and which I follow for +want of better. The houses are here built compactly, of two +stories in general, sometimes three; the lower rooms are often +fifteen or sixteen feet high, and the upper ten or twelve; while +the roof itself is frequently surrounded by a blind wall of six +feet or more, till the whole attains a fair altitude, and is not +altogether unimposing.</p> +<p>“Early next day, at a short distance from Toweym, we +passed another large village with battlemented walls, and on the +opposite side of the road a square castle, looking very +mediæval; this was Hafr. A couple of hours further on +we reached Thomeyr, a straggling townlet, more abounding in +broken walls than houses; close by was a tall white rock, crowned +by the picturesque remains of an old outwork or fort, overlooking +the place. Here our party halted for breakfast in the +shadow of the ruins. Barakat and myself determined to try +our fortune in the village itself; no guards appeared at its open +gate; we entered unchallenged, and roamed through silent lanes +and heaps of rubbish, vainly seeking news of milk and dates in +this city of the dead. At last we met a meagre townsman, in +look and apparel the apothecary of Romeo; and of him, not without +misgivings of heart, we inquired where aught eatable could be had +for love or money. He apologized, though there was scarce +need of that, for not having <a name="page209"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 209</span>any such article at his disposal; +‘but,’ added he, ‘in such and such a house +there will certainly be something good,’ and thitherward he +preceded us in our search. We found indeed a large +dwelling, but the door was shut; we knocked to no purpose: nobody +at home.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p208b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Death on the Desert" +title= +"Death on the Desert" +src="images/p208s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>“Our man now set us a bolder example, and we altogether +scrambled through a breach in the mud wall, and found ourselves +amid empty rooms and a desolate court-yard. +‘Everybody is out in the fields, women only +excepted,’ said our guide, and we separated, no better off +than before. Despairing of the village commissariat, we +climbed a turret on the outer walls, and looked round. Now +we saw at some distance a beautiful palm-grove, where we +concluded that dates could not be wanting, and off we set for it +across the stubble fields. But on arriving we found our +paradise surrounded by high walls, and no gate +discoverable. While thus we stood without, like +Milton’s fiend at Eden, but unable, like him, ‘by one +high bound to overleap all bound,’ up came a handsome +Solibah lad, all in rags, half-walking, half-dancing, in the +devil-may-care way of his tribe. ‘Can you tell us +which is the way in?’ was our first question, pointing to +the garden before us; and, ‘Shall I sing you a song?’ +was his first answer. ‘We don’t want your +songs, but dates; how are we to get at them?’ we +replied. ‘Or shall I perform you a dance?’ +answered the grinning young scoundrel, and forthwith began an +Arabian polka-step, laughing all the while at our undisguised +impatience. At last he condescended to show us the way, but +no other than <a name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +210</span>what befitted an orchard-robbing boy, like himself, for +it lay a little farther off, right over the wall, which he scaled +with practised ingenuity, and helped us to follow. So we +did, though perhaps with honester intentions, and, once within, +stood amid trees, shade, and water. The ‘tender +juvenile’ then set up a shout, and soon a man appeared, +‘old Adam’s likeness set to dress this garden,’ +save that he was not old but young, as Adam might himself have +been while yet in Eden. We were somewhat afraid of a surly +reception, too well merited by our very equivocal introduction; +but the gardener was better-tempered than many of his caste, and +after saluting us very politely, offered his services at our +disposal. We then proposed to purchase a stock of dates for +our onward way, whereon the gardener conducted us to an outhouse +where heaps of three or four kinds of this fruit, red and yellow, +round or long, lay piled up, and bade us choose. At his +recommendation we filled a large cloth, which we had brought with +us for the purpose, with excellent ruddy dates, and gave in +return a small piece of money, welcome here as elsewhere. +We then took leave and returned, but this time through the garden +gate, to the stubble fields, and passing under the broken walls +of the village, reached our companions, who had become anxious at +our absence.”</p> +<p>For three days longer the travellers journeyed southward, +through the valleys branching out from Djebel Toweyk, encamping +for the night near some of the small towns. “In the +early gray of the fourth morning,” says Palgrave, “we +passed close under the <a name="page211"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 211</span>plantations of Rowdah down the +valley, now dry and still, once overflowed with the best blood of +Arabia, and through the narrow and high-walled pass which gives +entrance to the great strongholds of the land. The sun rose +and lighted up to our view wild precipices on either side, with a +tangled mass of broken rock and brushwood below, while coveys of +partridges started up at our feet, and deer scampered away by the +gorges to right or left, or a cloud of dust announced the +approach of peasant bands or horsemen going to and fro, and +gardens or hamlets gleamed through side openings or stood niched +in the bulging passes of the Wady itself, till before noon we +arrived at the little hamlet of Malka, or ‘the +junction.’</p> +<p>“Its name is derived from its position. Here the +valley divides in form of a Y, sending off two branches—one +southerly to Derey’eeyah, the other southeast-by-east +through the centre of the province, and communicating with the +actual capital, Ri’ad.</p> +<p>“Aboo-’Eysa had meditated bringing us on that very +evening to Ri’ad. But eight good leagues remained +from Malka to the capital; and when the Na’ib had +terminated his cosmetic operations, the easterly turning shadows +left us no hope of attaining Ri’ad before nightfall. +However, we resumed our march, and took the arm of the valley +leading to Derey’eeyah; but before reaching it we once more +quitted the Wady, and followed a shorter path by the highlands to +the left. Our way was next crossed by a long range of +towers, built by Ibraheem Pasha, as outposts for the defence of +this important position. Within their line stood the lonely +walls of a large, <a name="page212"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +212</span>square barrack; the towers were what we sometimes call +Martello—short, large, and round.</p> +<p>“The level rays of the setting sun now streamed across +the plain, and we came on the ruins of Derey’eeyah, filling +up the whole breadth of the valley beneath. The palace +walls, of unbaked brick, like the rest, rose close under the left +or northern edge, but unroofed and tenantless; a little lower +down a wide extent of fragments showed where the immense mosque +had been, and hard by, the market-place; a tower on an isolated +height was, I suppose, the original dwelling-place of the +Sa’ood family, while yet mere local chieftains, before +growing greatness transferred them to their imperial +palace. The outer fortifications remained almost uninjured +for much of their extent, with turrets and bastions reddening in +the western light; in other places the Egyptian artillery, or the +process of years, had levelled them with the earth; within the +town many houses were yet standing, but uninhabited, and the +lines of the streets from gate to gate were distinct as in a +ground plan. From the great size of the town (for it is +full half a mile in length, and not much less in breadth), and +from the close packing of the houses, I should estimate its +capacity at above forty thousand indwellers. The gardens +lie without, and still ‘living waved where man had ceased +to live,’ in full beauty and luxuriance, a deep green ring +around the gray ruins. For although the Nedjeans, holding +it for an ill omen to rebuild and reinhabit a town so fatally +overthrown, have transplanted the seat of government, and with it +the bulk of the city population, to Ri’ad, they <a +name="page213"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 213</span>have not +deemed it equally necessary to abandon the rich plantations and +well-watered fields belonging to the old capital; and thus a +small colony of gardeners in scattered huts and village dwellings +close under the walls protract the blighted existence of +Derey’eeyah.</p> +<p>“While from our commanding elevation we gazed +thoughtfully on this scene, so full of remembrances, the sun set, +and darkness grew on. We naturally proposed a halt, but +Aboo-’Eysa turned a deaf ear, and affirmed that a garden +belonging to ’Abd-er-Rahman, already mentioned as grandson +of the first Wahabee, was but a little farther before us, and +better adapted to our night’s rest than the ruins. In +truth, three hours of brisk travelling yet intervened between +Derey’eeyah and the place in question; but our guide was +unwilling to enter Derey’eeyah in company of Persians and +Syrians, Shiya’ees and Christians; and this he afterward +confessed to me. For, whether from one of those curious +local influences which outlast even the change of races, and give +one abiding color to the successive tenants of the same spot, or +whether it be occasioned by the constant view of their fallen +greatness and the triumph of their enemies, the scanty population +of Derey’eeyah comprises some of the bitterest and most +bigoted fanatics that even ’Aared can offer. +Accordingly we moved on, still keeping to the heights, and late +at night descended a little hollow, where, amid an extensive +garden, stood the country villa of ’Abd-er-Rahman.</p> +<p>“We did not attempt to enter the house; indeed, at such +an hour no one was stirring to receive us. But a shed in +the garden close by sufficed for <a name="page214"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 214</span>travellers who were all too weary to +desire aught but sleep; and this we soon found in spite of dogs +and jackals, numerous here and throughout Nedjed.</p> +<p>“From this locality to the capital was about four +miles’ distance. Our party divided next morning; the +Na’ib and his associates remaining behind, while Barakat +and myself, with Aboo-’Eysa, set off straight for the town, +where our guide was to give notice at the palace of the approach +of the Persian dignitary, that the honors due to his reception +might meet him half-way. At our request the Meccans stayed +also in the rear; we did not desire the equivocal effect of their +company on a first appearance.</p> +<p>“For about an hour we proceeded southward, through +barren and undulating ground, unable to see over the country to +any distance. At last we attained a rising eminence, and +crossing it, came at once in full view of Ri’ad, the main +object of our long journey—the capital of Nedjed and half +Arabia, its very heart of hearts.</p> +<p>“Before us stretched a wild open valley, and in its +foreground, immediately below the pebbly slope on whose summit we +stood, lay the capital, large and square, crowned by high towers +and strong walls of defence, a mass of roofs and terraces, where +overtopping all frowned the huge but irregular pile of +Feysul’s royal castle, and hard by it rose the scarce less +conspicuous palace, built and inhabited by his eldest son, +’Abdallah. Other edifices, too, of remarkable +appearance broke here and there through the maze of gray +roof-tops, but of their object and indwellers we were yet to +learn. All around for full three miles <a +name="page215"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 215</span>over the +surrounding plain, but more especially to the west and south, +waved a sea of palm-trees above green fields and well-watered +gardens; while the singing, droning sound of the water-wheels +reached us even where we had halted, at a quarter of a mile or +more from the nearest town-walls. On the opposite side +southward, the valley opened out into the great and even more +fertile plains of Yemamah, thickly dotted with groves and +villages, among which the large town of Manfoohah, hardly +inferior in size to Ri’ad itself, might be clearly +distinguished. Farther in the background ranged the blue +hills, the ragged Sierra of Yemamah, compared some thirteen +hundred years since, by ’Amroo-ebn-Kelthoom, the Shomerite, +to drawn swords in battle array; and behind them was concealed +the immeasurable Desert of the South, or Dahna. On the west +the valley closes in and narrows in its upward windings toward +Derey’eeyah, while to the southwest the low mounds of Aflaj +are the division between it and Wady Dowasir. Due east in +the distance a long blue line marks the farthest heights of +Toweyk, and shuts out from view the low ground of Hasa and the +shores of the Persian Gulf. In all the countries which I +have visited, and they are many, seldom has it been mine to +survey a landscape equal to this in beauty and in historical +meaning, rich and full alike to eye and mind. But should +any of my readers have ever approached Damascus from the side of +the Anti-Lebanon, and surveyed the Ghootah from the heights above +Mazzeh, they may thence form an approximate idea of the valley of +Ri’ad when viewed from the north. Only <a +name="page216"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 216</span>this is +wider and more varied, and the circle of vision here embraces +vaster plains and bolder mountains; while the mixture of tropical +aridity and luxuriant verdure, of crowded population and desert +tracks, is one that Arabia alone can present, and in comparison +with which Syria seems tame, and Italy monotonous.”</p> +<h2><a name="page217"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +217</span>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Adventures in Ri’ad</span>.</p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Barakat</span> and myself stopped +our dromedaries a few minutes on the height to study and enjoy +this noble prospect, and to forget the anxiety inseparable from a +first approach to the lion’s own den. +Aboo-’Eysa, too, though not unacquainted with the scene, +willingly paused with us to point out and name the main features +of the view, and show us where lay the onward road to his home in +Hasa. We then descended the slope and skirted the walls of the +first outlying plantations which gird the town.</p> +<p>“At last we reached a great open square: its right side, +the northern, consists of shops and warehouses; while the left is +entirely absorbed by the huge abode of Nedjean royalty; in front +of us, and consequently to the west, a long covered passage, +upborne high on a clumsy colonnade, crossed the breadth of the +square, and reached from the palace to the great mosque, which it +thus joins directly with the interior of the castle and affords +old Feysul a private and unseen passage at will from his own +apartments to his official post at the Friday prayers, without +exposing him on his way to vulgar curiosity, or perhaps to the +dangers of treachery. For the fate of his father and of his +great-uncle, his predecessors on the throne, and each of them +pierced by the dagger of an assassin <a name="page218"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 218</span>during public worship, has rendered +Feysul very timid on this score, though not at prayer-time +only. Behind this colonnade, other shops and warehouses +make up the end of the square, or, more properly, parallelogram; +its total length is about two hundred paces, by rather more than +half the same width. In the midst of this space, and under +the far-reaching shadow of the castle walls, are seated some +fifty or sixty women, each with a stock of bread, dates, milk, +vegetables, or firewood before her for sale.</p> +<p>“But we did not now stop to gaze, nor indeed did we pay +much attention to all this; our first introduction to the monarch +and the critical position before us took up all our +thoughts. So we paced on alongside of the long blind wall +running out from the central keep, and looking more like the +outside of a fortress than of a peaceful residence, till we came +near a low and narrow gate, the only entry to the palace. +Deep-sunk between the bastions, with massive folding doors iron +bound, though thrown open at this hour of the day, and giving +entrance into a dark passage, one might easily have taken it for +the vestibule of a prison; while the number of guards, some +black, some white, but all sword-girt, who almost choked the way, +did not seem very inviting to those without, especially to +foreigners. Long earth seats lined the adjoining walls, and +afforded a convenient waiting-place for visitors; and here we +took up our rest at a little distance from the palace gate; but +Aboo-’Eysa entered at once to announce our arrival, and the +approach of the Na’ib.</p> +<p>“The first who drew near and saluted us was a <a +name="page219"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 219</span>tall, +meagre figure, of a sallow complexion, and an intelligent but +slightly ill-natured and underhand cast of features. He was +very well dressed, though of course without a vestige of unlawful +silk in his apparel, and a certain air of conscious importance +tempered the affability of his politeness. This was +’Abd-el-’Azeez, whom, for want of a better title, I +shall call the minister of foreign affairs, such being the +approximate translation of his official style.</p> +<p>“Accompanied by some attendants from the palace, he came +stately up, and seated himself by our side. He next began +the customary interrogations of whence and what, with much +smiling courtesy and show of welcome. After hearing our +replies, the same of course as those given elsewhere, he invited +us to enter the precincts, and partake of his Majesty’s +coffee and hospitality, while he promised us more immediate +communications from the king himself in the course of the +day.</p> +<p>“If my readers have seen, as most of them undoubtedly +will, the Paris Tuileries, they may hereby know that the whole +extent of Feysul’s palace equals about two-thirds of that +construction, and is little inferior to it in height; if indeed +we except the angular pyramidal roofs or extinguishers peculiar +to the French edifice. But in ornament the Parisian pile +has the better of it, for there is small pretensions to +architectural embellishment in this Wahabee Louvre. +Without, within, every other consideration has been sacrificed to +strength and security; and the outer view of Newgate, at any +rate, bears a very strong resemblance to the general effect of +Feysul’s palace.</p> +<p><a name="page220"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +220</span>“Aboo-’Eysa meanwhile, in company with the +outriders sent from the palace, had gone to meet the Na’ib +and introduce him to the lodgings prepared for his +reception. Very much was the Persian astounded to find none +of the royal family among those who thus came, no one even of +high name or office; but yet more was his surprise when, instead +of immediate admittance to Feysul’s presence and eager +embrace, he was quietly led aside to the very guest-room whither +we had been conducted, and a dinner not a whit more sumptuous +than ours was set before him, after which he was very coolly told +that he might pray for Feysul and retire to his quarters, while +the king settled the day and hour whereon he would vouchsafe him +the honor of an audience.</p> +<p>“Afterward, the minister of foreign affairs condescended +to come in person, and, sweetly smiling, informed us that our +temporary habitation was ready, and that Aboo-’Eysa would +conduct us thither without delay. We then begged to know, +if possible, the king’s good-will and pleasure regarding +our stay and our business in the town. For on our first +introduction we had duly stated, in the most correct Wahabee +phraseology, that we had come to Ri’ad ‘desiring the +favor of God, and secondly of Feysul; and that we begged of God, +and secondly of Feysul, permission to exercise in the town our +medical profession, under the protection of God, and in the next +place of Feysul.’ For Dogberry’s advice to +‘set God first, for God defend but God should go before +such villains,’ is here observed to the letter; whatever is +desired, purported, or asked, the Deity must take the <a +name="page221"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 221</span>lead. +Nor this only, but even the subsequent mention of the creature +must nowise be coupled with that of the Creator by the ordinary +conjunction ‘w’,’ that is, ‘and,’ +since that would imply equality between the two—flat +blasphemy in word or thought. Hence the disjunctive +‘thumma,’ or ‘next after,’ ‘at a +distance,’ must take the place of ‘w’,’ +under penalty of prosecution under the statute. +‘Unlucky the man who visits Nedjed without being previously +well versed in the niceties of grammar,’ said Barakat; +‘under these schoolmasters a mistake might cost the scholar +his head.’ But of this more anon; to return to our +subject, ’Abd-el-’Azeez, a true politician, answered +our second interrogation with a vague assurance of good-will and +unmeaning patronage. Meantime the Na’ib and his train +marched off in high dudgeon to their quarters, and +Aboo-’Eysa gave our dromedaries a kick, made them rise, and +drove them before us to our new abode.”</p> +<p>In the course of a day or two the travellers discovered what a +sensation the arrival of their caravan had produced at +court. The old king, Feysul, now in the thirty-third year +of his reign, possessed all the superstition and bigotry of the +old Wahabees, and the sudden presence of Syrians, suspected of +being Christians, Persians, and Meccans, in his capital, was too +much for him. He at once left the palace, took up his +temporary residence in a house outside the city, and a strong +guard was posted around him until the court officials should have +time to examine the strangers, discover, if possible, their +secret designs, and report them to the king. The first spy +was a <a name="page222"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +222</span>shrewd and intelligent Affghan, a pretended convert to +the Wahabee doctrine, who discovered nothing, and consequently +made an unfavorable report. The second was a “man of +zeal,” one of a committee of twenty-two inquisitors, +appointed by the king to exercise constant espionage upon the +inhabitants, with the power of punishing them at will for any +infraction or neglect of the Wahabee discipline. Palgrave +gives the following account of his visit:</p> +<p>“Abbood, for such was his name, though I never met the +like before or after in Arabia proper, however common it may be +in Syria and Lebanon, took a different and more efficacious mode +of espionage than ’Abd-el-Hameed had done before him. +Affecting to consider us Mahometans, and learned ones too, he +entered at once on religious topics, on the true character of +Islam, its purity or corruptions, and inquired much after the +present teaching and usages of Damascus and the North, evidently +in the view of catching us in our words. But he had luckily +encountered his match; for every citation of the Koran we replied +with two, and proved ourselves intimately acquainted with the +‘greater’ and the ‘lesser’ polytheism of +foreign nations and heterodox Mahometans, with the commentaries +of Beydowee and the tales of the Hadeeth, till our visitor, now +won over to confidence, launched out full sail on the sea of +discussion, and thereby rendered himself equally instructive and +interesting to men who had nothing more at heart than to learn +the tenets of the sect from one of its most zealous professors, +nay, a Zelator in person. In short, he ended by becoming +half a friend, and his <a name="page223"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 223</span>regrets at our being, like other +Damascenes, yet in the outer porch of darkness, were tempered by +a hope, which he did not disguise, of at least putting a window +in our porch for its better enlightenment.”</p> +<p>Next day, in the forenoon, while the travellers were +sauntering about the market-place, they met the minister +’Abd-el-’Azeez, who had that morning returned to the +capital. With a smiling face and an air of great benignity +he took them aside, and informed them the king did not consider +Ri’ad a proper field for their medical skill; that they had +better at once continue their journey to Hofhoof, whither +Aboo-’Eysa should conduct them straightway; and that the +king would furnish each of them with a camel, a new suit of +clothes, and some money. To these arguments Palgrave could +only answer that he greatly desired the profit to be expected +from a few weeks of medical practice in Ri’ad, since his +success there would give him an immediate reputation in Hofhoof, +while his departure might deprive him of all reputation at the +latter place. The minister promised to present his plea to +Feysul, but gave him no hope of a favorable answer. The +order to leave was repeated, and then, as a last experiment, +Palgrave sent to two of the ministers a pound of the fragrant +wood, which is burned as pastilles in Arabia, and is highly +prized by the upper classes. The next day he received +permission to remain longer in Ri’ad and exercise his +profession. He thereupon took another residence, not so +near the palace, and within convenient reach of one of the city +gates. <a name="page224"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +224</span>Before describing the place he gives the following +account of the famous Arabian coffee:</p> +<p>“Be it then known, by way of prelude, that coffee, +though one in name, is manifold in fact; nor is every kind of +berry entitled to the high qualifications too indiscriminately +bestowed on the comprehensive genus. The best coffee, let +cavillers say what they will, is that of the Yemen, commonly +entitled ‘Mokha,’ from the main place of +exportation. Now, I should be sorry to incur a lawsuit for +libel or defamation from our wholesale or retail salesmen; but +were the particle <span class="GutSmall">NOT</span> prefixed to +the countless labels in London shop windows that bear the name of +the Red Sea haven, they would have a more truthy import than what +at present they convey. Very little, so little indeed as to +be quite inappreciable, of the Mocha or Yemen berry ever finds +its way westward of Constantinople. Arabia itself, Syria, +and Egypt consume fully two-thirds, and the remainder is almost +exclusively absorbed by Turkish and Armenian +œsophagi. Nor do these last get for their limited +share the best or the purest. Before reaching the harbors +of Alexandria, Jaffa, Beyrout, etc., for further exportation, the +Mokhan bales have been, while yet on their way, sifted and +resifted, grain by grain, and whatever they may have contained of +the hard, rounded, half-transparent, greenish-brown berry, the +only one really worth roasting and pounding, has been carefully +picked out by experienced fingers; and it is the less generous +residue of flattened, opaque, and whitish grains which alone, or +almost alone, goes on board the shipping. So <a +name="page225"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 225</span>constant is +this selecting process, that a gradation regular as the degrees +on a map may be observed in the quality of Mokha, that is, Yemen, +coffee even within the limits of Arabia itself, in proportion as +one approaches to or recedes from Wadi Nejran and the +neighborhood of Mecca, the first stages of the radiating +mart. I have myself been times out of number an eye-witness +of this sifting; the operation is performed with the utmost +seriousness and scrupulous exactness, reminding me of the +diligence ascribed to American diamond-searchers when +scrutinizing the torrent sands for their minute but precious +treasure.</p> +<p>“The berry, thus qualified for foreign use, quits its +native land on three main lines of export—that of the Red +Sea, that of the inner Hedjaz, and that of Kaseem. The +terminus of the first line is Egypt, of the second Syria, of the +third Nedjed and Shomer. Hence Egypt and Syria are, of all +countries without the frontiers of Arabia, the best supplied with +its specific produce, though under the restrictions already +stated; and through Alexandria or the Syrian seaports, +Constantinople and the North obtain their diminished share. +But this last stage of transport seldom conveys the genuine +article, except by the intervention of private arrangements and +personal friendship or interest. Where mere sale and +traffic are concerned, substitution of an inferior quality, or an +adulteration almost equivalent to substitution, frequently takes +place in the different storehouses of the coast, till whatever +Mokha-marked coffee leaves them for Europe and the West, is often +no more like <a name="page226"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +226</span>the real offspring of the Yemen plant than the log-wood +preparations of a London fourth-rate retail wine-seller resemble +the pure libations of an Oporto vineyard.</p> +<p>“The second species of coffee, by some preferred to that +of Yemen, but in my poor opinion inferior to it, is the growth of +Abyssinia; its berry is larger, and of a somewhat different and a +less heating flavor. It is, however, an excellent species; +and whenever the rich land that bears it shall be permitted by +man to enjoy the benefits of her natural fertility, it will +probably become an object of extensive cultivation and +commerce. With this stops, at least in European opinion and +taste, the list of coffee, and begins the list of beans.</p> +<p>“While we were yet in the Djowf I described with +sufficient minuteness how the berry is prepared for actual use; +nor is the process any way varied in Nedjed or other Arab +lands. But in Nedjed an additional spicing of saffron, +cloves, and the like, is still more common; a fact which is +easily explained by the want of what stimulus tobacco affords +elsewhere. A second consequence of non-smoking among the +Arabs is the increased strength of their coffee decoctions in +Nedjed, and the prodigious frequency of their use; to which we +must add the larger ‘finjans,’ or coffee-cups, here +in fashion. So sure are men, when debarred of one pleasure +or excitement, to make it up by another.”</p> +<p>Palgrave gives the following picturesque description of the +Wahabee capital: “We wrap our headgear, like true Arabs, +round our chins, put on our <a name="page227"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 227</span>grave-looking black cloaks, take +each a long stick in hand, and thread the narrow streets +intermediate between our house and the market-place at a funeral +pace, and speaking in an undertone. Those whom we meet +salute us, or we salute them; be it known that the lesser number +should always be the first to salute the greater, he who rides +him who walks, he who walks him who stands, the stander the +sitter, and so forth; but never should a man salute a woman; +difference of age or even of rank between men does not enter into +the general rules touching the priority of salutation. If +those whom we have accosted happen to be acquaintances or +patients, or should they belong to the latitudinarian school, our +salutation is duly returned. But if, by ill fortune, they +appertain to the strict and high orthodox party, an under-look +with a half scowl in silence is their only answer to our +greeting. Whereat we smile, Malvolio-like, and pass on.</p> +<p>“At last we reach the market-place; it is full of women +and peasants, selling exactly what we want to buy, besides meat, +firewood, milk, etc.; around are customers, come on errands like +our own. We single out a tempting basket of dates, and +begin haggling with the unbeautiful Phyllis, seated beside her +rural store. We find the price too high. ‘By +him who protects Feysul,’ answers she, ‘I am the +loser at that price.’ We insist. ‘By Him +who shall grant Feysul a long life, I cannot bate it,’ she +replies. We have nothing to oppose to such tremendous +asseverations, and accede or pass on, as the case may be.</p> +<p>“Half of the shops, namely, those containing <a +name="page228"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 228</span>grocery, +household articles of use, shoemakers’ stalls and smithies, +are already open and busily thronged. For the capital of a +strongly centralized empire is always full of strangers, come +will they nill they on their several affairs. But around +the butchers’ shops awaits the greatest human and canine +crowd. My readers, I doubt not, know that the only licensed +scavengers throughout the East are the dogs. Nedjeans are +great flesh-eaters, and no wonder, considering the cheapness of +meat (a fine fat sheep costs at most five shillings, often less) +and the keenness of mountaineer appetites. I wish that the +police regulations of the city would enforce a little more +cleanliness about these numerous shambles; every refuse is left +to cumber the ground at scarce two yards’ distance. +But dogs and dry air much alleviate the nuisance—a remark I +made before at Ha’yel and Bereydah; it holds true for all +Central Arabia.</p> +<p>“Barakat and I resolve on continuing our walk through +the town. Ri’ad is divided into four quarters: one, +the northeastern, to which the palaces of the royal family, the +houses of the state officers, and the richer class of proprietors +and government men belong. Here the dwellings are in +general high, and the streets tolerably straight and not +over-narrow; but the ground level is low, and it is perhaps the +least healthy locality of all. Next the northwestern, where +we are lodged; a large irregular mass of houses, varying in size +and keeping from the best to the worst; here strangers, and often +certain equivocal characters, never wanting in large towns, +however strictly regulated, chiefly abide; here too are <a +name="page229"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 229</span>many noted +for disaffection, and harboring other tenets than those of the +son of ’Abdel-Wahab, men prone to old Arab ways and customs +in ‘Church and State,’ to borrow our own analogous +phrase; here are country chiefs, here Bedouins and natives of +Zulphah and the outskirts find a lodging; here, if anywhere, is +tobacco smoked or sold, and the Koran neglected in +proportion. However, I would not have my readers to think +our entire neighborhood so absolutely disreputable.</p> +<p>“But we gladly turn away our eyes from so dreary a view +to refresh them by a survey of the southwestern quarter, the +chosen abode of formalism and orthodoxy. In this section of +Ri’ad inhabit the most energetic Zelators, here are the +most irreproachable five-prayers-a-day Nedjeans, and all the +flower of Wahabee purity. Above all, here dwell the +principal survivors of the family of the great religions Founder, +the posterity of ’Abd-el-Wahab escaped from the Egyptian +sword, and free from every stain of foreign contamination. +Mosques of primitive simplicity and ample space, where the great +dogma, not however confined to Ri’ad, that ‘we are +exactly in the right, and everyone else is in the wrong,’ +is daily inculcated to crowds of auditors, overjoyed to find +Paradise all theirs and none’s but theirs; smaller +oratories of Musallas, wells for ablution, and Kaabah-directed +niches adorn every corner, and fill up every interval of house or +orchard. The streets of this quarter are open, and the air +healthy, so that the invisible blessing is seconded by sensible +and visible privileges of Providence. Think not, gentle +reader, <a name="page230"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +230</span>that I am indulging in gratuitous or self-invented +irony; I am only rendering expression for expression, and almost +word for word, the talk of true Wahabees, when describing the +model quarter of their model city. This section of the town +is spacious and well-peopled, and flourishes, the citadel of +national and religious intolerance, pious pride, and genuine +Wahabeeism.</p> +<p>“Round the whole town run the walls, varying from twenty +to thirty feet in height; they are strong, in good repair, and +defended by a deep trench and embankment. Beyond them are +the gardens, much similar to those of Kaseem, both in arrangement +and produce, despite the difference of latitude, here compensated +by a higher ground level. But immediately to the south, in +Yemamah, the eye remarks a change in the vegetation to a more +tropical aspect; of this, however, I will not say more for the +present.</p> +<p>“According to promise, Aboo-’Eysa played his part +to bring us in patients and customers, and the very second +morning that dawned on us in our new house ushered in an invalid +who proved a very godsend. This was no other than Djowhar, +treasurer of Feysul, and of the Wahabee empire. My readers +may be startled to learn that this great functionary was jet +black, a negro in fact, though not a slave, having obtained his +freedom from Turkee, the father of the present king. He was +tall, and, for a negro, handsome; about forty-five years of age, +splendidly dressed, a point never neglected by wealthy Africans, +whatever be their theoretical creed, and girt with a +golden-hilted sword. ‘But,’ said he, +‘gold, though <a name="page231"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 231</span>unlawful if forming a part of +apparel or mere ornament, may be employed with a safe conscience +in decorating weapons.’</p> +<p>“After ceremonies and coffee, I took my dusky patient +into the consulting-room, where, by dint of questioning and +surmise, for negroes in general are much less clear and less to +the point than Arabs in their statements, I obtained the +requisite elucidation of his case. The malady, though +painful, was fortunately one admitting of simple and efficacious +treatment, so that I was able on the spot to promise him a +sensible amendment of condition within a fortnight, and that in +three weeks’ time he should be in plight to undertake his +journey to Bahreyn. I added that with so distinguished a +personage I could not think of exacting a bargain and fixing the +amount of fees; the requital of my care should be left to his +generosity. He then took leave, and was re-conducted to his +rooms in the palace by his fellow blacks of less +degree.”</p> +<p>The next visitor was Abd el-Kereem, of the oldest nobility of +Nedjed, related to the ruling family; a bitter Wahabee, a strong, +intelligent, bad, and dangerous man, who was both hated and +feared by the people. His visit was a distinction for +Palgrave, yet an additional danger. The latter, however, +determined to draw as much information from him concerning +Wahabee doctrine as he might be inclined to give; and, in +reality, found him quite communicative. One day Palgrave +asked him to define the difference between the <i>great</i> sins +and the <i>little</i> ones—that is, those to be punished in +the next world, or <a name="page232"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +232</span>at least deserving of it, and those whose penalty is +remissible in this life.</p> +<p>“Abd-el-Kereem doubted not that he had a sincere scholar +before him, nor would refuse his hand to a drowning man. +So, putting on a profound air, and with a voice of first-class +solemnity, he uttered his oracle, that ‘the first of the +great sins is the giving divine honors to a +creature.’ A hit, I may observe, at ordinary +Mahometans, whose whole doctrine of intercession, whether vested +in Mahomet or in ’Alee, is classed by Wahabees along with +direct and downright idolatry. A Damascene Shekh would have +avoided the equivocation by answering, +‘infidelity.’</p> +<p>“‘Of course,’ I replied, ‘the enormity +of such a sin is beyond all doubt. But if this be the +first, there must be a second; what is it?’</p> +<p>“‘Drinking the shameful,’ in English, +‘smoking tobacco,’ was the unhesitating answer.</p> +<p>“‘And murder, and adultery, and false +witness?’ I suggested.</p> +<p>“‘God is merciful and forgiving,’ rejoined +my friend; that is, these are merely little sins.</p> +<p>“‘Hence two sins alone are great, polytheism and +smoking,’ I continued, though hardly able to keep +countenance any longer. And Abd-el-Kereem, with the most +serious asseveration, replied that such was really the +case. On hearing this, I proceeded humbly to entreat my +friend to explain to me the especial wickedness inherent in +tobacco leaves, that I might the more detest and eschew them +hereafter.</p> +<p>“Accordingly he proceeded to instruct me, <a +name="page233"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 233</span>saying +that, Firstly, all intoxicating substances are prohibited by the +Koran; but tobacco is an intoxicating substance—ergo, +tobacco is prohibited.</p> +<p>“I insinuated that it was not intoxicating, and appealed +to experience. But, to my surprise, my friend had +experience too on his side, and had ready at hand the most +appalling tales of men falling down dead drunk after a single +whiff of smoke, and of others in a state of bestial and habitual +ebriety from its use. Nor were his stories so purely +gratuitous as many might at first imagine. The only tobacco +known, when known, in Southern Nedjed, is that of Oman, a very +powerful species. I was myself astonished, and almost +‘taken in,’ more than once, by its extraordinary +narcotic effects, when I experienced them, in the coffee-houses +of Bahreyn.”</p> +<p>Palgrave furnishes a tolerably complete account of the +provinces of Nedjed and the tribes which inhabit them. His +concluding statement, however, embodies all which will interest +the reader.</p> +<p>“To sum up, we may say that the Wahabee empire is a +compact and well-organized government, where centralization is +fully understood and effectually carried out, and whose +main-springs and connecting links are force and fanaticism. +There exist no constitutional checks either on the king or on his +subordinates, save what the necessity of circumstance imposes or +the Koran prescribes. Its atmosphere, to speak +metaphorically, is sheer despotism—moral, intellectual, +religious, and physical. This empire is capable of frontier +extension, and hence is dangerous to its neighbors, some of whom +it is even now <a name="page234"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +234</span>swallowing up, and will certainly swallow more if not +otherwise prevented. Incapable of true internal progress, +hostile to commerce, unfavorable to arts and even to agriculture, +and in the highest degree intolerant and aggressive, it can +neither better itself nor benefit others; while the order and +calm which it sometimes spreads over the lands of its conquest +are described in the oft-cited <i>Ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem +appellant</i> of the Roman annalist.</p> +<p>“In conclusion, I here subjoin a numerical list, taken +partly from the government registers of Ri’ad, partly from +local information, and containing the provinces, the number of +the principal towns or villages, the population, and the military +contingent, throughout the Wahabee empire.”</p> +<p> </p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Provinces</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Towns or Villages</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Population</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Military muster</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">I.</p> +</td> +<td><p>’Aared</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">15</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">110,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">6,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">II.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Yemamah</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">32</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">140,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">4,500</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">III.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Hareek</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">16</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">45,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">3,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">IV.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Aflaj</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">12</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">14,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">1,200</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">V.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Wady Dowasir</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">50</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">4,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Seley’yel</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">14</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">30,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">1,400</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Woshem</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">20</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">80,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">4,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">VIII.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sedeyr</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">25</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">140,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">5,200</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">IX.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Kaseem</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">60</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">300,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">11,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">X.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Hasa</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">50</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">160,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">7,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">XI.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Kateef</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">22</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">—</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">316</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">1,219,000</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">47,300</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>After a time, Palgrave was sent for by Abdallah, the eldest +son of King Feysul, who pretended that he wished to learn +something of the medical art. This led to a regular +intercourse, which at least enabled the traveller to learn many +things concerning the Wahabee government. Another important +<a name="page235"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 235</span>result +was an opportunity of visiting the royal stables, where the +finest specimens of the famous Nedjed breed of horses are +kept. Of these he gives the following interesting +description:</p> +<p>“The stables are situated some way out of the town, to +the northeast, a little to the left of the road which we had +followed at our first arrival, and not far from the gardens of +’Abd-er-Rahman the Wahabee. They cover a large square +space, about 150 yards each way, and are open in the centre, with +a long shed running round the inner walls; under this covering +the horses, about three hundred in number when I saw them, are +picketed during the night; in the daytime they may stretch their +legs at pleasure within the central court-yard. The greater +number were accordingly loose; a few, however, were tied up at +their stalls; some, but not many, had horse-cloths over +them. The heavy dews which fall in Wady Haneefah do not +permit their remaining with impunity in the open night air; I was +told also that a northerly wind will occasionally injure the +animals here, no less than the land wind does now and then their +brethren in India. About half the royal stud was present +before me, the rest were out at grass; Feysul’s entire +muster is reckoned at six hundred, or rather more.</p> +<p>“No Arab dreams of tying up a horse by the neck; a +tether replaces the halter, and one of the animal’s hind +legs is encircled about the pastern by a light iron ring, +furnished with a padlock, and connected with an iron chain of two +feet or thereabouts in length, ending in a rope, which is +fastened to the <a name="page236"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +236</span>ground at some distance by an iron peg; such is the +customary method. But should the animal be restless and +troublesome, a foreleg is put under similar restraint. It +is well known that in Arabia horses are much less frequently +vicious or refractory than in Europe, and this is the reason why +geldings are here so rare, though not unknown. No +particular prejudice, that I could discover, exists against the +operation itself; only it is seldom performed, because not +otherwise necessary, and tending, of course, to diminish the +value of the animal.</p> +<p>“But to return to the horses now before us; never had I +seen or imagined so lovely a collection. Their stature was +indeed somewhat low; I do not think that any came fully up to +fifteen hands; fourteen appeared to me about their average, but +they were so exquisitely well shaped that want of greater size +seemed hardly, if at all, a defect. Remarkably full in the +haunches, with a shoulder of a slope so elegant as to make one, +in the words of an Arab poet, ‘go raving mad about +it;’ a little, a very little, saddle-backed, just the curve +which indicates springiness without any weakness; a head broad +above, and tapering down to a nose fine enough to verify the +phrase of ‘drinking from a pint pot,’ did pint pots +exist in Nedjed; a most intelligent and yet a singularly gentle +look, full eye, sharp thorn-like little ear, legs fore and hind +that seemed as if made of hammered iron, so clean and yet so well +twisted with sinew; a neat, round hoof, just the requisite for +hard ground; the tail set on, or rather thrown out at a perfect +arch; coats smooth, shining, and light, the <a +name="page237"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 237</span>mane long, +but not overgrown nor heavy, and an air and step that seemed to +say, ‘Look at me, am I not pretty?’ their appearance +justified all reputation, all value, all poetry. The +prevailing color was chestnut or gray; a light bay, an iron +color, white or black, were less common; full bay, flea-bitten or +piebald, none. But if asked what are, after all, the +specially distinctive points of the Nedjee horse, I should reply, +the slope of the shoulder, the extreme cleanness of the shank, +and the full, rounded haunch, though every other part, too, has a +perfection and a harmony unwitnessed (at least by my eyes) +anywhere else.</p> +<p>“Nedjee horses are especially esteemed for great speed +and endurance of fatigue; indeed, in this latter quality, none +come up to them. To pass twenty-four hours on the road +without drink and without flagging is certainly something; but to +keep up the same abstinence and labor conjoined under the burning +Arabian sky for forty-eight hours at a stretch, is, I believe, +peculiar to the animals of the breed. Besides, they have a +delicacy, I cannot say of mouth, for it is common to ride them +without bit or bridle, but of feeling and obedience to the knee +and thigh, to the slightest check of the halter and the voice of +the rider, far surpassing whatever the most elaborate +manége gives a European horse, though furnished with +snaffle, curb, and all. I often mounted them at the +invitation of their owners, and without saddle, rein, or stirrup, +set them off at full gallop, wheeled them round, brought them up +in mid career at a dead halt, and that without the least +difficulty or the smallest want of correspondence between the +horse’s <a name="page238"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +238</span>movements and my own will; the rider on their back +really feels himself the man-half of a centaur, not a distinct +being.”</p> +<p>During the last week in November the Persian Na’ib, who +had been little edified by his experiences in Nedjed, set off for +Bagdad. In the meantime, Feysul had made great preparations +toward collecting an army for the reduction of the city of +’Oneyzah (near Bereydah), which still held out +gallantly. Troops were summoned from the eastern coast and +the adjoining provinces, and Sa’ood, the second son of +Feysul, was ordered to bring them together at the capital, when +the command was to be given to Abdallah, the eldest son. +Palgrave had then his only opportunity of seeing the old King of +the Wahabees.</p> +<p>“Sa’ood speedily arrived, and with him about two +hundred horsemen; the rest of his men, more than two thousand, +were mounted on camels. When they entered Ri’ad, +Feysul, for the first and last time during our stay, gave a +public audience at the palace gate. It was a scene for a +painter. There sat the blind old tyrant, corpulent, +decrepit, yet imposing, with his large, broad forehead, white +beard, and thoughtful air, clad in all the simplicity of a +Wahabee; the gold-hafted sword at his side his only ornament or +distinction. Beside him the ministers, the officers of his +court, and a crowd of the nobler and wealthier citizens. +Abdallah, the heir to the throne, was alone absent. Up came +Sa’ood with the bearing of a hussar officer, richly clad in +cashmere shawls and a gold-wrought mantle, while man by man +followed his red-dressed cavaliers, their spears <a +name="page239"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 239</span>over their +shoulders, and their swords hanging down; a musket, too, was +slung behind the saddle of each warrior; and the sharp dagger of +Hareek glittered in every girdle. Next came the common +soldiers on camels or dromedaries, some with spears only, some +with spears and guns, till the wide square was filled with armed +men and gazing spectators, as the whole troop drew up before the +great autocrat, and Sa’ood alighted to bend and kiss his +father’s hand. ‘God save Feysul! God give +the victory to the armies of the Muslims!’ was shouted out +on every side, and all faces kindled into the fierce smile of +concentrated enthusiasm and conscious strength. Feysul +arose from his seat and placed his son at his side; another +moment, and they entered the castle together.”</p> +<h2><a name="page240"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +240</span>CHAPTER XV.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—His Escape to the Eastern Coast</span>.</p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">For</span> a foreigner to enter +Ri’ad is not always easy, but to get away from it is harder +still; Reynard himself would have been justly shy of venturing on +this royal cave. There exists in the capital of Nedjed two +approved means of barring the exit against those on whom mistrust +may have fallen. The first and readiest is that of which it +has been emphatically said, <i>Stone-dead hath no +fellow</i>. But should circumstances render the bonds of +death inexpedient, the bonds of Hymen and a Ri’ad +establishment may and occasionally do supply their office. +By this latter proceeding, the more amiable of the two, Abdallah +resolved to enchain us.</p> +<p>“Accordingly, one morning arrived at our dwelling an +attendant of the palace, with a smiling face, presage of some +good in reserve, and many fair speeches. After inquiries +about our health, comfort, well-being, etc., he added that +Abdallah thought we might be desirous of purchasing this or that, +and begged us to accept of a small present. It was a fair +sum of money, just twice so much as the ordinary token of +good-will, namely, four rials in place of two. After which +the messenger took his leave. <a name="page241"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 241</span>Aboo-’Eysa had been present at +the interview: ‘Be on the look-out,’ said he, +‘there is something wrong.’</p> +<p>“That very afternoon Abdallah sent for me, and with +abundance of encomiums and of promises, declared that he could +not think of letting Ri’ad lose so valuable a physician, +that I must accordingly take up a permanent abode in the capital, +where I might rely on his patronage, and on all good things; that +he had already resolved on giving me a house and a garden, +specifying them, with a suitable household, and a fair face to +keep me company; he concluded by inviting me to go without delay +and see whether the new abode fitted me, and take possession.</p> +<p>“Much and long did I fight off; talked about a winter +visit to the coast, and coming back in the spring; tried first +one pretext and then another; but none would avail, and Abdallah +continued to insist. To quiet him, I consented to go and +see the house. For the intended Calypso, I had ready an +argument derived from Mahometan law, which put her out of the +question, but its explanation would require more space than these +pages can afford.</p> +<p>“The winter season was now setting in; it was the third +week in November; and a thunder-storm, the first we had witnessed +in Central Arabia, ushered in a marked change for cold in the +temperature of Wady Haneefah. Rain fell abundantly, and +sent torrents down the dry watercourses of the valley, changing +its large hollows into temporary tanks. None of the streams +showed, however, any disposition to reach the sea, nor indeed +could they, for this part of Nedjed is entirely hemmed in to the +east by <a name="page242"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +242</span>the Toweyk range. The inhabitants welcomed the +copious showers, pledges of fertility for the coming year, while +at ’Oneyzah the same rains produced at least one excellent +effect, but which I may well defy my readers to guess. The +hostile armies, commanded by Zamil and Mohammed-ebn-Sa’ood, +were drawn up in face of each other, and on the point of fierce +conflict, when the storm burst on them, and by putting out the +lighted matchlocks of either party, prevented the discharge of +bullets and the effusion of blood.”</p> +<p>Abdallah, who hated his second brother, Sa’ood, and had +many other fierce enmities in the capital, then accidentally +learned that Palgrave had employed a deadly poison (strychnine) +in making a remarkable cure. Thenceforth all his powers of +persuasion were employed in endeavoring to procure some of the +drug; but Palgrave, suspecting his real design, positively +refused to let him have any. His rage was suddenly and +strongly expressed on his countenance, foreboding no good to the +traveller, who took the first opportunity of returning to his +house.</p> +<p>“There Aboo-’Eysa, Barakat, and myself,” he +says, “immediately held council to consider what was now to +be done. That an outbreak must shortly take place seemed +certain; to await it was dangerous, yet we could not safely leave +the town in an over-precipitate manner, nor without some kind of +permission. We resolved together to go on in quiet and +caution a few days more, to sound the court, make our adieus at +Feysul’s palace, get a good word from Mahboob (no difficult +matter), and then slip off <a name="page243"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 243</span>without attracting too much +notice. But our destiny was not to run so +smoothly.”</p> +<p>Late in the evening of November 21st, Palgrave was summoned to +Abdallah’s palace. The messenger refused to allow +Barakat or Aboo-’Eysa to accompany him. The occasion +seemed portentous, but disobedience was out of the +question. Palgrave followed the messenger. On +entering the reception-room, he found Abdallah, Abd-el-Lateef, +the successor of the Wahabee, Mahboob, and a few others. +All were silent, and none returned his first salutation. +“I saluted Abdallah,” says Palgrave, “who +replied in an undertone, and gave me a signal to sit down at a +little distance from him, but on the same side of the +divan. My readers may suppose that I was not at the moment +ambitious of too intimate a vicinity.</p> +<p>“After an interval of silence, Abdallah turned half +round toward me, and with his blackest look and a deep voice +said, ‘I now know perfectly well what you are; you are no +doctors, you are Christians, spies, and revolutionists, come +hither to ruin our religion and state in behalf of those who sent +you. The penalty for such as you is death, that you know, +and I am determined to inflict it without delay.’</p> +<p>“‘Threatened folks live long,’ thought I, +and had no difficulty in showing the calm which I really +felt. So looking him coolly in the face, I replied, +‘<i>Istagh-fir Allah</i>,’ literally, ‘Ask +pardon of God.’ This is the phrase commonly addressed +to one who has said something extremely out of place.</p> +<p>“The answer was unexpected: he started, and said, +‘Why so?’</p> +<p><a name="page244"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +244</span>“‘Because,’ I rejoined, ‘you +have just now uttered a sheer absurdity. +“Christians,” be it so; but “spies,” +“revolutionists”—as if we were not known by +everybody in your town for quiet doctors, neither more nor +less! And then to talk about putting me to death! You +cannot, and you dare not.’</p> +<p>“‘But I can and dare,’ answered Abdallah, +‘and who shall prevent me? You shall soon learn that +to your cost.’</p> +<p>“‘Neither can nor dare,’ repeated I. +‘We are here your father’s guests, and yours for a +month and more, known as such, received as such. What have +we done to justify a breach of the laws of hospitality in +Nedjed? It is impossible for you to do what you say,’ +continued I, thinking the while that it was a great deal too +possible, after all; ‘the obloquy of the deed would be too +much for you.’</p> +<p>“He remained a moment thoughtful, then said, ‘As +if anyone need know who did it. I have the means, and can +dispose of you without talk or rumor. Those who are at my +bidding can take a suitable time and place for that, without my +name being ever mentioned in the affair.’</p> +<p>“The advantage was now evidently on my side; I followed +it up, and said with a quiet laugh, ‘Neither is that within +your power. Am I not known to your father, to all in his +palace? to your own brother Sa’ood among the rest? Is +not the fact of this my actual visit to you known without your +gates? Or is there no one here?’ added I, with a +glance at Mahboob, ‘who can report elsewhere what you have +just now said? Better for you to leave off this <a +name="page245"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 245</span>nonsense; +do you take me for a child of four days old?’</p> +<p>“He muttered a repetition of his threat. +‘Bear witness, all here present,’ said I, raising my +voice so as to be heard from one end of the room to the other, +‘that if any mishap befalls my companion or myself from +Ri’ad to the shores of the Persian Gulf, it is all +Abdallah’s doing. And the consequences shall be on +his head, worse consequences than he expects or +dreams.’</p> +<p>“The prince made no reply. All were silent; +Mahboob kept his eyes steadily fixed on the fireplace; +’Abd-el-Lateef looked much and said nothing.</p> +<p>“‘Bring coffee,’ called out Abdallah to the +servants. Before a minute had elapsed, a black slave +approached with one, and only one, coffee-cup in his hand. +At a second sign from his master he came before me and presented +it.</p> +<p>“Of course the worst might be conjectured of so unusual +and solitary a draught. But I thought it highly improbable +that matters should have been so accurately prepared; besides, +his main cause of anger was precisely the refusal of poisons, a +fact which implied that he had none by him ready for use. +So I said ‘<i>Bismillah</i>,’ took the cup, looked +very hard at Abdallah, drank it off, and then said to the slave, +‘Pour me out a second.’ This he did; I +swallowed it, and said, ‘Now you may take the cup +away.’</p> +<p>“The desired effect was fully attained. +Abdallah’s face announced defeat, while the rest of the +assembly whispered together. The prince turned to +’Abd-el-Lateef and began talking about the dangers <a +name="page246"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 246</span>to which +the land was exposed from spies, and the wicked designs of +infidels for ruining the kingdom of the Muslims. The Kadee +and his companions chimed in, and the story of a pseudo-Darweesh +traveller killed at Derey’eeyah, and of another (but who he +was I cannot fancy; perhaps a Persian, who had, said Abdallah, +been also recognized for an intriguer, but had escaped to Muscat, +and thus baffled the penalty due to his crimes), were now brought +forward and commented on. Mahboob now at last spoke, but it +was to ridicule such apprehensions. ‘The thing is in +itself unlikely,’ said he, ‘and were it so, what harm +could they do?’ alluding to my companion and myself.</p> +<p>“On this I took up the word, and a general conversation +ensued, in which I did my best to explode the idea of spies and +spymanship, appealed to our own quiet and inoffensive conduct, +got into a virtuous indignation against such a requital of evil +for good after all the services which we had rendered court and +town, and quoted verses of the Koran regarding the wickedness of +ungrounded suspicion, and the obligation of not judging ill +without clear evidence. Abdallah made no direct answer, and +the others, whatever they may have thought, could not support a +charge abandoned by their master.</p> +<p>“What amused me not a little was that the Wahabee prince +had after all very nearly hit the right nail on the head, and +that I was snubbing him only for having guessed too well. +But there was no help for it, and I had the pleasure of seeing +that, though at heart unchanged in his opinion about us, he was +<a name="page247"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 247</span>yet +sufficiently cowed to render a respite certain, and our escape +thereby practicable.</p> +<p>“This kind of talk continued a while, and I purposely +kept my seat, to show the unconcern of innocence, till Mahboob +made me a sign that I might safely retire. On this I took +leave of Abdallah and quitted the palace unaccompanied. It +was now near midnight, not a light to be seen in the houses, not +a sound to be heard in the streets; the sky too was dark and +overcast, till, for the first time, a feeling of lonely dread +came over me, and I confess that more than once I turned my head +to look and see if no one was following with ‘evil,’ +as Arabs say, in his hand. But there was none, and I +reached the quiet alley and low door where a gleam through the +chinks announced the anxious watch of my companions, who now +opened the entrance, overjoyed at seeing me back sound and safe +from so critical a parley.</p> +<p>“Our plan for the future was soon formed. A day or +two we were yet to remain in Ri’ad, lest haste should seem +to imply fear, and thereby encourage pursuit. But during +that period we would avoid the palace, out-walks in gardens or +after nightfall, and keep at home as much as possible. +Meanwhile Aboo-’Eysa was to get his dromedaries ready, and +put them in a courtyard immediately adjoining the house, to be +laden at a moment’s notice.</p> +<p>“A band of travellers was to leave Ri’ad for Hasa +a few days later. Aboo-’Eysa gave out publicly that +he would accompany them to Hofhoof, while we were supposed to +intend following the northern or Sedeyr track, by which the +Na’ib, after many <a name="page248"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 248</span>reciprocal farewells and assurances +of lasting friendship, should we ever meet again, had lately +departed. Mobeyreek, a black servant in +Aboo-’Eysa’s pay, occupied himself diligently in +feeding up the camels for their long march with clover and +vetches, both abundant here; and we continued our medical +avocations, but quietly, and without much leaving the house.</p> +<p>“During the afternoon of the 24th we brought three of +Aboo-’Eysa’s camels into our courtyard, shut the +outer door, packed, and laded. We then awaited the moment +of evening prayer; it came, and the voice of the +Mu’eddineen summoned all good Wahabees, the men of the +town-guard not excepted, to the different mosques. When +about ten minutes had gone by, and all might be supposed at their +prayers, we opened our door. Mobeyreek gave a glance up and +down the street to ascertain that no one was in sight, and we led +out the camels. Aboo-’Eysa accompanied us. +Avoiding the larger thoroughfares, we took our way by by-lanes +and side-passages toward a small town-gate, the nearest to our +house, and opening on the north. A late comer fell in with +us on his way to the Mesjid, and as he passed summoned us also to +the public service. But Aboo-’Eysa unhesitatingly +replied, ‘We have this moment come from prayers,’ and +our interlocutor, fearing to be himself too late and thus to fall +under reprehension and punishment, rushed off to the nearest +oratory, leaving the road clear. Nobody was in watch at the +gate. We crossed its threshold, turned southeast, and under +the rapid twilight reached a range of small hillocks, behind +which we sheltered ourselves till the stars came <a +name="page249"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 249</span>out, and +the ‘wing of night,’ to quote Arab poets, spread +black over town and country.</p> +<p>“So far so good. But further difficulties remained +before us. It was now more than ever absolutely essential +to get clear of Nedjed unobserved, to put the desert between us +and the Wahabee court and capital; and no less necessary was it +that Aboo-’Eysa, so closely connected as he was with +Ri’ad and its government, should seem nohow implicated in +our unceremonious departure, nor any way concerned with our +onward movements. In a word, an apparent separation of +paths between him and us was necessary before we could again come +together and complete the remainder of our explorations.</p> +<p>“In order to manage this, and while ensuring our own +safety to throw a little dust in Wahabee eyes, it was agreed that +before next morning’s sunrise Aboo-’Eysa should +return to the town, and to his dwelling, as though nothing had +occurred, and should there await the departure of the great +merchant caravan, mentioned previously, and composed mainly of +men from Hasa and Kateef, now bound for Hofhoof. This +assemblage was expected to start within three days at +latest. Meanwhile our friend should take care to show +himself openly in the palaces of Feysul and Abdallah, and if +asked about us should answer vaguely, with the off-hand air of +one who had no further care regarding us. We ourselves +should in the interim make the best of our way, with Mobeyreek +for guide, to Wady Soley’, and there remain concealed in a +given spot, till Aboo-’Eysa should come and pick us up.</p> +<p><a name="page250"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +250</span>“All this was arranged; at break of dawn, +Aboo-’Eysa took his leave, and Barakat, Mobeyreek, and +myself were once more high-perched on our dromedaries, their +heads turned to the southeast, keeping the hillock range between +us and Ri’ad, which we saw no more. Our path led us +over low undulating ground, a continuation of Wady Haneefah, till +after about four hours’ march we were before the gates of +Manfoohah, a considerable town, surrounded by gardens nothing +inferior in extent and fertility to those of Ri’ad; but its +fortifications, once strong, have long since been dismantled and +broken down by the jealousy of the neighboring capital.</p> +<p>“After winding here and there, we reached the spot +assigned by Aboo-’Eysa for our hiding-place. It was a +small sandy depth, lying some way off the beaten track, amid +hillocks and brushwood, and without water; of this latter article +we had taken enough in the goat-skins to last us for three +days. Here we halted, and made up our minds to patience and +expectation.</p> +<p>“Two days passed drearily enough. We could not but +long for our guide’s arrival, nor be wholly without fear on +more than one score. Once or twice a stray peasant stumbled +on us, and was much surprised at our encampment in so droughty a +locality. So the hours went by, till the third day brought +closer expectation and anxiety, still increasing while the sun +declined, and at last went down; yet nobody appeared. But +just as darkness closed in, and we were sitting in a dispirited +group beside our little fire, for the night air blew chill, +Aboo-’Eysa came suddenly <a name="page251"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 251</span>up, and all was changed for question +and answer, for cheerfulness and laughter.</p> +<p>“Early on November 28th we resumed our march through a +light valley-mist, and soon fell in with our companions of the +road.</p> +<p>“Next morning the whole country, hill and dale, trees +and bushes, was wrapped in a thick blanket of mist, fitter for +Surrey than for Arabia. So dense was the milky fog, that we +fairly lost our way, and went on at random, shouting and +hallooing, driving our beasts now here, now there, over broken +ground and amid tangling shrubs, till the sun gained strength and +the vapor cleared off, showing us the path at some distance on +our right. Before we had followed it far, we saw a black +mass advancing from the east to meet us. It was the first +division of the Hasa troops on their way to Ri’ad; they +were not less than four or five hundred in number. Like +true Arabs, they marched with a noble contempt of order and +discipline—walking, galloping, ambling, singing, shouting, +alone or in bands, as fancy led. We interchanged a few +words of greeting with these brisk boys, who avowed, without +hesitation or shame, that they should much have preferred to stay +at home, and that enforced necessity, not any military or +religious ardor, was taking them to the field. We laughed, +and wished them Zamil’s head, or him theirs, whereon they +laughed also, shouted, and passed on.</p> +<p>“On we went, but through a country of much more varied +scenery than what we had traversed the day before, enjoying the +‘pleasure situate in hill and <a name="page252"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 252</span>dale,’ till we arrived at the +foot of a high white cliff, almost like that of Dover; but these +crags, instead of having the sea at their foot, overlooked a wide +valley full of trees, and bearing traces of many violent winter +torrents from east to west; none were now flowing. Here we +halted, and passed an indifferent night, much annoyed by +‘chill November’s surly blast,’ hardly less +ungenial here than on the banks of Ayr, though sweeping over a +latitude of 25°, not 56°.</p> +<p>“Before the starlight had faded from the cold morning +sky, we were up and in movement, for a long march was before +us. At sunrise we stood on the last, and here the highest, +ledge of Toweyk, that long chalky wall which bounds and backs up +Nedjed on the east; beyond is the desert, and then the coast.</p> +<p>“After about three hours of level route we began to +descend, not rapidly, but by degrees, and at noon we reached a +singular depression, a huge natural basin, hollowed out in the +limestone rock, with tracks resembling deep trenches leading to +it from every side. At the bottom of this crater-like +valley were a dozen or more wells, so abundant in their supply +that they not unfrequently overflow the whole space, and form a +small lake; the water is clear and good, but no other is to be +met with on the entire line hence to Hasa.</p> +<p>“For the rest of the day we continued steadily to +descend the broad even slope, whose extreme barrenness and +inanimate monotony reminded me of the pebbly uplands near +Ma’an on the opposite side of <a name="page253"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 253</span>the peninsula, traversed by us +exactly seven months before. The sun set, night came on, +and many of the travellers would gladly have halted, but +Aboo-’Eysa insisted on continuing the march. We were +now many hundred feet lower than the crest behind us, and the air +felt warm and heavy, when we noticed that the ground, hitherto +hard beneath our feet, was changing step by step into a light +sand, that seemed to encroach on the rocky soil. It was at +first a shallow ripple, then deepened, and before long presented +the well-known ridges and undulations characteristic of the land +ocean when several fathoms in depth. Our beasts ploughed +laboriously on through the yielding surface; the night was dark, +but starry, and we could just discern amid the shade a white +glimmer of spectral sand-hills, rising around us on every side, +but no track or indication of a route.</p> +<p>“It was the great Dahna, or ‘Red Desert,’ +the bugbear of even the wandering Bedouin, and never traversed by +ordinary wayfarers without an apprehension which has too often +been justified by fatal incidents. So light are the sands, +so capricious the breezes that shape and reshape them daily into +unstable hills and valleys, that no traces of preceding +travellers remain to those who follow; while intense heat and +glaring light reflected on all sides combine with drought and +weariness to confuse and bewilder the adventurer, till he loses +his compass and wanders up and down at random amid a waste +solitude which soon becomes his grave. Many have thus +perished; even whole caravans have been known to disappear <a +name="page254"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 254</span>in the +Dahna without a vestige, till the wild Arab tales of demons +carrying off wanderers, or ghouls devouring them, obtain a half +credit among many accustomed elsewhere to laugh at such +fictions.</p> +<p>“For, after about three hours of night travelling, or +rather wading, among the sand-waves, till men and beasts alike +were ready to sink for weariness, a sharp altercation arose +between Aboo-’Eysa and El-Ghannam, each proposing a +different direction of march. We all halted a moment, and +raised our eyes, heavy with drowsiness and fatigue, as if to see +which of the contending parties was in the right. It will +be long before I forget the impression of that moment. +Above us was the deep black sky, spangled with huge stars of a +brilliancy denied to all but an Arab gaze, while what is +elsewhere a ray of the third magnitude becomes here of the first +amid the pure vacuum of a mistless, vaporless air; around us +loomed high ridges, shutting us in before and behind with their +white, ghost-like outlines; below our feet the lifeless sand, and +everywhere a silence that seemed to belong to some strange and +dreamy world where man might not venture.</p> +<p>“When not far from the midmost of the Dahna, we fell in +with a few Bedouins, belonging to the Aal-Morrah clan, sole +tenants of this desert. They were leading their goats to +little spots of scattered herbage and shrubs which here and there +fix a precarious existence in the hollows of the sands.</p> +<p>“Theirs is the great desert from Nedjed to +Hadramaut. Not that they actually cover this immense space, +a good fourth of the peninsula, but that they <a +name="page255"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 255</span>have the +free and undisputed range of the oases which it occasionally +offers, where herbs, shrubs, and dwarf-palms cluster round some +well of scant and briny water. These oases are sufficiently +numerous to preserve a stray Bedouin or two from perishing, +though not enough so to become landmarks for any regular route +across the central Dahna, from the main body of which runs out +the long and broad arm which we were now traversing.</p> +<p>“Another night’s bivouac, and then again over the +white down-sloping plain.</p> +<p>“It was now three days and a half since our last supply +of water, and Aboo-’Eysa was anxious to reach the +journey’s end without delay. As darkness closed +around we reached the farthermost heights of the coast-range of +Hasa. Hence we overlooked the plains of Hasa, but could +distinguish nothing through the deceptive rays of the rising +moon; we seemed to gaze into a vast milky ocean. After an +hour’s halt for supper we wandered on, now up, now down, +over pass and crag, till a long, corkscrew descent down the +precipitous sea-side of the mountain, for a thousand feet or near +it, placed us fairly upon the low level of Hasa, and within the +warm, damp air of the sea-coast.</p> +<p>“The ground glimmered white to the moon, and gave a firm +footing to our dromedaries, who, by their renewed agility, seemed +to partake in the joy of their riders, and to understand that +rest was near. We were, in fact, all so eager to find +ourselves at home and homestead, that although the town of +Hofhoof, our destined goal, was yet full fifteen miles <a +name="page256"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 256</span>to the +northeast, we pressed on for the capital. And there, in +fact, we should have all arrived in a body before day-dawn, had +not a singular occurrence retarded by far the greater number of +our companions.</p> +<p>“Soon after, the crags in our rear had shut out, perhaps +for years, perhaps forever, the desert and Central Arabia from +our view, while before and around us lay the indistinct +undulations and uncertain breaks of the great Hasa plain, when on +a sloping bank at a short distance in front we discerned certain +large black patches, in strong contrast with the white glister of +the soil around, and at the same time our attention was attracted +by a strange whizzing like that of a flight of hornets, close +along the ground, while our dromedaries capered and started as +though struck with sudden insanity. The cause of all this +was a vast swarm of locusts, here alighted in their northerly +wanderings from their birthplace in the Dahna; their camp +extended far and wide, and we had already disturbed their +outposts. These insects are wont to settle on the ground +after sunset, and there, half stupefied by the night chill, to +await the morning rays, which warm them once more into life and +movement. This time our dromedaries did the work of the +sun, and it would be hard to say which of the two were the most +frightened, they or the locusts. It was truly laughable to +see so huge a beast lose his wits for fear at the flight of a +harmless, stingless insect; of all timid creatures none equals +the ‘ship of the desert’ for cowardice.</p> +<p>“The swarm now before us was a thorough godsend for our +Arabs, on no account to be neglected. <a +name="page257"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 257</span>Thirst, +weariness, all was forgotten, and down the riders leapt from +their starting camels; this one spread out a cloak, that one a +saddle-bag, a third his shirt, over the unlucky creatures +destined for the morrow’s meal. Some flew away +whirring across our feet, others were caught and tied up in +cloths and sacks. Cornish wreckers at work about a +shattered East Indiaman would be beaten by Ghannam and his +companions with the locusts. However, Barakat and myself +felt no special interest in the chase, nor had we much desire to +turn our dress and accoutrements into receptacles for living +game. Luckily Aboo-’Eysa still retained enough of his +North Syrian education to be of our mind also. Accordingly +we left our associates hard at work, turned our startled and +still unruly dromedaries in the direction of Hofhoof, and set off +full speed over the plain.</p> +<p>“It was not till near morning that we saw before us in +indistinct row the long black lines of the immense date-groves +that surround Hofhoof. Then, winding on amid rice-grounds +and cornfields, we left on our right an isolated fort (to be +described by daylight), passed some scattered villas, with their +gardens, approached the ruined town walls, and entered the +southern gate, now open and unguarded. Farther on a few +streets brought us before the door of Aboo-’Eysa’s +house, our desired resting-place.</p> +<p>“It was still night. All was silent in the street +and house, at the entrance of which we now stood; indeed, none +but the master of a domicile could think of knocking at such an +hour, nor was <a name="page258"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +258</span>Aboo-’Eysa expected at that precise moment. +With much difficulty he contrived to awake the tenants; next the +shrill voice of the lady was heard within in accents of joy and +welcome; the door at last opened, and Aboo-’Eysa invited us +into a dark passage, where a gas-light would have been a +remarkable improvement, and by this ushered us into the +k’hawah. Here we lighted a fire, and after a hasty +refreshment all lay down to sleep, nor awoke till the following +forenoon.”</p> +<h2><a name="page259"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +259</span>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Palgrave’s +Travels—Eastern Arabia</span>.</p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Our</span> stay at Hofhoof was very +pleasant and interesting, not indeed through personal incidents +and hair-breadth escapes—of which we had our fair portion +at Ri’ad and elsewhere—but in the information here +acquired, and in the novel character of everything around us, +whether nature, art, or man. Aboo-’Eysa was very +anxious that we should see as much as possible of the country, +and procured us all means requisite for so doing, while the +shelter of his roof, and the precautions which he adopted or +suggested, obviated whatever dangers and inconveniences we had +experienced in former stages of the journey. Besides, the general +disposition of the inhabitants of Hasa is very different from +that met with in Nedjed, and even in Shomer or Djowf, and much +better adapted to make a stranger feel himself at home. A +sea-coast people, looking mainly to foreign lands and the ocean +for livelihood and commerce, accustomed to see among them not +unfrequently men of dress, manners, and religion different from +their own, many of them themselves travellers or voyagers to +Basrah, Bagdad, Bahreyn, Oman, and some even farther, they are +commonly free from that half-wondering, <a +name="page260"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +260</span>half-suspicious feeling which the sight of a stranger +occasions in the isolated, desert-girded centre. In short, +experience, that best of masters, has gone far to unteach the +lessons of ignorance, intolerance, and national aversion.</p> +<p>“Hofhoof, whose ample circuit contained during the last +generation about thirty thousand inhabitants, now dwindled to +twenty-three or twenty-four thousand, is divided into three +quarters or districts. The general form of the town is that +of a large oval. The public square, an oblong space of +about three hundred yards in length by a fourth of the same in +width, occupies the meeting point of these quarters; the +Kôt lies on its northeast, the Rifey’eeyah on the +northwest and west, and the Na’athar on the east and +south. In this last quarter was our present home; moreover, +it stood in the part farthest removed from the Kôt and its +sinister influences, while it was also sufficiently distant from +the overturbulent neighborhood of the Rifey’eeyah, the +centre of anti-Wahabee movements, and the name of which alone +excited distrust and uneasiness in Nedjean minds.</p> +<p>“The Kôt itself is a vast citadel, surrounded by a +deep trench, with walls and towers of unusual height and +thickness, earth-built, with an occasional intermixture of stone, +the work of the old Carmathian rulers; it is nearly square, being +about one-third of a mile in length by one-quarter in +breadth.</p> +<p>“On the opposite side of the square, and consequently +belonging to the Rifey’eeyah, is the vaulted market-place, +or ‘Keysareeyah,’ a name by which constructions of +this nature must henceforth be called up <a +name="page261"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 261</span>to Mascat +itself, though how this Latinism found its way across the +peninsula to lands which seem to have had so little commerce with +the Roman or Byzantine empires, I cannot readily +conjecture. This Keysareeyah is in form a long +barrel-vaulted arcade, with a portal at either end; the folding +doors that should protect the entrances have here in Hofhoof been +taken away, elsewhere they are always to be found. The +sides are composed of shops, set apart in general for wares of +cost, or at least what is here esteemed costly; thus, weapons, +cloth embroidery, gold and silver ornament, and analogous +articles, are the ordinary stock-in-hand in the +Keysareeyah. Around it cluster several alleys, roofed with +palm-leaves against the heat, and tolerably symmetrical; in the +shops we may see the merchandise of Bahreyn, Oman, Persia, and +India exposed for sale, mixed with the manufactured produce of +the country; workshops, smithies, carpenters’ and +shoemakers’ stalls, and the like, are here also. In +the open square itself stand countless booths for the sale of +dates, vegetables, wood, salted locusts, and small ware of many +kinds.</p> +<p>“The Rifey’eeyah, or noble quarter, covers a +considerable extent, and is chiefly composed of tolerable, in +some places of even handsome, dwellings. The comparative +elegance of domestic architecture in Hofhoof is due to the use of +the arch, which, after the long interval from Ma’an to +Hasa, now at last reappears, and gives to the constructions of +this province a lightness and a variety unknown in the monotonous +and heavy piles of Nedjed and Shomer. Another improvement +is that the walls, whether of earth or <a +name="page262"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 262</span>stone, or +of both mixed, as is often the case, are here very generally +coated with fine white plaster, much resembling the +‘chunam’ of Southern India; ornament, too, is aimed +at about the doorways and the ogee-headed windows, and is +sometimes attained.</p> +<p>“The Na’athar is the largest quarter; it forms, +indeed, a good half of the town, and completes its oval. In +it every description of dwelling is to be seen—for rich and +poor, for high and low, palace or hovel. Here, too, but +near the Kôt, has the pious policy of Feysul constructed +the great mosque.</p> +<p>“But perhaps my reader, after accompanying me thus far, +may feel thirsty, for the heat, even in December, is almost +oppressive, and the sky cloudless as though it were June or +July. So let us turn aside into that grassy plantation, +where half a dozen buffaloes are cooling their ugly hides in a +pool, and drink a little from the source that supplies it. +When behold! the water is warm, almost hot. Do not be +surprised; all the fountain sources and wells of Hasa are so, +more or less; in some one can hardly bear to plunge one’s +hand; others are less above the average temperature, while a +decidedly sulphurous taste is now and then perceptible. In +fact, from the extreme north of this province down to its +southern-most frontier, this same sign of subterranean fire is +everywhere to be found. The rocks, too, are here very +frequently of tufa and basalt, another mark of igneous +agency.</p> +<p>“The products of Hasa are many and various; the monotony +of Arab vegetation, its eternal palm and ithel, ithel and palm, +are here varied by new foliage, <a name="page263"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 263</span>and growths unknown to Nedjed and +Shomer. True, the date-palm still predominates, nay, here +attains its greatest perfection. But the nabak, with its +rounded leaves and little crab-apple fruit, a mere bush in +Central Arabia, becomes in Hasa a stately tree; the papay, too, +so well known in the more easterly peninsula, appears, though +seldom, and stunted in growth, along with some other trees, +common on the coast from Cutch to Bombay. Indigo is here +cultivated, though not sufficiently for the demands of commerce; +cotton is much more widely grown than in Yemamah; rice fields +abound, and the sugar-cane is often planted, though not, I +believe, for the extraction of the sugar. The peasants of +Hasa sell the reed by retail bundles in the market-place, and the +purchasers take it home to gnaw at leisure in their houses. +Corn, maize, millet, vetches of every kind, radishes, onions, +garlic, beans, in short, almost all legumina and cerealia, barley +excepted (at least I neither saw nor heard of any), cover the +plain, and under a better administration might be multiplied +tenfold.</p> +<p>“The climate of Hasa, as I have already implied, is very +different from that of the uplands, and not equally favorable to +health and physical activity. Hence, a doctor, like myself, +if my readers will allow me the title, has here more work and +better fees; this latter circumstance is also owing to the +greater amount of ready money in circulation, and the higher +value set on medical science by men whose intellects are much +more cultivated than those of their Nedjean neighbors. In +appearance, the inhabitants of Hasa are generally good-sized and +<a name="page264"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +264</span>well-proportioned, but somewhat sallow in the face, and +of a less muscular development than is usual inland; their +features, though regular, are less marked than those of the +Nedjeans, and do not exhibit the same half-Jewish type. On +the contrary, there is something in them that reminds a beholder +of the Rajpoot or the Guzeratee. They are passionately fond +of literature and poetry.</p> +<p>“I have already said that our great endeavor in Hasa was +to observe unobserved, and thus to render our time as barren as +might be in incidents and catastrophes. Not that we went +into the opposite extreme of leading an absolutely retired and +therefore uneventful life. Aboo-’Eysa took care from +the first to bring us into contact with the best and the most +cultivated families of the town, nor had my medical profession +anywhere a wider range for its exercise, or better success than +in Hofhoof. Friendly invitations, now to dinner, now to +supper, were of daily occurrence; and we sat at tables where +fish, no longer mere salted shrimps, announced our vicinity to +the coast; vermicelli, too, and other kinds of pastry, denoted +the influence of Persian art on the kitchen. Smoking within +doors was general; but the nargheelah often replaced, and that +advantageously, the short Arab pipe; perfumes are no less here in +use than in Nedjed.</p> +<p>“We had passed about a week in the town when +Aboo-’Eysa entered the side room where Barakat and I were +enjoying a moment of quiet, and copying out ‘Nabtee’ +poetry, and shut the door behind him. He then announced to +us, with a face and tone of <a name="page265"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 265</span>serious anxiety, that two of the +principal Nedjean agents belonging to the Kôt had just come +into the k’hawah, under pretext of medical consultation, +but in reality, said he, to identify the strangers. We put +on our cloaks—a preliminary measure of decorum equivalent +to face- and hand-washing in Europe—and presented ourselves +before our inquisitors with an air of conscious innocence and +scientific solemnity. Conversation ensued, and we talked so +learnedly about bilious and sanguine complexions, cephalic veins, +and Indian drugs, with such apposite citations from the Koran, +and such loyal phrases for Feysul, that Aboo-’Eysa was +beside himself for joy; and the spies, after receiving some +prescriptions of the bread-pill and aromatic-water formula, left +the house no wiser than before. Our friends, too, and they +were now many, well guessing what we might really be, partly from +our own appearance and partly from the known character of our +host (according to old Homer’s true saying, <i>Heaven +always leads like to like</i>), did each and all their best to +throw sand into Wahabee eyes, and everything went on sociably and +smoothly. A blessing on the medical profession! None +other gives such excellent opportunities for securing everywhere +confidence and friendship.</p> +<p>“Before we leave Hasa I must add a few remarks to +complete the sketch given of the province and of its +inhabitants. Want of a suitable opportunity for inserting +them before has thrown them together at this point of my +narrative.</p> +<p>“My fair readers will be pleased to learn that the veil +and other restraints inflicted on the gentle sex <a +name="page266"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 266</span>by +Islamitic rigorism, not to say worse, are much less universal, +and more easily dispensed with in Hasa; while in addition, the +ladies of the land enjoy a remarkable share of those natural +gifts which no institutions, and even no cosmetics, can confer; +namely, beauty of face and elegance of form. Might I +venture on the delicate and somewhat invidious task of +constructing a ‘beauty-scale’ for Arabia, and for +Arabia alone, the Bedouin women would, on this kalometer, be +represented by zero, or at most 1°; a degree higher would +represent the female sex of Nedjed; above them rank the women of +Shomer, who are in their turn surmounted by those of Djowf. +The fifth or sixth degree symbolizes the fair ones of Hasa; the +seventh those of Katar; and lastly, by a sudden rise of ten +degrees at least, the seventeenth or eighteenth would denote the +pre-eminent beauties of Oman. Arab poets occasionally +languish after the charmers of Hedjaz; I never saw anyone to +charm me, but then I only skirted the province. All bear +witness to the absence of female loveliness in Yemen; and I +should much doubt whether the mulatto races and dusky complexions +of Hadramaut have much to vaunt of. But in Hasa a decided +improvement on this important point is agreeably evident to the +traveller arriving from Nedjed, and he will be yet further +delighted on finding his Calypsos much more conversible, and +having much more, too, in their conversation than those he left +behind him in Sedeyr and ’Aared.</p> +<p>“During our stay at Hofhoof, Aboo-’Eysa left +untried no arts of Arab rhetoric and persuasion to <a +name="page267"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 267</span>determine +me to visit Oman, assuring me again and again that whatever we +had yet seen, even in his favorite Hasa, was nothing compared to +what remained to see in that more remote country. My +companion, tired of our long journey, and thinking the long +distance already laid between him and his Syrian home quite +sufficient in itself without further leagues tacked on to it, was +very little disposed for a supplementary expedition. +Englishmen, on the contrary, are rovers by descent and habit; my +own mind was now fully made up to visit Oman at all risks, +whether Barakat came with me or not. Meanwhile, we formed +our plan for the next immediate stage of our route. My +companion and I were to quit Hofhoof together, leaving +Aboo-’Eysa behind us for a week or two at Hasa, while we +journeyed northward to Kateef, and thence took ship for the town +of Menamah in Bahreyn. In this latter place +Aboo-’Eysa was to rejoin us. Our main reason for thus +separating our movements in time and in direction, was to avoid +the too glaring appearance of acting in concert while yet in a +land under Wahabee government and full of Wahabee spies and +reporters, especially after the suspicions thrown on us at +Ri’ad. The Oman arrangements were to be deferred till +we should all meet again.</p> +<p>“Barakat and myself prepared for our departure; we +purchased a few objects of local curiosity, got in our dues of +medical attendance, paid and received the customary P. P. C. +visits, and even tendered our respects to the negro governor +Belal, where he sat at his palace door in the Kôt, holding +a public <a name="page268"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +268</span>audience, and looking much like any other well-dressed +black. No passport was required for setting out on the road +to Kateef, which in the eyes of government forms only one and the +same province with Hasa, though in many respects very different +from it. The road is perfectly secure; plundering Bedouins +or highway robbers are here out of the question. However, +we stood in need of companions, not for escort, but as +guides. Aboo-’Eysa made inquiries in the town, and +found three men who chanced to be just then setting out on their +way for Kateef, who readily consented to join band with us for +the road. Our Abyssinian hostess supplied us with a whole +sack of provisions, and our Hofhoof associates found us in +camels. Thus equipped and mounted, we took an almost +touching leave of Aboo-’Eysa’s good-natured wife, +kissed the baby, exchanged an <i>au revoir</i> with its father, +and set out on the afternoon of December 19th, leaving behind us +many pleasant acquaintances, from some of whom I received +messages and letters while at Bahreyn. So far as +inhabitants are concerned, to no town in Arabia should I return +with equal confidence of finding a hearty greeting and a welcome +reception, than to Hofhoof and its amiable and intelligent +merchants.</p> +<p>“We quitted the town by the northeastern gate of the +Rifey-’eeyah, where the friends, who, according to Arab +custom, had accompanied us thus far in a sort of procession, +wished us a prosperous journey, took a last adieu, and returned +home. After some hours we bivouacked on a little hillock of +clean sand, with the dark line of the Hofhoof woods on our <a +name="page269"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 269</span>left, while +at some distance in front a copious fountain poured out its +rushing waters with a noise distinctly audible in the stillness +of the night, and irrigated a garden worthy of Damascus or +Antioch. The night air was temperate, neither cold like +that of Nedjed, nor stifling like that of Southern India; the sky +clear and starry. From our commanding position on the hill +I could distinguish Soheyl or Canopus, now setting; and following +him, not far above the horizon, the three upper stars of the +Southern Cross, an old Indian acquaintance; two months later in +Oman I had the view of the entire constellation.</p> +<p>“Next morning we traversed a large plain of light and +sandy soil, intersected by occasional ridges of basalt and +sandstone.</p> +<p>“We journeyed on all day, meeting no Bedouins and few +travellers. At evening we encamped in a shallow valley, +near a cluster of brimming wells, some sweet, some brackish, +where the traces of half-obliterated watercourses and the +vestiges of crumbling house-walls indicated the former existence +of a village, now also deserted. We passed a comfortable +night under the shelter of palms and high brushwood, mixed with +gigantic aloes and yuccas, and rose next morning early to our +way. Our direction lay northeast. In the afternoon we +caught our first glimpse of Djebel Mushahhar, a pyramidical peak +some seven hundred feet high and about ten miles south of +Kateef. But the sea, though I looked toward it and for it +with an eagerness somewhat resembling that of the Ten Thousand on +their approach to the <a name="page270"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 270</span>Euxine, remained shut out from view +by a further continuation of the heights.</p> +<p>“Next day we rose at dawn, and crossed the hills of +Kateef by a long winding path, till after some hours of +labyrinthine track we came in sight of the dark plantation-line +that girdles Kateef itself landward. The sea lies +immediately beyond; this we knew, but we could not obtain a +glimpse of its waters through the verdant curtain stretched +between.</p> +<p>“About midday we descended the last slope, a steep +sandstone cliff, which looks as though it had been the sea-limit +of a former period. We now stood on the coast itself. +Its level is as nearly as possible that of the Gulf beyond; a few +feet of a higher tide than usual would cover it up to the +cliffs. Hence it is a decidedly unhealthy land, though +fertile and even populous; but the inhabitants are mostly weak in +frame and sallow in complexion. The atmosphere was thick +and oppressive, the heat intense, and the vegetation hung rich +and heavy around; my companions talked about suffocation, and I +remembered once more the Indian coast. Another hour of +afternoon march brought us to Kateef itself, at its western +portal; a high stone arch of elegant form, and flanked by walls +and towers, but all dismantled and ruinous. Close by the +two burial-grounds, one for the people of the land, the other for +the Nedjean rulers and colony—divided even after death by +mutual hatred and anathema. Folly, if you will, but folly +not peculiar to the East.</p> +<p>“The town itself is crowded, damp, and dirty, and has +altogether a gloomy, what for want of a better <a +name="page271"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 271</span>epithet I +would call a <i>mouldy</i>, look; much business was going on in +the market and streets, but the ill-favored and very un-Arab look +of the shopkeepers and workmen confirms what history tells of the +Persian colonization of this city. Indeed, the inhabitants +of the entire district, but more especially of the capital, are a +mongrel race, in which Persian blood predominates, mixed with +that of Bassora, Bagdad, and the ’Irak.</p> +<p>“We urged our starting dromedaries across the open +square in front of the market-place, traversed the town in its +width, which is scarce a quarter of its length (like other coast +towns), till we emerged from the opposite gate, and then looked +out with greedy eyes for the sea, now scarce ten minutes +distant. In vain as yet, so low lies the land, and so thick +cluster the trees. But after a turn or two we came +alongside of the outer walls, belonging to the huge fortress of +Karmoot, and immediately afterward the valley opening out showed +us almost at our feet the dead shallow flats of the bay. +How different from the bright waters of the Mediterranean, all +glitter and life, where we had bidden them farewell eight months +before at Gaza! Like a leaden sheet, half ooze, half sedge, +the muddy sea lay in view, waveless, motionless; to our left the +massive walls of the castle went down almost to the water’s +edge, and then turned to leave a narrow esplanade between its +circuit and the Gulf. On this ledge were ranged a few rusty +guns of large calibre, to show how the place was once guarded; +and just in front of the main gate a crumbling outwork, which a +single cannon-shot <a name="page272"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +272</span>would level with the ground, displayed six pieces of +honey-combed artillery, their mouths pointing seaward. Long +stone benches without invited us to leave our camels crouching on +the esplanade, while we seated ourselves and rested a little +before requesting the governor to grant us a day’s +hospitality, and permission to embark for Bahreyn.</p> +<p>“Barakat and I sat still to gaze, speculating on the +difference between the two sides of Arabia. But our +companions, like true Arabs, thought it high time for +‘refreshment,’ and accordingly began their inquiries +at the castle-gate where the governor might be, and whether he +was to be spoken to. When, behold! the majesty of +Feysul’s vicegerent issuing in person from his palace to +visit the new man-of-war. My abolitionist friends will be +gratified to learn that this exalted dignitary is, no less than +he of Hofhoof, a negro, brought up from a curly-headed imp to a +woolly-headed black in Feysul’s own palace, and now +governor of the most important harbor owned by Nedjed on the +Persian Gulf, and of the town once capital of that fierce dynasty +which levelled the Kaabah with the dust, and filled Kateef with +the plunder of Yemen and Syria. Farhat, to give him his +proper name, common among those of his complexion, was a fine +tall negro of about fifty years old, good-natured, chatty, +hospitable, and furnished with perhaps a trifle more than the +average amount of negro intellect.</p> +<p>“Aboo-’Eysa, who had friends and acquaintances +everywhere, and whose kindly manner made him always a special +favorite with negroes high or low, had furnished us with an +introductory letter to <a name="page273"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 273</span>Farhat, intended to make matters +smooth for our future route. But as matters went there was +little need of caution. The fortunate coincidence of a +strong north wind, just then blowing down the Gulf, gave a +satisfactory reason for not embarking on board of a Bassora +cruiser, while it rendered a voyage to Bahreyn, our real object, +equally specious and easy. Besides, Farhat himself, who was +a good, easy-going sort of man, had hardly opened +Aboo-’Eysa’s note, than without more ado he bade us a +hearty welcome, ordered our luggage to be brought within the +castle precincts, and requested us to step in ourselves and take +a cup of coffee, awaiting his return for further conversation +after his daily visit of inspection to Feysul’s abridged +fleet.</p> +<p>“The next day passed, partly in Farhat’s +k’hawah, partly in strolling about the castle, town, +gardens, and beach, making, meanwhile, random inquiries after +boats and boatmen.</p> +<p>“It was noon when we fell in with a ship captain, ready +to sail that very night, wind and tide permitting. +Farhat’s men had spoken with him, and he readily offered to +take us on board. We then paid a visit to the custom-house +officer to settle the embarkation dues for men and goods. +This foreman of the Ma’asher, whether in accordance with +orders from Farhat, or of his own free will and inclination, I +know not, proved wonderfully gracious, and declared that to take +a farthing of duty from such useful servants of the public as +doctors, would be ‘sheyn w’khata’, ‘shame +and sin.’ Alas, that European custom house officials +should be far removed from <a name="page274"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 274</span>such generous and patriotic +sentiments! Lastly, of his own accord he furnished us with +men to carry our baggage through knee-deep water and thigh-deep +mud to the little cutter, where she lay some fifty yards from +shore. Evening now came on, and Farhat sent for us to +congratulate us, but with a polite regret on having found so +speedy conveyance for our voyage. Meanwhile he let us +understand how he was himself invited for the evening to supper +with a rich merchant of the town, and that we were expected to +join the party; nor need that make us anxious about our passage, +since our ship captain was also invited, nor could the vessel +possibly sail before the full tide at midnight.</p> +<p>“From our town supper we returned by torchlight to the +castle; our baggage, no great burden, had been already taken down +to the sea gate, where stood two of the captain’s men +waiting for us. In their company we descended to the beach, +and then with garments tucked up to the waist waded to the +vessel, not without difficulty, for the tide was rapidly coming +in, and we had almost to swim for it. At last we reached +the ship and scrambled up her side; most heartily glad was I to +find myself at sea once more on the other side of +Arabia.”</p> +<p>After a slow voyage of three days Palgrave reached Bahreyn, +the headquarters of the pearl fisheries, and established himself +in the little town of Moharrek, to wait for the arrival of +Aboo-’Eysa before undertaking his projected exploration of +Oman. He and his companion enjoyed a grateful feeling of +rest and security in this seaport among the sailors, to <a +name="page275"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 275</span>whom all +varieties of foreigners were well known, and who, having no +prejudices, felt no suspicion.</p> +<p>On January 9, 1863, Aboo-’Eysa arrived, and after much +earnest consultation the following plan was adopted: +Aboo-’Eysa was to send twenty loads of the best Hasa dates, +and a handsome mantle, as presents to the Sultan of Oman, with +three additional mantles for the three chiefs whose territories +intervened between Bahreyn and Muscat. Palgrave was to +accompany these gifts, under his character of a skilled physician +in quest of certain rare and mysterious herbs of Oman. +Meanwhile, Aboo-’Eysa and Barakat would take passage for +Aboo-Shahr (Busheer), in Persia, where the former would be +employed for three months in making up his next caravan of Mecca +pilgrims. Here Palgrave was to rejoin them after his +journey.</p> +<p>In place of Barakat his companion was a curious individual +named Yoosef, whom Aboo-’Eysa had rescued from misery and +maintained in a decent condition. He was a native of Hasa, +half a jester and half a knave; witty, reckless, hare brained to +the last degree, full of jocose or pathetic stories, of poetry, +traditions, and fun of every description. When everything +had been arranged the four parted company, Palgrave and his new +companion sailing for the port of Bedaa’, on the Arabian +coast, where resided the first of the three chiefs whose +protection it was necessary to secure. They reached there +after a cruise of five or six days, finding the place very barren +and desolate, with scarcely a tree or a garden; but, as the chief +said to Palgrave, “We are all, from <a +name="page276"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 276</span>the highest +to the lowest, the slaves of one master—Pearl.” +The bay contains the best pearl-fishery on the coast, and the +town depends for its existence on the trade in these gems.</p> +<p>The chief was intelligent and friendly, and appears to have +interposed no obstacle to the proposed journey into the interior, +but Palgrave decided to go on by sea to the town of Sharjah, on +the northern side of the peninsula of Oman. Embarking again +on February 6th, the vessel was driven by violent winds across to +the Persian shore, and ten days elapsed before it was possible to +reach Sharjah. Here, again, although their reception was +hospitable, the travellers gave up their land journey and +re-embarked in another vessel to pass around the peninsula, +through the Straits of Ormuz, and land on the southern shore, in +the territory of Muscat.</p> +<p>In three days they reached the island of Ormuz, of which +Palgrave says: “I was not at all sorry to have an +opportunity of visiting an island once so renowned for its +commerce, and of which its Portuguese occupants used to say, +‘that, were the world a golden ring Ormuz would be the +diamond signet.’ The general appearance of Ormuz +indicates an extinguished volcano, and such I believe it really +is; the circumference consists of a wide oval wall, formed by +steep crags, fire-worn and ragged; these enclose a central basin, +where grow shrubs and grass; the basaltic slopes of the outer +barrier run in many places clean down into the sea, amid +splinter-like pinnacles and fantastic crags of many colors, like +those which lava often assumes on cooling. Between <a +name="page277"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 277</span>the west +and north a long triangular promontory, low and level, advances +to a considerable distance, and narrows into a neck of land, +which is terminated by a few rocks and a strong fortress, the +work of Portuguese builders, but worthy of taking rank among +Roman ruins—so solid are the walls, so compact the masonry +and well-selected brickwork, against which three long centuries +of sea-storm have broken themselves in vain. The greater +part of the promontory itself is covered with ruins. Here +stood the once thriving town, now a confused extent of desolate +heaps, amid which the vestiges of several fine dwellings, of +baths, and of a large church may yet be clearly made out. +Close by the fort cluster a hundred or more wretched +earth-hovels, the abode of fishermen or shepherds, whose flocks +pasture within the crater; one single shed, where dried dates, +raisins, and tobacco are exposed for sale, is all that now +remains of the trade of Ormuz.”</p> +<p>After being detained three days at Ormuz by a storm, the +vessel passed through the Strait, skirted the southern coast of +the peninsula, and reached the harbor of Sohar on March 3d. +Palgrave determined to set off with Yoosef the same evening on +the land-journey of eight or nine days to Muscat; but he had +already lost so much time by delays since leaving Bahreyn that he +yielded to the persuasions of the captain of another vessel, who +promised to take him to Muscat by sea in two days. He +sailed on the 6th, weighed down with a vague presentiment of +coming evil, which was soon to be justified. His wanderings +in Arabia, and also in this world, very <a +name="page278"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 278</span>nearly came +to an end. The vessel slowly glided on for two days, and +Muscat was almost in sight when a dead, ominous calm befell them +near the Sowadah Islands—some low reefs of barren rocks, +about three leagues from shore. It proved to be a calm, +ominous indeed for Palgrave, as well as for the captain of the +vessel and all on board. It was followed by a furious storm +that ended in the wreck of the dhow, and the loss of several +lives, together with the entire outfit of the expedition. +Palgrave and the survivors of the crew and passengers, nine in +number, barely escaped with their lives, and reached the shore +utterly exhausted, with nothing but the shirts they wore.</p> +<p>In sorry plight the traveller made his way along the coast to +Muscat. He was obliged to give up the idea of exploring the +interior of Oman, partly on account of the loss of the stores but +chiefly because his identity as a European had been disclosed; +and so in this disastrous manner ended the most important and +interesting journey that had yet been made by any traveller in +Arabia.</p> +<h2><a name="page279"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +279</span>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +<p class="gutsumm"><span class="smcap">Lady Blunt’s +Pilgrimage to Nejd</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> 1878–79, sixteen years +after Palgrave’s journey, Lady Anne Blunt, with her husband +and several native servants, accomplished a journey, which, in +many respects was more remarkable than the exploits of any of +their predecessors. Whereas Palgrave and others had +travelled in disguise, believing it impossible to penetrate into +the interior otherwise than as mussulmans, the Blunts made no +pretences of the kind, but went as European travellers, desirous +of seeing the country, and visiting its rulers. They +traversed the whole breadth of the peninsula, from Beyrout on the +Mediterranean coast, to Bagdad on the Tigris, crossing the Great +Nefood, or central desert, and visiting Hail, Jebel Shammer, and +other places in Nejd. <a name="citation279"></a><a +href="#footnote279" class="citation">[279]</a></p> +<p>On their return Lady Blunt published the remarkably +interesting story of their adventures, under the title of +“A Pilgrimage to Nejd,” a book which added greatly to +our knowledge of the Arabian <a name="page280"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 280</span>interior, and to which the compiler +of this chapter is largely indebted.</p> +<p>The travellers entered upon their adventurous undertaking with +the advantage of experiences gained on a previous journey among +the Arab tribes of the Euphrates Valley, and a knowledge of the +Arab tongue. Their native servants, who had accompanied +them on their previous expedition, eagerly joined their service +for the new venture; camels, horses, and all necessary supplies +for the journey were purchased at Damascus, and on December 12th, +1879, the start was made.</p> +<p>Though unwilling to travel under false colors as to race or +nationality, the English travellers found it convenient to adopt +the Bedouin costume for the desert journey, to avoid attracting +more notice than was necessary. Their first objective point +was Jôf, an important oasis in the desert, four hundred +miles away. Lady Blunt, describing the start from Damascus, +says:</p> +<p>“At first we skirted the city, passing the gate where +St. Paul is said to have entered, and the place where he got over +the wall, and then along the suburb of Maïdan, which is the +quarter occupied by Bedouins when they come to town, and where we +had found the Tudmuri and our camels. Here we were to have +met the Jerdeh, and we waited some time outside the Bawâbat +Allah, or ‘Gates of God,’ while Mohammed went in to +make inquiries and take leave of his Tudmuri friends.</p> +<p>“It is in front of this gate that the pilgrims assemble +on the day of their start for Mecca, and from it <a +name="page281"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 281</span>the Haj +road leads away in a nearly straight line southward. The +Haj road is to be our route as far as Mezárib, and is a +broad, well-worn track, though of course not a road at all +according to English ideas. It has, nevertheless, a sort of +romantic interest, one cannot help feeling, going as it does so +far and through such desolate lands, a track so many thousand +travellers have followed never to return. I suppose in its +long history a grave may have been dug for every yard of its +course from Damascus to Medina, for, especially on the return +journey, there are constantly deaths among the pilgrims from +weariness and insufficient food.”</p> +<p>A leisurely journey of a week brought the party to Salkhad, a +Druse community at the edge of the desert, where Huseyn, the +Sheykh of the Druses provided them with guides to the Kâf +oasis, a five days’ journey into the desert. On the +way to Kâf they passed areas of sand, white as snow, and +encountered violent sand-storms, in one of which they lost a +camel who seized his opportunity to escape back to +Mezárib. Beyond Kâf they met with rather a +thrilling adventure, which is thus graphically described:</p> +<p>“Friday, January 3d.—We have had an adventure at +last, and rather a disagreeable one; a severe lesson as to the +danger of encamping near wells. We started early, but were +delayed a whole hour at Jerawi taking water, and did not leave +the wells till nearly eight o’clock. Then we turned +back nearly due east across the wady. The soil of pure +white sand was heavy going, and we went slowly, crossing low +undulations without other landmark than the <a +name="page282"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 282</span>wells we +had left behind us. Here and there rose little mounds, +tufted with ghada. To one of these Wilfrid and I cantered +on, leaving the camels behind us, and dismounting, tied our mares +to the bushes, that we might enjoy a few minutes’ rest and +eat our midday mouthful; the greyhounds meanwhile played about +and chased each other in the sand.</p> +<p>“We had finished, and were talking of I know not what, +when the camels passed us. They were hardly a couple of +hundred yards in front, when suddenly we heard a thud, thud, +thud, on the sand, a sound of galloping. Wilfrid jumped to +his feet, looked round, and called out: ‘Get on your +mare. This is a ghazú!’</p> +<p>“As I scrambled round the bush to my mare, I saw a troop +of horsemen charging down at full gallop with their lances, not +two hundred yards off. Wilfrid was up as he spoke, and so +should I have been but for my sprained knee and the deep sand, +both of which gave way as I was rising. I fell back. +There was no time to think, and I had hardly struggled to my feet +when the enemy was upon us, and I was knocked down by a +spear. Then they all turned on Wilfrid, who had waited for +me, some of them jumping down on foot to get hold of his +mare’s halter. He had my gun with him, which I had +just before handed to him, but unloaded, his own gun and his +sword being on his delúl (riding camel). He +fortunately had on very thick clothes, two abbas one over the +other, and English clothes underneath, so the lances did him no +harm. At last his assailants managed to get his gun from +him and broke it over <a name="page283"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 283</span>his head, hitting him three times +and smashing the stock.</p> +<p>“Resistance seemed to me useless, and I shouted to the +nearest horseman, ‘<i>Ana dahílak</i>’ (I am +under your protection), the usual form of surrender. +Wilfrid hearing this, and thinking he had had enough of this +unequal contest, one against twelve, threw himself off his +mare. The <i>Khayal</i> (horsemen) having seized both the +mares, paused, and as soon as they had gathered breath, began to +ask us who we were and where we came from.</p> +<p>“‘English, and we have come from Damascus,’ +we replied, ‘and our camels are close by. Come with +us and you shall hear about it.’</p> +<p>“Our caravan, while all this had happened, and it only +lasted about five minutes, had formed itself into a square, and +the camels were kneeling down, as we could plainly see from where +we were. I hardly expected the horsemen to do as we asked, +but the man who seemed to be their leader at once let us walk on +(a process causing me acute pain), and followed with the others +to the caravan. We found Mohammed and the rest of our party +entrenched behind the camels with their guns pointed, and as we +approached, Mohammed stepped out and came forward.</p> +<p>“‘Min entum?’ (Who are you?) was the first +question.</p> +<p>“‘Roala min Ibn Debaa.’ +‘Wallah?’ (Will you swear by God?) +‘Wallah!’ (We swear).</p> +<p>“‘And you?’ ‘Mohammed ibn +Arûk of Tudmur.’</p> +<p>“‘Wallah?’ ‘Wallah!’ +‘And these are Franjis <a name="page284"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 284</span>travelling with you?’ +‘Wallah! Franjis, friends of Ibn Shaalan.’</p> +<p>“It was all right; we had fallen into the hands of +friends. Ibn Shaalan, our host of last year, was bound to +protect us, even so far away in the desert, and none of his +people dared meddle with us, knowing this. Besides, +Mohammed was a Tudmuri, and as such could not be molested by +Roala, for Tudmur pays tribute to Ibn Shaalan, and the Tudmuris +have a right to his protection. So as soon as the +circumstances were made clear orders were given by the chief of +the party to his followers to bring back our mares, and the gun, +and everything which had been dropped in the scuffle. Even +to Wilfrid’s tobacco-bag, all was restored.”</p> +<p>The robbers and the travellers fraternized after the affair +was over, and the former were very much ashamed of themselves for +having used their spears against a woman. Lady Blunt +apologizes for them, however, as the Bedouin dress she wore for +riding prevented them distinguishing her sex in the confusion of +the sudden attack.</p> +<p>Two days after the encounter in the desert the party arrived +at Jôf, where they spent three days, and found the people +very hospitable. Their chief servant and camel-driver, +Mohammed, was an Arab, who had distant connections in this part +of Arabia; and as tribal kinship, no matter how remote, is +regarded as a matter of great importance, this relationship was +of material aid in securing them the good-will of the +inhabitants. The Blunts were less favorably impressed with +Jôf than was Palgrave, <a name="page285"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 285</span>who, however, uses the term +“Djowf” in a broader sense, as including a number of +oases situated in “a large oval depression of sixty or +seventy miles long by ten or twelve broad, lying between the +northern desert that separates it from Syria and the Euphrates, +and the southern Nefood, or sandy waste, and interposed between +it and the nearest mountains of the Central Arabian +plateau.”</p> +<p>Lady Blunt writes of it: “Jôf is not at all what +we expected. We thought we should find it a large +cultivated district, and it turns out to be merely a small +town. There is nothing at all outside the walls except a +few square patches, half an acre or so each, green with young +corn,” etc.</p> +<p>How true is it that no two travellers see things with the same +eyes. Doubtless both these distinguished travellers are +reasonably correct in their descriptions, but summed up their +impressions from opposite stand-points in a topographical sense; +a common enough mistake in Asia, where the name of a place often +indicates, equally accurately, a large scope of country and the +central spot in it. In Central Asia, for example, there is +Merv, which is the name of a city, and also of the large fertile +oasis in which it is situated; also Herat, meaning a broad area +of oases, with a population of probably half a million people, in +which the fortress-city Herat stands, no less than the city +itself.</p> +<p>Important political changes had taken place since +Palgrave’s visit. The rule of the Wahabees had been +overthrown in Jôf, and the only representatives of staple +authority found there were a Sheykh and <a +name="page286"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 286</span>six +soldiers, who represented the authority of Mohammed ibn Rashid, +Emir of Jebel Shammar, with his seat of government at Hail.</p> +<p>From Jôf the travellers proceeded toward Hail, crossing +the dreaded Nefood, of which they give a very interesting, and +far less gloomy, account than did Palgrave. They, however, +crossed it in January, while Palgrave crossed it in midsummer; so +that, in the case of the Nefood, as with Jôf, the +apparently conflicting accounts are doubtless both fairly +accurate, the one describing the desert in winter, the other in +summer. On January 12th, the travellers found themselves on +the edge of the desert.</p> +<p>“At half-past three o’clock we saw a red streak on +the horizon before us, which rose and gathered as we approached +it, stretching out east and west in an unbroken line. It +might at first have been taken for an effect of mirage, but on +coming nearer we found it broken into billows, and but for its +red color not unlike a stormy sea seen from the shore, for it +rose up, as the sea seems to rise, when the waves are high, above +the level of the land. Somebody called out +‘Nefûd,’ and though for a while we were +incredulous, we were soon convinced. What surprised us was +its color, that of rhubarb and magnesia, nothing at all like what +we had expected. Yet the Nefûd it was, the great red +desert of Central Arabia. In a few minutes we had cantered +up to it, and our mares were standing with their feet in its +first waves.</p> +<p>“January 13th.—We have been all day in the +Nefûd, which is interesting beyond our hopes, and charming +into the bargain.” After taking issue with <a +name="page287"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 287</span>Mr. +Palgrave, who, Lady Blunt thinks, overlooked its brighter side, +the narrator continues her own observations thus:</p> +<p>“The thing that strikes one first about the Nefûd +is its color. It is not white like the sand dunes we passed +yesterday, nor yellow as the sand is in parts of the Egyptian +desert, but a really bright red, almost crimson in the morning, +when it is wet with dew. The sand is rather coarse, but +absolutely pure, without admixture of any foreign substance, +pebble, grit, or earth, and exactly the same in tint and texture +everywhere. It is, however, a great mistake to suppose it +barren. The Nefûd, on the contrary, is better wooded +and richer in pasture than any part of the desert we have passed +since leaving Damascus. It is tufted all over with ghada +bushes, and bushes of another kind called <i>yerta</i>, which at +this time of the year, when there are no leaves, is exactly like +a thickly matted vine.</p> +<p>“There are, besides, several kinds of camel pasture, +especially one new to us, called <i>adr</i>, on which they say +sheep can feed for a month without wanting water, and more than +one kind of grass. Both camels and mares are therefore +pleased with the place, and we are delighted with the abundance +of firewood for our camps. Wilfrid says that the +Nefûd has solved for him at last the mystery of +horse-breeding in Central Arabia. In the hard desert there +is nothing a horse can eat, but here there is plenty. The +Nefûd accounts for everything. Instead of being the +terrible place it has been described by the few travellers who +have seen it, it is in reality the home of the <a +name="page288"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 288</span>Bedouins +during a great part of the year. Its only want is water, +for it contains but few wells; all along the edge it is thickly +inhabited, and Radi tells us that in the spring, when the grass +is green after rain, the Bedouins care nothing for water, as +their camels are in milk, and they go for weeks without it, +wandering far into the interior of the sand desert.”</p> +<p>In the desert of sand the travellers found many curious +hollows, which the native guide called fulj. Some of these +holes were a quarter of a mile in diameter, and as much as 230 +feet deep. They were chiefly of horse-hoof shape. +They took observations, and at one point on the desert found the +elevation to be 3,300 feet above sea-level. After seven +days in the Nefûd, the last two of which tried the +endurance of men and beasts, the party reached the oasis of +Jobba, which is described as being one of the most curious, as +also most beautiful, places in the world.</p> +<p>“Its name Jobba, meaning a well, explains its position, +for it lies in a hole or well in the Nefûd; not indeed in a +fulj, for the basin of Jobba is quite on another scale, and has +nothing in common with the horse-hoof depressions I have hitherto +described. It is, all the same, extremely singular, and +quite as difficult to account for geologically as the +fuljes. It is a great bare space in the ocean of sand, from +four to five hundred feet below its average level, and about +three miles wide; a hollow, in fact, not unlike that of +Jôf, but with the Nefûd round it instead of sandstone +cliffs. That it has once been a lake is pretty evident, for +there are distinct water marks on the rocks, which crop up out of +the bed just above the <a name="page289"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 289</span>town; and, strange to say, there is +a tradition still extant of there having been formerly water +there. The wonder is how this space is kept clear of +sand. What force is it that walls out the Nefûd and +prevents encroachments? As you look across the subbkha, or +dry bed of the lake, the Nefûd seems like a wall of water +which must overwhelm it; and yet no sand shifts down into the +hollow, and its limits are accurately maintained.”</p> +<p>At length the Nefûd was overcome and the travellers +approached Hail, not without apprehensions as to the reception +that might await them. Their guide from Jôf +enlightened them in regard to many changes that had occurred +since Palgrave’s visit, changes that will be equally +interesting to readers who have followed Palgrave’s +narrative in preceding chapters.</p> +<p>Telal, then despotic ruler at Hail (Ha’yel), had gone +insane and committed suicide by stabbing himself with his own +dagger four years after Palgrave’s visit. He was +succeeded by his brother Metaab, who, however, died suddenly +after reigning three years; when a dispute arose between his +brother Mohammed and Telal’s oldest son, Bender, about the +succession. Mohammed being away at the time, Bender, a +youth of twenty, was proclaimed Emir. Mohammed returned, +and in a violent quarrel with his nephew drew his dagger and +stabbed him to death.</p> +<p>“Then Mohammed galloped back to the castle, and finding +Hamûd (son of Obeyd, uncle of Telal) there, got his help +and took possession of the palace. He then seized the +younger sons of Tellál (Palgrave’s <a +name="page290"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 290</span>Telal), +Bender’s brothers, all but one child, Naïf, and Bedr, +who was away from Hail, and had their heads cut off by his slaves +in the court-yard of the castle. They say, however, that +Hamúd protested against this. But Mohammed was +reckless, or wished to strike terror, and not satisfied with what +he had already done, went on destroying his relations.</p> +<p>“He had some cousins, sons of Jabar, a younger brother +of Abdallah and Obeyd; and these he sent for. They came in +some alarm to the castle, each with his slave. They were +all young men, beautiful to look at, and of the highest +distinction; and their slaves had been brought up with them, as +the custom is, more like brothers than servants. They were +shown into the kahwah of the castle, and received with great +formality, Mohammed’s servants coming forward to invite +them in. It is the custom at Hail, whenever a person pays a +visit, that before sitting down he should hang up his sword on +one of the wooden pegs fixed into the wall, and this the sons of +Jabar did, and their slaves likewise. Then they sat down +and waited and waited, but still no coffee was served to +them. At last Mohammed appeared, surrounded by his guard, +but there was no ‘salaam aleykum,’ and instantly he +gave orders that his cousins should be seized and bound. +They made a rush for their swords, but were intercepted by the +slaves of the castle and made prisoners. Mohammed then, +with horrible barbarity, ordered their hands and their feet to be +cut off, and the hands and feet of their slaves, and had them, +still living, dragged out into the court-yard of the palace, +where they lay till they died.</p> +<p><a name="page291"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +291</span>“These ghastly crimes, more ghastly than ever in +a country where wilful bloodshed is so unusual, seem to have +struck terror far and wide, and no one has since dared to raise a +hand against Mohammed.”</p> +<p>The knowledge of these terrible doings naturally made the +travellers feel that they were venturing into dangerous quarters +as they rode up to the gates of Hail. The Emir, whose title +was Mohammed-ibn-Rashid (Mohammed, son of Rashid), however, +received them kindly; and it was discovered that, apart from the +bloody work of the succession, he had turned out to be not a bad +ruler. In any part of his dominions, it was understood that +a person might travel unarmed, and with any amount of gold on +him, without fear of molestation. Moreover, he seemed to +have been deeply stricken with remorse for his past misdeeds, +lived in constant fear of assassination, and was endeavoring to +make what amends he could by lavishing honors and kindness on the +youth Naïf, the only one of his nephews he had +spared—for Bedr, too, had been executed.</p> +<p>It all reads much like a tale from the “Arabian +Nights;” and that Arabia is still the land of romance and +poetry is confirmed by a curious bit of news learned of Obeyd, +about whom it will be remembered Mr. Palgrave had also a good +deal to say.</p> +<p>“He (Obeyd) lived to a great age, and died only nine +years ago (<i>i.e.</i> 1869). It is related of him that he +left no property behind him, having given away everything during +his lifetime—no property but his sword, his mare, and his +young wife. These he left to his nephew +Mohammed-ibn-Rashid, the reigning <a name="page292"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 292</span>Emir, with the request that his +sword should remain undrawn, his mare unridden, and his wife +unmarried forever after.”</p> +<p>The travellers give an interesting account of the Emir’s +horses, the most famous stud in Nejd.</p> +<p>Though interested, they were, on the whole, disappointed with +the horses of Nejd as compared with those of Northern +Arabia. “In comparing what we see here with what we +saw last year in the north, the first thing that strikes us is +that these are ponies, the others horses. It is not so much +the actual difference in height, though there must be quite three +inches on an average, as the shape, which produces this +impression.”</p> +<p>The average height was found to be under fourteen hands; and +though great care was taken to obtain and preserve pure strains +of blood, in the matter of feeding and grooming, gross negligence +seemed to be the rule, even in the royal stud. The stables +were mere open yards, in which the animals stood, each tethered +to a manger. No shelter was provided, but each horse was +protected by a heavy rug. They wore no headstalls, being +fastened solely with ropes or chains about the fetlocks. No +regular exercise was given them, their food was almost +exclusively dry barley, and their appearance generally was far +different from what Europeans would naturally expect of the +finest stable of horses in the “horse peninsula.”</p> +<p>The travellers also enlighten us, on the subject of horses, in +other directions. Except in the north, horses were found to +be exceedingly rare. It is <a name="page293"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 293</span>possible to travel vast distances +without meeting a single horse, or even crossing a horse-track; +on the whole journey across the Nefûd, and on to the +Euphrates, they scarcely saw a horse, apart from the stables of +the rich and great in the cities. The horse is a luxury to +be afforded only by people of wealth or position. Journeys +and raids and wars are all made on camels; the Sheykhs who have +horses, when going to war save them to mount at the moment of +actual engagement with the enemy. It was considered a great +boast by a Nejd tribe of Bedouins that they could mount one +hundred horsemen; while the Muteyr tribe, reputed to be the +greatest breeders of thoroughbred stock in Central Arabia, would +be expected to muster not more than four hundred mares.</p> +<p>Mohammed-ibn-Rashid recruited his stables by compelling the +Sheykhs of tributary tribes to sell him their best animals, an +improvement on some of his predecessors, who kept their studs up +to the proper mark becoming Arab royalty by making raids against +the tribes for the purpose of bringing in celebrated mares, +waiving the matter of payment.</p> +<p>In the spring the horses of the Emir’s stables are +distributed among the neighboring Bedouins to be pastured on the +Nefûd, which at that period affords excellent +grazing. Had the visitors seen the herd after a month on +the Nefûd, they would likely have carried away a much more +favorable impression. During the winter quartering the +colts seemed to fare even worse than their dams and sires, from +the following:</p> +<p>“Besides the full-grown animals, Ibn Rashid’s <a +name="page294"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 294</span>yards +contain thirty or forty foals and yearlings, beautiful little +creatures, but terribly starved and miserable. Foals bred +in the desert are poor enough, but those in town have a +positively sickly appearance. Tied all day long by the +foot, they seem to have quite lost heart, and show none of the +playfulness of their age. Their tameness, like that of the +‘fowl and the brute,’ is shocking to see.”</p> +<p>The contrast between the actual treatment of these royal +animals and the following Arab recipe for rearing a colt is +sufficiently striking:</p> +<p>“During the first month of his life let him be content +with his mother’s milk; it will be sufficient for +him. Then, during five months, add to this natural supply +goats’ milk, as much as he will drink. For six months +more give him the milk of camels, and besides a measure of wheat +steeped in water for a quarter of an hour and served in a +nose-bag. At a year old the colt will have done with milk; +he must be fed on wheat and grass, the wheat dry from a nose-bag, +the grass green, if there is any.</p> +<p>“At two years old he must work or he will be +worthless. Feed him now, like a full-grown horse, on +barley; but in summer let him also have gruel daily at +mid-day. Make the gruel thus: Take a double-handful of +flour and mix it in water well with your hands till the water +seems like milk, then strain it, leaving the dregs of the flour, +and give what is liquid to the colt to drink.</p> +<p>“Be careful, from the hour he is born, to let him stand +in the sun; shade hurts horses; but let him have water in plenty +when the day is hot. The colt <a name="page295"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 295</span>must now be mounted and taken by his +owner everywhere with him, so that he shall see everything and +learn courage. He must be kept constantly in exercise, and +never remain long at his manger. He should be taken on a +journey, for the work will fortify his limbs. At three +years old he should be trained to gallop; then, if he be true +blood, he will not be left behind. Yalla!”</p> +<p>Lady Blunt thinks this represents a traditional practice of +rearing colts in Arabia since the days of the Prophet +Mohammet.</p> +<p>From Hail, the party joined the Haj, or caravan of Persian +pilgrims, returning home from Mecca and Medina; and after +eighty-four days’ travel from Damascus their Arabian +journey came to an end at Bagdad. Their route from Hail +took them far north of Palgrave’s route, so that they did +not visit Ri’ad, the headquarters, in Palgrave’s +time, of the Wahabee ruler Feysul. Lady Blunt, however, in +an appendix to her narrative enlightens us in regard to the end +of Feysul, and the continued decline of the Wahabee regime after +the visit of Palgrave.</p> +<p>Three years after Palgrave’s visit Feysul died, and the +Wahabee state, which under him had regained much of its power and +influence (which had been all but crushed by the Turks after the +Crimean war) was again weakened by internal dissensions. +Feysul left two sons, Abdallah and Saoud, who quarrelled and put +themselves at the head of their respective adherents. Saoud +proved himself the stronger party, and in 1871 Abdallah fled to +Jebel Shammar <a name="page296"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +296</span>and sought the aid of Midhat Pasha, Turkish governor at +Bagdad.</p> +<p>The result was that a Turkish expedition of 5,000 regular +troops occupied the seaboard territory of Hasa, and took +possession of Hofhoof (mentioned by Palgrave); whilst Abdallah +and his adherents, and a third rival, Abdallah-ibn-Turki, +attacked Saoud at Ri’ad. Saoud was defeated, and +Abdallah essayed to govern at Ri’ad; but in the following +year he was again ejected by Saoud who reigned till 1874, when he +died, not without suspicion of poison.</p> +<p>Lady Blunt’s account of affairs at the Wahabee capital +ends with the information that Abdallah and a half-brother, +Abderrahman, were in joint and amicable control, Abdallah as +Emir, the latter as his chief minister. Hasa and the +seaboard was held by the Turks, whose policy was the stirring up +of strife and feudal enmity among the Arabs, with a view to +weakening the power and authority of the Emir at Ri’ad, and +so making the country easy prey whenever opportunity arrives for +its incorporation in the Ottoman dominions. The power and +fanaticism of the once powerful Wahabee Empire, has become but +little more than a name and a remembrance among the Bedouin +tribes, who once paid tribute to its Emirs; and whatever was +national in thought and respectable in inspiration in Central +Arabia seemed to be grouping itself around the new dynasty of the +Emir of Jebel Shammar, Mohammed-ibn-Rashid of Hail.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">THE +END.</span></p> +<h2>NOTES.</h2> +<p><a name="footnote59"></a><a href="#citation59" +class="footnote">[59]</a> The inscription, which is copied +in Lieutenant Wellsted’s work, appears to be in the +Himyaritic character. If any translation of it has ever +been made, the compiler is unable to say where it can be +found.</p> +<p><a name="footnote201"></a><a href="#citation201" +class="footnote">[201]</a> “The Na’ib” +was a Persian official, despatched by the Persian pilgrims to lay +before Feysul, the ruler of Nedjed, a statement of the extortions +to which they had been compelled to submit at Bereydah. He +was thus equally under Aboo-’Eysa’s charge, and his +company was rather an advantage to Palgrave, since his mission +was another cause of removing—or, at least, +lessening—the prominence of the latter, after his arrival +at Ri’ad.</p> +<p><a name="footnote279"></a><a href="#citation279" +class="footnote">[279]</a> It is well to point out here +that Palgrave and Lady Blunt spell the names of places quite +differently, which makes it rather difficult at times to identify +them as referring to places mutually visited. Thus, +Blunt’s “Hail” and Palgrave’s +“Ha’yel” are one; as are also +“Jôf” and “Djowf.” Other +differences are “Nejd,” “Nejed,” +“Djebel Shomer,” “Jebel Shammer,” +etc.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN ARABIA***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 41960-h.htm or 41960-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/9/6/41960 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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