The Ground Was Wet And
Comfortless; A Part Of The Reed Walls Was Lined With Cots Bearing
Mattresses And Silk-Covered Pillows, A Cross Between A Divan And A Couch:
The Only Ornaments Were A Few Weapons, And A Necklace Of Gaudy Beads
Suspended Near The Door.
I was placed upon the principal seat:
On the
right were the governor and the Hammal; whilst the lowest portion of the
room was occupied by Mohammed Sharmarkay, the son and heir. The rest of
the company squatted upon chairs, or rather stools, of peculiar
construction. Nothing could be duller than this _assemblee_: pipes and
coffee are here unknown; and there is nothing in the East to act
substitute for them. [22]
The governor of Zayla, El Hajj Sharmarkay bin Ali Salih, is rather a
remarkable man. He is sixteenth, according to his own account, in descent
from Ishak el Hazrami [23], the saintly founder of the great Gerhajis and
Awal tribes. His enemies derive him from a less illustrious stock; and the
fairness of his complexion favours the report that his grandfather Salih
was an Abyssinian slave. Originally the Nacoda or captain of a native
craft, he has raised himself, chiefly by British influence, to the
chieftainship of his tribe. [24] As early as May, 1825, he received from
Captain Bagnold, then our resident at Mocha, a testimonial and a reward,
for a severe sword wound in the left arm, received whilst defending the
lives of English seamen. [25] He afterwards went to Bombay, where he was
treated with consideration; and about fifteen years ago he succeeded the
Sayyid Mohammed el Barr as governor of Zayla and its dependencies, under
the Ottoman Pasha in Western Arabia.
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