By His Assistance Lieutenant Speke Bought Eight Camels, Inferior
Animals, At Rather A High Price, From 10 To 16-1/2 Cloths (Equivalent To
Dollars) Per Head.
It is the custom for the Sultan, or in his absence, for
an Agil to receive a tithe of the price; and it is his part to see that
the traveller is not overcharged.
He appears to have discharged his duty
very inefficiently, a dollar a day being charged for the hire of a single
donkey. Lieutenant Speke regrets that he did not bring dollars or rupees,
cloth on the coast being now at a discount.
After the usual troubles and vexations of a first move in Africa, on the
16th of November, 1854, Lieutenant Speke marched about three miles along
the coast, and pitched at a well close to Las Kuray. He was obliged to
leave about a quarter of his baggage behind, finding it impossible with
his means to hire donkeys, the best conveyance across the mountains, where
camels must be very lightly laden. The Sultan could not change, he said,
the route settled by a former Sahib. He appears, though famed for honesty
and justice, to have taken a partial view of Lieutenant Speke's property.
When the traveller complained of his Abban, the reply was, "This is the
custom of the country, I can see no fault; all you bring is the Abban's,
and he can do what he likes with it."
The next day was passed unpleasantly enough in the open air, to force a
march, and the Sultan and his party stuck to the date-bag, demanding to be
fed as servants till rations were served out to them.
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