Presently, However, We Saw The Poor
Fellow Running As Fast As Possible, But Still Careful Of His Pannikin;
And After A Time We Got Him On Board.
In accomplishing this, the boy
was completely ducked; but whether he was otherwise hurt, or
this catastrophe occurring when
Out of breath or fatigued with
over-exertion, I do not know; but he began to cry in a more piteous
manner than could be justified by the cause alleged, namely, the
wetting of his only garment, an old piece of sacking. I directed
Mohammed to reward his services with a piastre, a small silver coin
of the value of 2-1/2d.; and never, perhaps, did so trifling a sum
of money produce so great an effect. In one moment, the cries
were hushed, the tears dried, and in the contemplation of his
newly-acquired riches, he lost the recollection of all his troubles.
It was nearly twelve o'clock in the day before we reached Atfee; and
with all my previous experience of the wretched places inhabited by
human beings, I was surprised by the desolation of the village at
the head of the canal. The houses, if such they might be called, were
huddled upon the side of a cliff; their mud walls, covered on the top
with a few reeds or a little straw, looking like the cliff itself. A
few irregular holes served for doors and windows; but more uncouth,
miserable hovels could not have been seen amongst the wildest savages.
Some of these places I perceived had a small court-yard attached, the
hut being at the end, and only distinguishable by a poor attempt at a
roof, the greater part of which had fallen in.
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