Mohammed Aly Thought He Was Telling The Truth;
But His Son, Ibrahim Pasha, Who Happened To Be Present, Said That He Was
Sure The Man Had More Money.
Felteos, therefore, received three hundred
additional strokes, after which he confessed that he was possessed of
the sum demanded, and promised to pay it.
He was then permitted to
[p.239] return home; and at the end of a fortnight, being so much
recovered from the effects of his beating that he could walk about,
commissioners were sent to his house from the Pasha, labourers were
called, and Felteos descended with them into the privy of his house, at
the bottom of which they removed a large stone which closed up a small
passage containing a vaulted niche, where two iron chests were
deposited. On opening these, two thousand purses in sequins were found,
twelve hundred of which the Pasha took, and left the remainder to the
owner, who died three months after, not in consequence of the blows he
had received, but of grief for the loss of his money. Had he been able
secretly to remove the treasure, he would probably have done so, had not
a guard been posted in his house immediately on his promising to pay;
the Pasha suspecting that the money was concealed in some secret spot,
according to a practice general in the East.]
[p.240] CLIMATE AND DISEASES OF MEKKA AND DJIDDA.
THE climate of Mekka is sultry and unwholesome; the rocks which enclose
its narrow valley, intercept the wind, especially that from the north,
and reflect the rays of the sun with redoubled heat. In the months of
August, September, and October, the heat is excessive: during my
residence at Mekka a suffocating hot wind pervaded the atmosphere for
five successive days in September. The rainy season usually begins in
December; but the rains are not uninterrupted, as in other tropical
countries falling only at intervals of five or six days but then with
great violence. Showers are not unfrequent, even in summer: the Mekkawys
say that the clouds coming from the sea-side are those which copiously
irrigate the ground; while those which come from the East, or the high
mountains, produce only mere showers, or gushes. The want of rain is
very frequently felt here: I was told that four successive years of
copious rains are seldom experienced; which is, probably, the main
reason why all the Bedouins in this neighbourhood are poor, the greater
part of their cattle dying in years of drought, from want of pasturage.
The air of Mekka is generally very dry. Dews begin to fall in the month
of January, after a few heavy showers of rain: the contrary is the case
at Djidda, where the atmosphere, even during the greatest heat, is damp,
arising from the sea vapours, and the numerous marshes on that low
coast. The dampness of the air is there so great, that in the month of
September, in a hot and perfectly clear day, I found my
[p.241] upper gown wet completely through, from being two hours in the
open air.
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