For The Same Reason They Observe The Constant Practice
Of Throwing, At Every Meal, A Handful Of Dressed Victuals Into The Sea,
Before They Sit Down Themselves To The Repast; Saying That The
Inhabitants Of The Sea Must Also Have Their Morsel, Otherwise They Will
Impede The Vessel's Course.
Our Reys once forgot this tribute; but on
recollecting it, he ordered a fresh loaf to be baked, and threw it into
the sea.
We met every day, during this voyage, ships coming from Egypt, and often
lay in the same bay with three or four of them, in the evening. On such
occasions quarrels frequently happen about water; and ships are often
obliged to wait one or two days before the Bedouins bring a sufficient
supply down to the coast. Butter, milk, honey, sheep, goats, salt fish,
firewood, thin branches of the shrub Arak, of which the Arabians make
their tooth-brushes, and which the Bedouins collect on this coast, are
every where to be had in plenty, and are generally exchanged for corn or
tobacco. These Bedouins are daring robbers, and often swim to the ships
during the night, to watch for the opportunity
[p.430] of pilfering. The water on the whole coast is bad, except at
Wodjeh and at Dhoba. Wodjeh, which is usually reckoned at three days'
journey northward from Djebel Hassany, is a castle on the Hadj route,
about three miles inland. Close by it is excellent spring water; and
there are likewise copious wells of tolerable water in the vicinity of
the small bay which serves as a harbour to the castle, and is therefore
called Mersa el Wodjeh. Some Moggrebyn soldiers garrison the castle,
which was said to be well stocked with provisions. Several of them were
married to Bedouin women, and carried on a trifling trade in provisions
with the ships that pass.
The neighbouring mountains of Wodjeh are inhabited by the Bedouin tribe
of Bily. To the north of Wodjeh, and about two days' journey south of
Moeyleh, lies the anchorage of Dhoba, renowned for its excellent wells.
The anchoring-place is in a large bay, one of the best harbours on this
coast, and the wells are about half an hour's distance inland, under a
grove of palm and Doum date-trees. The route of the Egyptian Hadj passes
here; and for its convenience, a birket, or reservoir, has been
constructed. The ships that sail from Cosseir to Yembo generally make
this point, and continue from thence their coasting voyage southwards.
North of Dhoba two days, lies the castle and small village of Moeyleh,
in the territory of the Howeytat and Omran Bedouins. We passed it at a
distance; but I could see considerable plantations of date-trees near
the shore. What is called the castle, appears to be a square building,
upon the plain close by the water-side. The position of Moeyleh is
distinguishable from afar by the high mountain just behind it; three
pointed summits of which, overtopping the rest, are visible sixty to
eighty miles off:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 316 of 350
Words from 164427 to 164936
of 182297
