I At Last Reluctantly Complied; But
The Sheikh Was Not Yet Satisfied:
The stirrups he had given me, although
much inferior to those he had taken from me, were too good in his eyes,
to form part of my equipment.
In the evening his son came to me to
propose an exchange of these stirrups against a pair of his own almost
unfit for use, and which I knew would wound my ankles, as I did not wear
boots; but it was in vain to resist. The pressing intreaties of all my
companions in favour of the Sheikh’s son lasted for two whole days;
until tired at length with their importunity, I yielded, and, as had
expected, my feet were soon wounded. I have entered into these details
in order to shew what Arab cupidity is: an article of dress, or of
equipment, which the poorest townsman would be ashamed to wear, is still
a covetable object with the Bedouins; they set no bounds to their
demands, delicacy is unknown amongst them, nor have they any word to
express it; if indeed one persists in refusing, they never take the
thing by force; but it is extremely
WADY EL AHSA
[p.400] difficult to resist their eternal supplications and compliments
without yielding at last. With regard to my behaviour towards the
Bedouins, I always endeavoured, by every possible means, to be upon good
terms with my companions, whoever they were, and I seldom failed in my
endeavours. I found, by experience, that putting on a grave face, and
talking wisely among them was little calculated to further the
traveller’s views.
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