After Sunset We Saw Several
Fires At A Distance, In The Plain, Which Hamd Immediately Concluded To
Be Those Of The Towara Caravan.
Taking advantage of the darkness, to
avoid the observation of the suspected persons, we rode towards the
fires, which, instead of being those of the Towara, proved to belong to
a small party of Omran, encamped near the well in the Wady Emshash.
Hamd
was much alarmed when he perceived his mistake, for he was well
acquainted with the bad character of the Omran,
CASTLE OF ADJEROUD
[p.627] and he dreaded them the more on account of the Arab of their
tribe whom he had killed near Akaba. They looked very greedily at my
travelling sack, but as I pretended to belong to the Pasha’s garrison at
Suez, they did not make any attempt upon it. They told us that in coming
here, they had found five Bedouins sitting near the well, who retired
when they approached it, and who were probably the men we saw. As we
thought it very likely that they would waylay us farther on, in the
narrow pass of Montala, we deemed it prudent to retire to Adjeroud, and
take shelter in the castle for the night. When we reached that place, it
was with great difficulty that I persuaded the officer to open the gates
and let us in; he was in no less fear of the robbers than ourselves; for
two days they had driven back his people from the well of Emshash, where
they were accustomed to fill their water skins, so that the garrison was
reduced to great distress, as they had no provision of sweet water, and
that of the castle well is scarcely drinkable.
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