Night.-The horizon is all darkness, and the sea reflects the white
visage of the night-sun as in a mirror of steel. In the air we see
giant columns of pallid light, distinct, based upon the indigo-coloured
waves, and standing with their heads lost in endless space. The stars
glitter with exceeding brilliance.[FN#3] At this hour are
"-river and hill and wood,
With all the numberless goings on of life,
Inaudible as dreams";
while the planets look down upon you with the faces of smiling friends.
You feel the "sweet influence of the Pleiades." You are bound by the
"bond of Orion." Hesperus bears with him a thousand things. In
communion with them your hours pass swiftly by, till the heavy dews
warn you to cover up your face and sleep. And with one look at a
certain little Star in the north, under which lies all that makes life
worth living through-surely it is a venial superstition to sleep with
your eyes towards that Kiblah!-you fall into oblivion.
Those thirty-six hours were a trial even to the hard-headed Badawin.
The Syrian and his two friends fell ill. Omar Effendi, it is true, had
the courage to say his
[p.210] sunset prayers, but the exertion so altered him that he looked
another man. Salih Shakkar in despair ate dates till threatened with a
dysentery. Sa'ad the Demon had rigged out for himself a cot three feet
long, which, arched over with bent bamboo, and covered with cloaks, he
had slung on to the larboard side; but the loud grumbling which
proceeded from his nest proved that his precaution had not been a cure.
Even the boy Mohammed forgot to chatter, to scold, to smoke, and to
make himself generally disagreeable. The Turkish baby appeared to be
dying, and was not strong enough to wail. How the poor mother stood her
trials so well, made every one wonder. The most pleasant trait in my
companions' characters was the consideration they showed to her, and
their attention to her children. Whenever one of the party drew forth a
little delicacy-a few dates or a pomegranate-they gave away a share of
it to the children, and most of them took their turns to nurse the
baby. This was genuine politeness-kindness of heart. It would be well
for those who sweepingly accuse Easterns of want of gallantry, to
contrast this trait of character with the savage scenes of civilisation
that take place among the "Overlands" at Cairo and Suez.[FN#4] No
foreigner could be present for the first time without bearing away the
lasting impression that the sons of Great Britain are model
barbarians.[FN#5] On board the "Golden Wire" Salih Shakkar was the sole
base exception to the general geniality of my companions.
