The Recommendations
Of Lord Stratford De Redcliffe Met With No Better Fate; And All Mr.
West's Good Will Could Not Procure
[P.172]me a vessel out of her turn.[FN#13] We were forced to rely upon
our own exertions, and the activity of Sa'ad the Demon.
This worthy,
after sundry delays and differences, mostly caused by his own
determination to travel gratis, and to make us pay too much, finally
closed with the owner of the "Golden Thread.[FN#14]" He took places for
us upon the poop,-the most eligible part of the vessel at this season
of the year; he premised that we should not be very comfortable, as we
were to be crowded with Maghrabi pilgrims, but that "Allah makes all
things easy!" Though not penetrated with the conviction that this would
happen in our case, I paid for two deck passages eighteen Riyals[FN#15]
(dollars), and my companions seven each, whilst Sa'ad secretly entered
himself as an able seaman. Mohammed Shiklibha we were obliged to leave
behind, as he could not, or might not afford the expense, and none of
us might afford it for him. Had I known him to be the honest,
true-hearted fellow he was-his kindness at Meccah quite won my heart-I
should not have grudged the small charity.
[p.173]Nothing more comfortless than our days and nights in the
"George" Inn. The ragged walls of our rooms were clammy with dirt, the
smoky rafters foul with cobwebs, and the floor, bestrewed with kit, in
terrible confusion, was black with hosts of cockroaches, ants, and
flies.
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