In The First Place, We Should Have Paid Less
For The Whole Of A Privileged Vessel, Than We Did For
Our wretched
quarters on the deck of the pilgrim-ship; and, secondly, we might have
touched at any port we
Pleased, so as to do a little business in the
way of commerce.
[FN#14] Afterwards called by Sir R. F. Burton the "Golden Wire."-ED.
[FN#15] For the "Sath," or poop, the sum paid by each was seven Riyals.
I was, therefore, notably cheated by Sa'ad the Demon. The unhappy women
in the "Kamrah," or cabin, bought suffocation at the rate of 6 dollars
each, as I was afterwards informed, and the third class, in the "Taht,"
or amidships and forward, contributed from 3 to 5 Riyals. But, as usua1
on these occasions, there was no prix fixe; every man was either
overcharged or undercharged, according to his means or his necessities.
We had to purchase our own water, but the ship was to supply us with
fuel for cooking. We paid nothing extra for luggage, and we carried an
old Maghrabi woman gratis for good luck.
[FN#16] We were still at Suez, where we could do as we pleased. But
respectable Arabs in their own country, unlike Egyptians, are seldom to
be seen in the places of public resort. "Go to the coffee-house and
sing there!" is a reproach sometimes addressed to those who have a
habit of humming in decent society.
[FN#17] It was only my prestige as physician that persuaded my friend
to join me in these bathings.
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