Broiled upon the embers, it proved delicious.
After we had eaten and drunk and smoked, we began to make merry; and
the Persians, who, fearing to come on shore, had kept to their
conveyance, appeared proper butts for the wit of some of our party: one
of us stood up and pronounced the orthodox call to prayer, after which
the rest joined in a polemical hymn, exalting the virtues
[p.222] and dignity of the first three Caliphs.[FN#18] Then, as general
on such occasions, the matter was made personal by informing the
Persians in a kind of rhyme sung by the Meccan gamins, that they were
the "slippers of Ali and the dogs of Omar." But as they were too
frightened to reply, my companions gathered up their cooking utensils,
and returned to the "Golden Wire," melancholy, like disappointed
candidates for the honours of Donnybrook.
Our next day was silent and weary, for we were all surly, and heartily
sick of being on board ship. We should have made Yambu' in the evening
but for the laziness of the Rais. Having duly beaten him, we anchored
on the open coast, insufficiently protected by a reef, and almost in
sight of our destination.
