It
Is Made Of All Kinds Of Material, From Plain Morocco Leather To The
Richest Velvet Embroidered With Gold.
[FN#
28] It is as well to have a good pair of Turkish barrels and
stocks, fitted up with locks of
European manufacture; those made by
natives of these countries can never be depended upon. The same will
apply to the gun or rifle. Upon the whole, it is more prudent to have
flint locks. Copper caps are now sold in the bazars of Meccah and
Al-Madinah, where a Colt's "six-shooter" might excite attention for a
day; but were the owner in a position to despise notoriety, he might
display it everywhere without danger. One of our guards, who was killed
on the road, had a double-barrelled English fowling-piece. Still, when
doubts must not be aroused, the traveller will do well to avoid, even
in the civilised Hijaz, suspicious appearances in his weapons. I
carried in a secret pocket a small pistol with a spring dagger, upon
which dependence could be placed, and I was careful never to show it,
discharging it and loading it always in the dark. Some men wear a
little dagger strapped round the leg, below the knee. Its use is this:
when the enemy gets you under, he can prevent you bringing your hand up
to the weapon in your waist-belt; but before he cuts your throat, you
may slip your fingers down to the knee, and persuade him to stop by a
stab in the perineum. This knee dagger is required only in very
dangerous places. The article I chiefly accused myself of forgetting
was a stout English clasp-knife, with a large handle, a blade like an
"Arkansas toothpick," and possessing the other useful appliances of
picker, fleam, tweezers, lancet, and punch.
[FN#29] Called "Habak": these cords are made in great quantities at
Cairo, which possesses a special bazar for them, and are exported to
all the neighbouring countries, where their price considerably
increases. A handsome pistol-cord, with its tassels, costs about 12
shillings in Egypt; at Meccah, or Al-Madinah, the same would fetch
upwards of a pound sterling.
[FN#30] My diary-book was made up for me by a Cairene; it was a long
thin volume fitting into a breast-pocket, where it could be carried
without being seen. I began by writing notes in the Arabic character,
but as no risk appeared, my journal was afterwards kept in English.
More than once, by way of experiment, I showed the writing on a loose
slip of paper to my companions, and astonished them with the strange
character derived from Solomon and Alexander, the Lord of the Two
Horns, which we Afghans still use. For a short trip a pencil suffices;
on long journeys ink is necessary; the latter article should be
English, not Eastern, which is washed out clean the first time your
luggage is thoroughly soaked with rain. The traveller may use either
the Persian or the brass Egyptian inkstand; the latter, however, is
preferable, being stronger and less likely to break. But, unless he be
capable of writing and reading a letter correctly, it would be
unadvisable to stick such an article in the waist-belt, as this gives
out publicly that he is a scribe. When sketching, the pencil is the
best, because the simplest and shortest mode of operation is required.
Important lines should afterwards be marked with ink, as "fixing" is
impossible on such journeys. For prudence sake, when my sketches were
made, I cut up the paper into square pieces, numbered them for future
reference, and hid them in the tin canisters that contained my
medicines.
[FN#31] An accident of this kind happened not long ago, in Hazramaut,
to a German traveller who shall be nameless. He had the mortification
to see his sketch-book, the labour of months, summarily appropriated
and destroyed by the Arabs. I was told by a Hazramaut man at Cairo, and
by several at Aden, that the gentleman had at the time a narrow escape
with his life; the Badawin wished to put him to death as a spy, sent by
the Frank to ensorceler their country, but the Shaykhs forbade
bloodshed, and merely deported the offender. Travellers caught
sketching are not often treated with such forbearance.
[FN#32] All Arabs assert that it pains the loaded camel's feet to stand
still, and, certainly, the "fidgettiness" of the animal to start, looks
as if he had some reason to prefer walking.
[FN#33] It often strains the camel to rise with a full Shugduf on his
back, besides which the motion is certain to destroy the vehicle in a
few days. Those who are unable to climb up the camel's neck usually
carry with them a short ladder.
[FN#34] Wassit means, "go in the middle of the road"; Jannib, "keep
clear of the sides." These words are fair specimens of how much may be
said by two Arabic syllables. Ya hu (O, he) is an address common in
Arabia as in Egypt, and Y'al Jammal (O camel-man) is perhaps a little
more civil.
[FN#35] The rivalry between the Sons of the two Holy Cities extends
even to these parts: the Madanis contending for Yambu', the Meccans for
Jeddah.
[p.243]CHAPTER XIII.
FROM YAMBU' TO BIR ABBAS.
On the 18th July, about 7 P.M., we passed through the gate of Yambu',
and took a due Easterly course. Our route lay over the plain between
the mountains of Radhwah on the left, and the sea on the right hand;
the land was desert,-that is to say, a hard level plain, strewed with
rounded lumps of granite and greenstone schist, with here and there a
dwarf Acacia, and a tuft of rank camel grass. By the light of a
glorious moon, nearly at the full, I was able to see the country
tolerably well.
Our party consisted of twelve camels, and we travelled in Indian file,
head tied to tail, with but one outrider, Omar Effendi, whose rank
required him to mount a dromedary with showy trappings.
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