Immediately In
Front Of Me Was Amm Jamal, Whom I Had To Reprove For Asking The Boy
Mohammed, "Where Have
You picked up that Hindi, (Indian)?" "Are we, the
Afghans, the Indian-slayers,[FN#1] become Indians?" I vociferated with
Indignation, and brought the thing home to his feelings, by asking him
how he, an Arab, would like to be called an Egyptian,-a Fellah? The
rest of the party was behind, sitting or dozing upon the rough
platforms made by the lids of the two huge boxes slung to the sides of
their camels. Only one old woman, Al-Sitt Maryam (the lady Mary),
returning
[p.244] to Al-Madinah, her adopted country, after a visit to a sister
at Cairo, allowed herself the luxury of a half-dollar Shibriyah or cot,
fastened crosswise over the animal's load. Moreover, all the party,
except Omar Effendi, in token of poverty, were dressed in the coarsest
and dirtiest of clothes,-the general suit consisting of a shirt torn in
divers places and a bit of rag wrapped round the head. They carried
short chibuks without mouth-pieces, and tobacco-pouches of greasy
leather. Though the country hereabouts is perfectly safe, all had their
arms in readiness, and the unusual silence that succeeded to the
singing, even Sa'ad the Demon held his tongue,-was sufficient to show
how much they feared for their property. After a slow march of two
hours facing the moon, we turned somewhat towards the North-East, and
began to pass over undulating ground, in which a steady rise was
perceptible. We arrived at the halting-place at three in the morning,
after a short march of about eight hours, during which we could not
have passed over more than sixteen miles.[FN#2] The camels were
nakh'd[FN#3]; the boxes were taken off and piled together as a
precaution against invisible robbers; my little tent, the only one in
the party, was pitched; we then spread our rugs upon the ground and lay
down to sleep.
We arose at about 9 A.M. (July 19), and after congratulating one
another upon being once more in the "dear Desert," we proceeded in
exhilarated mood to light the fire for pipes and breakfast. The meal-a
biscuit, a little rice, and a cup of milkless tea-was soon dispatched,
after which I proceeded to inspect our position.
[p.245]About a mile to the westward lay the little village
Al-Musahhal,[FN#4] a group of miserable mud hovels. On the south was a
strip of bright blue sea, and all around, an iron plain producing
naught but stones and grasshoppers, and bounded northward by a grisly
wall of blackish rock. Here and there a shrub fit only for fuel, or a
tuft of coarse grass, crisp with heat, met the eye. All was
sun-parched; the furious heat from above was drying up the sap and
juice of the land, as the simmering and quivering atmosphere showed;
moreover the heavy dews of these regions, forming in large drops upon
the plants and stones, concentrate the morning rays upon them like a
system of burning-glasses. After making these few observations I
followed the example of my companions, and returned to sleep.
At two P.M. we were roused to a dinner as simple as the breakfast had
been. Boiled rice with an abundance of the clarified butter[FN#5] in
which Easterns delight, some fragments of Kahk[FN#6] or soft biscuit,
and stale bread[FN#7] and a handful of stoned and pressed date-paste,
called 'Ajwah, formed the menu. Our potations began before dinner with
a vile-tasted but wholesome drink called Akit,[FN#8]
[p.246] dried sour milk dissolved in water; at the meal we drank the
leather-flavoured element, and ended with a large cupful of scalding
tea. Enormous quantities of liquid were consumed, for the sun seemed to
have got into our throats, and the perspiration trickled as after a
shower of rain. Whilst we were eating, a Badawi woman passed close by
the tent, leading a flock of sheep and goats, seeing which I expressed
a desire to drink milk. My companions sent by one of the camel-men a
bit of bread, and asked in exchange for a cupful of "laban.[FN#9]" Thus
I learned that the Arabs, even in this corrupt region, still adhere to
the meaningless custom of their ancestors, who chose to make the term
"Labban[FN#10]" (milk-seller) an opprobrium and a disgrace. Possibly
the origin of the prejudice
[p.247] might be the recognising of a traveller's guest-right to call
for milk gratis. However this may be, no one will in the present day
sell this article of consumption, even at civilised Meccah, except
Egyptians, a people supposed to be utterly without honour. As a general
rule in the Hijaz, milk abounds in the spring, but at all other times
of the year it is difficult to be procured. The Badawi woman managed,
however, to send me back a cupful.
At three P.M. we were ready to start, and all saw, with unspeakable
gratification, a huge black nimbus rise from the shoulder of Mount
Radhwah, and range itself, like a good genius, between us and our
terrible foe, the sun. We hoped that it contained rain, but presently a
blast of hot wind, like the breath of a volcano, blew over the plain,
and the air was filled with particles of sand. This is the "dry storm"
of Arabia; it appears to depend upon some electrical phenomena which it
would be desirable to investigate.[FN#11] When we had loaded and
mounted, my camel-men, two in number, came up to the Shugduf and
demanded "Bakhshish," which, it appears, they are now in the habit of
doing each time the traveller starts. I was at first surprised to find
the word here, but after a few days of Badawi society, my wonder
diminished.
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