Ensued Terrible Confusion; Women Screamed, Children Cried, And Men
Vociferated, Each One Striving With Might And Main To Urge His Animal
Out Of The Place Of Death.
But the road being narrow, they only managed
to jam the vehicles in a solid immovable mass.
At every match-lock
shot, a shudder ran through the huge body, as when the surgeon’s scalpel
touches some more sensitive nerve. The Irregular horsemen, perfectly
useless, galloped up and down over the stones, shouting to and ordering
one another. The Pasha of the army had his carpet spread at the foot of
the left-hand precipice, and debated over his pipe with the officers
what ought to be done. No good genius whispered “Crown the heights.”
Then it was that the conduct of the Wahhabis found favour in my eyes.
They came up, galloping their camels,—
“Torrents less rapid, and less rash,—
with their elf-locks tossing in the wind, and their flaring
[p.144] matches casting a strange lurid light over their features.
Taking up a position, one body began to fire upon the Utaybah robbers,
whilst two or three hundred, dismounting, swarmed up the hill under the
guidance of the Sharif Zayd. I had remarked this nobleman at Al-Madinah
as a model specimen of the pure Arab. Like all Sharifs, he is
celebrated for bravery, and has killed many with his own hand.[FN#24]
When urged at Al-Zaribah to ride into Meccah, he swore that he would
not leave the Caravan till in sight of the walls; and, fortunately for
the pilgrims, he kept his word. Presently the firing was heard far in
our rear, the robbers having fled. The head of the column advanced, and
the dense body of pilgrims opened out. Our forced halt was now
exchanged for a flight. It required much management to steer our
Desert-craft clear of danger; but Shaykh Mas’ud was equal to the
occasion. That many were not, was evident by the boxes and baggage that
strewed the shingles. I had no means of ascertaining the number of men
killed and wounded: reports were contradictory, and exaggeration
unanimous. The robbers were said to be a hundred and fifty in number;
their object was plunder, and they would eat the shot camels. But their
principal ambition was the boast, “We, the Utaybah, on such and such a
[p.145] night, stopped the Sultan’s Mahmil one whole hour in the Pass.”
At the beginning of the skirmish I had primed my pistols, and sat with
them ready for use. But soon seeing that there was nothing to be done,
and wishing to make an impression,—nowhere does Bobadil now “go down” so well
as in the East,—I called aloud for my supper. Shaykh Nur, exanimate with
fear, could not move. The boy Mohammed ejaculated only an “Oh, sir!” and
the people around exclaimed in disgust, “By Allah, he eats!” Shaykh
Abdullah, the Meccan, being a man of spirit, was amused by the
spectacle.
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