DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0362
344 A THOUSAND MILES UP THE NILE.
Wady Ilalfeb. Kocky islets in the river; palm-groves,
acacias, carobs, henna and castor-berry bushes and all
kinds of flowering shrubs, along the edges of the banks;
fantastic precipices riven and pinnacled, here rising
abruptly from the water's edge and there from the sandy
plain, make lovely sketches whichever way one turns.
There are gazelles, it is said, in the ravines behind Tafah ;
and one of the natives—a truculent fellow in ragged shirt
and dirty white turban—tells how, at a distance of three
hours up a certain glen, there is another birbeh, larger
than either of these, in the plain and a great standing
statue taller than three men. Here, then, if the tale bo
true, is another ready-made discovery for whoever may
care to undertake it.
This same native, having sold a necklace to the idle man
and gone away content with his bargain, comes back by
and by with half the village at his heels, requiring double
price. This modest demand being refused, he rages up
and down like a maniac; tears off his turban; goes through
a wild manual exercise with his spear ; then sits down in
stately silence, witli his friends and neighbors drawn up in
a semicircle behind him.
This, it seems, is Nubian for a challenge. He has
thrown down his gantlet in form and demands trial by
combat. The noisy crowd, meanwhile, increases every
moment. Kei's Hassan looks grave, fearing a possible
fracas; and the idle man, who is reading the morning
service down below (for it is on a Sunday morning) can
scarcely be heard for the clamor outside. In this emer-
gency it occurs to the writer to send a message ashore in-
forming these gentlemen that the howadjis are holding
mosque in the dahabeeyah and entreating them to be quiet
till the hour of prayer is past. The effect of the message,
strange to say, is instantaneous. The angry voices are at
once hushed. The challenger puts on his turban. The
assembled spectators squat in respectful silence on the
bank. A whole hour goes by thus, so giving the storm
time to blow over; and when the idle man reappears on
deck his would-be adversary comes forward quite pleasantly
to discuss the purchase afresh.
It matters little how the affair ended; but I believe he
was offered his necklace back in exchange for the money
paid and preferred to abide by his bargain. It is as
Wady Ilalfeb. Kocky islets in the river; palm-groves,
acacias, carobs, henna and castor-berry bushes and all
kinds of flowering shrubs, along the edges of the banks;
fantastic precipices riven and pinnacled, here rising
abruptly from the water's edge and there from the sandy
plain, make lovely sketches whichever way one turns.
There are gazelles, it is said, in the ravines behind Tafah ;
and one of the natives—a truculent fellow in ragged shirt
and dirty white turban—tells how, at a distance of three
hours up a certain glen, there is another birbeh, larger
than either of these, in the plain and a great standing
statue taller than three men. Here, then, if the tale bo
true, is another ready-made discovery for whoever may
care to undertake it.
This same native, having sold a necklace to the idle man
and gone away content with his bargain, comes back by
and by with half the village at his heels, requiring double
price. This modest demand being refused, he rages up
and down like a maniac; tears off his turban; goes through
a wild manual exercise with his spear ; then sits down in
stately silence, witli his friends and neighbors drawn up in
a semicircle behind him.
This, it seems, is Nubian for a challenge. He has
thrown down his gantlet in form and demands trial by
combat. The noisy crowd, meanwhile, increases every
moment. Kei's Hassan looks grave, fearing a possible
fracas; and the idle man, who is reading the morning
service down below (for it is on a Sunday morning) can
scarcely be heard for the clamor outside. In this emer-
gency it occurs to the writer to send a message ashore in-
forming these gentlemen that the howadjis are holding
mosque in the dahabeeyah and entreating them to be quiet
till the hour of prayer is past. The effect of the message,
strange to say, is instantaneous. The angry voices are at
once hushed. The challenger puts on his turban. The
assembled spectators squat in respectful silence on the
bank. A whole hour goes by thus, so giving the storm
time to blow over; and when the idle man reappears on
deck his would-be adversary comes forward quite pleasantly
to discuss the purchase afresh.
It matters little how the affair ended; but I believe he
was offered his necklace back in exchange for the money
paid and preferred to abide by his bargain. It is as