DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0221
210
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL.
By singular good fortune the sheik of Akaba
was then at Cairo. The great yearly caravan of
pilgrims for Mecca was assembling outside the
walls, and he was there, on the summons of the pa-
cha, to escort and protect them through the desert
as far as Akaba. He was the chief of a powerful
tribe of Bedouins somewhat reduced by long and
bloody wars with other tribes, but still maintaining,
in all its vigour, the wild independence of the race,
and yet strong enough to set at defiance even the
powerful arm of the pacha. A system of mutual
forbearance seemed to exist between them, the Be-
douins knowing that although the pacha might not
subdue them, his long arm could reach and disturb
them even in their sandy hills; while the pacha
could not overlook the fact, that the effort would
cost him the lives of his best troops, and that the
plunder of their miserable tents would bring him
neither glory nor profit. Thus the desert was still
the possession of the Bedouins ; they still claimed
a tribute from the stranger for permission to pass
over it, and this induced the pacha annually to in-
vite the Sheik of Akaba to Cairo, to conduct the
caravan for Mecca, knowing that if not so invited,
even the sacred character of the pilgrims would
not protect them in passing through his country.
I found him about a mile outside the walls, near
the tombs of the califs, on the edge of the des-
ert, sitting on a mat under his tent, and surrounded
by a dozen of his swarthy tribe, armed with long
sabres, pistols, and matchlock guns. The sheik
was a short stout man, of the darkest shade of
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL.
By singular good fortune the sheik of Akaba
was then at Cairo. The great yearly caravan of
pilgrims for Mecca was assembling outside the
walls, and he was there, on the summons of the pa-
cha, to escort and protect them through the desert
as far as Akaba. He was the chief of a powerful
tribe of Bedouins somewhat reduced by long and
bloody wars with other tribes, but still maintaining,
in all its vigour, the wild independence of the race,
and yet strong enough to set at defiance even the
powerful arm of the pacha. A system of mutual
forbearance seemed to exist between them, the Be-
douins knowing that although the pacha might not
subdue them, his long arm could reach and disturb
them even in their sandy hills; while the pacha
could not overlook the fact, that the effort would
cost him the lives of his best troops, and that the
plunder of their miserable tents would bring him
neither glory nor profit. Thus the desert was still
the possession of the Bedouins ; they still claimed
a tribute from the stranger for permission to pass
over it, and this induced the pacha annually to in-
vite the Sheik of Akaba to Cairo, to conduct the
caravan for Mecca, knowing that if not so invited,
even the sacred character of the pilgrims would
not protect them in passing through his country.
I found him about a mile outside the walls, near
the tombs of the califs, on the edge of the des-
ert, sitting on a mat under his tent, and surrounded
by a dozen of his swarthy tribe, armed with long
sabres, pistols, and matchlock guns. The sheik
was a short stout man, of the darkest shade of