DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0223
212
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL.
except under their protection. I then began to
inquire the terms, when, as before, all spoke at
once, some fixing one price, some another, and for
bucksheesh whatever I pleased. I did not like
this wild and noisy negotiation. I knew that I
must make great allowance for the extravagant
language of the Arabs ; but there seemed to be an
eagerness to get me among them, which, in my
eyes, was rather ominous of bad intentions. They
were known to be a lawless people, and distin-
guished, even among their desert brethren, as a
wild and savage tribe. And these were the peo-
ple with whom I was negotiating to meet in the
desert, at the little fortress of Akaba, at the eastern
extremity of the Red Sea; into whose hands I
was to place myself, and from whom I was to ex-
pect protection against greater dangers.
My interview with them was not very satisfac-
tory, and, wishing to talk the matter over more
quietly with the sheik alone, I asked him to go
with me to my hotel; whereupon the whole group
started up at once, and, some on foot, and others
on dromedaries or on horseback, prepared to fol-
low. This did not suit me, and the sheik con-
trived to get rid of all except one, his principal and
constant attendant, "his black," as he was called.
He followed me on horseback, and when he came
up into my room, it was, perhaps, the first time
in his life that he had ever been under a roof. As
an instance of his simplicity and ignorance, it may
be worth mentioning here, although I did not know
it until we were on the point of separating after
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL.
except under their protection. I then began to
inquire the terms, when, as before, all spoke at
once, some fixing one price, some another, and for
bucksheesh whatever I pleased. I did not like
this wild and noisy negotiation. I knew that I
must make great allowance for the extravagant
language of the Arabs ; but there seemed to be an
eagerness to get me among them, which, in my
eyes, was rather ominous of bad intentions. They
were known to be a lawless people, and distin-
guished, even among their desert brethren, as a
wild and savage tribe. And these were the peo-
ple with whom I was negotiating to meet in the
desert, at the little fortress of Akaba, at the eastern
extremity of the Red Sea; into whose hands I
was to place myself, and from whom I was to ex-
pect protection against greater dangers.
My interview with them was not very satisfac-
tory, and, wishing to talk the matter over more
quietly with the sheik alone, I asked him to go
with me to my hotel; whereupon the whole group
started up at once, and, some on foot, and others
on dromedaries or on horseback, prepared to fol-
low. This did not suit me, and the sheik con-
trived to get rid of all except one, his principal and
constant attendant, "his black," as he was called.
He followed me on horseback, and when he came
up into my room, it was, perhaps, the first time
in his life that he had ever been under a roof. As
an instance of his simplicity and ignorance, it may
be worth mentioning here, although I did not know
it until we were on the point of separating after