The Land of Midian, Vol. 1

R >> Richard Burton >> The Land of Midian, Vol. 1

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

[EN#27] When "miles" are given, I mean the statute of 1760 yards
as opposed to the geographical; the latter equals 1 minute (of a
degree) = 1 Italian or Arab = 1/4 German = 1 1/4 Roman = 10
stadia.

[EN#28] Were I a wealthy man, nothing would delight me more than
to introduce London to La Zarzuela, the Spanish and Portuguese
opera bouffe. Sir Julius Benedict tells me that it has reached
Paris.

[EN#29] See Le Pionnier, Chemin de Fer Abyssinien d'apré's les
desseins de M. J. L. Haddan. Another valuable form is "The
Economical" (Mr. Russell Shaw).

[EN#30] Chloritic slate is the matrix of gold in the Brazil and
in Upper Styria.

[EN#31] Chap. IX.

[EN#32] Not Tayyibat Ism, as I wrongly wrote in "The Gold Mines
of Midian," misled by the Hydrographic Chart. None of the Bedawin
could explain the origin of the flattering title.

[EN#33] "The Gold-Mines of Midian." Chap. XII.

[EN#34] The so-called Oriental, stalactitic, or variegated
alabaster of Upper Egypt was nowhere hit upon.

[EN#35] The Ptolemeian parallel is nearly right; the place must
not be confounded with Modi'ana or Modouna (ibid.), a
coast-settlement in north lat. 27 degrees 45', between Onne and
the Hippos Mons, Monte Cavallo.

[EN#36] I have no wish to criticize my able predecessor. His map,
all things considered, is a marvel of accuracy; and the high
praise of Wellsted (ii. 148) only does it justice.

[EN#37] The "Muttali" (high town) when small is termed a Burj,
pyrgos, tower, Pergamus (?)

[EN#38] The Masháb or "camel-stick" of all Arabia is that
carried by the Osiris (mummy), and its crook is originally the
jackal-headed Anubis.

[EN#39] The collection has been submitted to Mr. R. Stanley
Poole, who kindly offered them for inspection to the Numismatic
Society of London (Nov. 21, 1878).

[EN#40] "Ægypten," etc., p. 269, et seq.

[EN#41] "Les Inscriptions des Mines d'Or," etc. Paris, 1862.

[EN#42] In Tafel viii. (p. 387), he has added some cursory notes
on the Sepulcral-Monumente in dem Thale Beden.

[EN#43] Wellsted, vol. ii., appendix.

[EN#44] All the useful matter has already been borrowed from
Abulfeda. Dr. Badger tells me that he looked through his Jarídat
el-'Ajáib, wa Farídat el-Gharáib, by Siráj el-Din Umar ibn
el-Wardí, A.H. 940 (= A.D. 1533--1534), where he expected to
find, but did not find, notices of Madyan.

[EN#45] Geschichte Ægyptens unter den Pharaonen. Nach den
Denkmählern bearbeitet, von Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey. Erste
deutsche Ausgabe. Leipzig: Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, 1877.
Already the Première Partie had appeared in French, "Histoire
d'Égypte, Introduction--Histoire des Dynasties i.--xvii.;"
published by the same house with a second edition in 1875. An
English translation of this most valuable compendium, whose
German is of the hardest, is now being printed in London.

[EN#46] Pun, or Punt, the region on both sides of the Red
Seamouth, including El-Yemen and Cape Guardafui, was made holy by
the birth of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Dr. Brugsch-Bey shows that
one of the titles of the he-god was Bass, the cat or the leopard
(whence our "Puss"); whilst his wife, Bast (the bissat or
tabby-cat of modern Arabic), gave her name to Bubastis (Pi-Bast,
the city of Bast). From the Osiric term (Bass) the learned
Egyptologist would derive Bacchus and his priests, the Bacchoi
and the Bacchantes, whose dress was the leopard's skin. Could
Osiris have belonged to the race whose degenerate descendants are
the murderous Somal of modern days?

[EN#47] Vulg. Snefrou, "he who makes it good;" the ninth of the
third Dynasty; the twenty-fourth successor of Mena (Menes) in the
papyri, and the twenty-sixth according to Manetho the priest. He
conquered the "Mafka-land," as the Sinaitic Peninsula was then
called; and Wady Maghárah still shows his statue, habited in
warrior garb, with the proud inscription, "Vanquisher of Stranger
Races." This campaign lends some colour to my suspicion that
Sináfir Island, at the mouth of the Gulf el-'Akabah, may preserve
his name.

[EN#48] The German Türkis, and the English and French Turquoise,
are both evidently derived from Gemma Turcica, Western Turkistan
being considered tile source of the finest stones.

[EN#49] The accompanying lithograph gives a list of the letters
and the syllabic signs which occur in the inscription. {not
included in this e-text}

[EN#50] The article "Ná" is emphatic, the with the sense of that
or those.

[EN#51] "Khomet" signifies, 1. Copper, 2. Metal generally, as
argent, etc.

[EN#52] "Mensh" is always applied to sea-going ships, as opposed
to Bari, Uáu, Kerer, etc., riverine craft.

[EN#53] "Kemi" signifies, 1. Found, 2. Found out, discovered.

[EN#54] That is, the royal pavilion at Thebes.

[EN#55] The word "Deb" (brick) still survives in the Arabic Tob,
and, perverted to the Iberian Adobe (Et-tob) it has travelled to
Mexico.

[EN#56] "Hefennu," as is shown by the ideograph to the right over
the three perpendiculars denoting plurality, may be either a frog
or a lakh (one hundred thousand).

[EN#57] The Egyptians divided gold into four qualities--1, 2, 3,
and two-thirds. But it is not known whether No. 1 was the best,
and we can only guess that two-thirds alluded to some alloy.

[EN#58] The same as the Shu'ayb of my pages.

[EN#59] For a notice of "Moses' Well," now quite forgotten by the
Arabs, see Chapter VI.

[EN#60] For an account of these diggings, see "The Gold-Mines of
Midian," Chap. IX.

[EN#61] This strange legend will be found copied into many
subsequent authors.

[EN#62] El-Abjad, the oldest existing form of the Arabic
alphabet; to judge from its being identical with the Hebrew. It
is supposed to date from after the beginning of the Christian
era, when the Himyaritic form fell into disuse, and it is now
used in chronograms only.

[EN#63] L'auteur est doublement inexact en avanc, ant que
l'Aboudjed se compose de vingt-quatre lettres seulement, d'abord
parce que les six mots qu'il énumère ne renferment que vingt-deux
lettres, et en second lieu, parce qu'il oublie de citer les deux
derniers mots techniques, et , lesquels
complétent les vingt-huit lettres prises comme valeurs
nume'riques ("Voyez l'Exposé des signes de numération chez les
Orientaux," par M. Pihan, p. 199 et suiv.). To this I may add
that the French translators have sadly corrupted the words which
should be Abjad, Hawwaz, Hutti, Kalaman, Sa'fas, and Karashat;
whilst Sakhiz and Zuzigh are not found in the Hebrew and cognate
dialects.

[EN#64] The "Gate of Lamentation," vulgarly and most erroneously
written, "Babelmandel."

[EN#65] That is, "spoiled," dry; instead of "honoured,"
respected. The difference of the words is in the "pointing" of
the third letter, and the change of m and l.

[EN#66] Not to be confounded with a cosmography of the same name
by Ahmed ibn Yahyá el-Shá'ir. Cf. Journal of the Royal
Geographical Society, vol. xx. of 1850, p. 343.

[EN#67] This route, from Suez to El-'Akabah, probably one of the
oldest in this world, has been traversed perfunctorily by
Burckhardt and by Beke. It still wants a detailed survey, and
even hieroglyphic inscriptions may be expected. Beke's map marks
Hawáwit ("ruins") near one of his nighting-places, but apparently
the remains were not visited.

[EN#68] The Syrian Hajj no longer pass through El-'Akabah to
Makná, but inland or eastward of it. The reason is made evident
in Chap. VII.

[EN#69] Thus the Khálú or Khárú of the old Egyptians, meaning a
"mixed multitude," were originally Phoenicians and domiciled from
earliest ages about Lake Menzálah. So the "mixed multitude," or
mingled people, which followed Israel from Egypt would be a
riff-raff of strangers. D'Herbelot says (sub voce Midian):
"Quoyque les Madianites soient reputez pour Arabes, neanmoins ils
ne sont pas du nombre des Tribus qui partageoient l'Arabie, et
dont les Auteurs nous ont rendu un compte exact dans leur
Histoire et dans leurs Genealogies; de sorte qu'il passe pour un
peuple étranger qui s'est établi parmi eux." Yet, as we have seen
by the foregoing extracts, Madyan was reckoned within the
territory of El-Medi'nah, i.e. the Hejaz.

Caussin de Perceval ("Essai sur l'Histoire des Arabs avant
l'Islamisme") regards the old Midianites as one of the "Races
éteintes;" and he makes them (vol. i. p. 23) descendants of
Céthura, Abraham's second wife. In vol. ii. p. 232, he brings the
Banu-Djodha'm (Juzám) from El-Yemen, and settles them in the
country of the ancient Midianites. He adds: "La region sur
laquelle ils étaient répandus avec leurs frères les Benou-Lakhm,
et, je crois aussi, avec les families Codhaites, de Bali (Baliyy)
et de Cayn, touchait par l'ouest à la Mer Rouge, par le nord au
pays que les Romains appelaient troisième Palestine, par le sud
aux déserts . . . par l'est, enfin, au territoire de
Daumat-Djandal sur laquelle campaient les Benou-Kelb, tribu
Codhaïte, alors Chrétienne, et alliée ou sujette des Romains." In
vol. iii. p. 159, he recounts from the Táríkh el-Khamísí, and the
Sírat el-Rasúl, how Zayd made an expedition against the "Djodhám
(Juzám) established at Madyan on the coast of the Red Sea." The
warrior captured a number of women and children who were exposed
for sale, but the "Prophet," hearing the wails of the mothers,
ordered that the young ones should not be sold apart from the
parents.

[EN#70] The "Burd," or "Burdah," was worn by Mohammed, as we know
from a celebrated poem, for which see D'Herbelot, sub voce
"Bordah."

[EN#71] Michaud ("Hist. des Croisades," ii. 27) says: "Une fois
qu'il (Saladin) fût maitre de la capitale (Damascus); son armée
victorieuse et l'or pur appelé Obreysum (Ubraysun ou Hubraysum)
qu'il tirait de l'E'gypte, lui soumirent les autres cités de la
Syrie." The question is whether this gold was not from Midian: my
friend Yacoub Artin Bey, who supplied me with the quotation,
thinks that it was.

[EN#72] The most curious form, perhaps, which the ancient
Midianitic tradition has assumed, was in the thirteenth century,
when the Russians believed that the Tartars, "with their
four-cornered faces," were the ancient Midianites coming in the
latter days to conquer the world. Lieutenant C. R. Conder, R.E.
("Tentwork in Palestine," Bentley, 1878), has done his best to
rival this style of ethnology by declaring that "the hosts of
Midian" were, no doubt, the ancestors of the modern Bedawin.

[EN#73] Alluding to the legend that the shepherds, after watering
their flocks, rolled a great stone over the mouth of the well, so
that the contents might not be used by Jethro's daughters. Musá
waxed wroth, and, weak as he was with travel, gave the stone such
a kick that it went flying full forty cubits from the spot. See
"Desert of the Exodus," Appendix, p. 539.

[EN#74] A name now unknown to the Bedawin of Madyan. The
culminating peak is now supposed to be either the Shárr, the
Jebel el-Lauz, or the Jebel Zánah.

[EN#75] The Badais of Ptolemy, which we shall presently visit.

[EN#76] A large ruin east of Zibá, also visited.

[EN#77] For a notice of El-Khalasah, also called El-Khulusah,
El-Khulsah, or Zu'l-Khalasah, consult the art. "Midian," Smith's
"Dict. of the Bible," by E. S. Poole, vol. ii. p. 356. For the
Khalasah of the Negeb, "where Venus was worshipped with all the
licentious pomp of the Pagan ritual," see Professor Palmer's
"Desert of the Exodus," p. 385. The text, however, alludes to a
ruin called El-Khulasah, one march from El-Muwaylah to the east
(Chap. VIII.).

[EN#78] El-Mederah is possibly Hasíyat el-Madrá, which, like
El-A'waj, El-Bírayn, and Ma'ín, is now included in Syria.
El-Mu'allak may be Jebel Yalak,--at least, so say the Bedawin.

[EN#79] In the last remark, also found in El-Kazwíní, the Madyan
of El-Shu'ayb is referred to the district of Tiberias. Thus it
would belong to Syria, whilst the majority of geographers refer
it to the Hejaz, and a minority to El-Yemen.

[EN#80] Alluded to in a note to p. 331 of "The Gold Mines of
Midian," etc.

[EN#81] This means only according to Hebrew and Arabic tradition,
neither of them being, in this case, of much value. As I remarked
before ("The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 177), the hieroglyphic
name of the land is Mádí, in the plural Mádí-án or Mádí-ná; on
the other hand, we have no information concerning the origin and
derivation of Mádí, except that it is not Egyptian.

[EN#82] None of the tribes or families now inhabiting Midian
represent the ancient Midianites; and all speak the vulgar
half-Fellah Arabic, without any difference of accent or
vocabulary from their neighbours.

[EN#83] See the preceding notes on El-Makrízi.

[EN#84] The Ma'ázah spoke of Kanátir (arches, i.e. aqueducts) and
Bibán (doors or catacombs).

[EN#85] I inquired in vain concerning the ruins near Sharm
Burayttah, south of Yambú' in the Harb country. Wellsted, who
visited the site (11. xi.), conjectures them to be Niebuhr's
"El-Jár." He makes that near the point "as large as Yembo,
extending about a mile in length, and half that space in breadth,
with a square fort in the vicinity, the remains of which have
towers at the corners and gates." Near the middle on either side,
the tall walls are six feet thick, strong enough where artillery
is unknown. At the landing-place are a quay paved with large hewn
stones, and a jetty of solid masonry in ruins. The sailors dug
and found only shapeless fragments of corroded copper and brass;
coloured glass, as usual more opaque than the modern, and
earthenware of the kind scattered about Egyptian ruins. About one
mile from the fort were other remains, built of coral, now much
blackened by exposure; and similar constructions on the further
side of the Sharm could not be examined, as the Harb Bedawin were
jealous and hostile.

[EN#86] The name is from Gen. xx. 1, and it signifies the country
lying to the south of Palestine. See "The Negeb," by the late
Rev. E. Wilton (London, 1863), and vol. ii. "The Desert of the
Exodus," so often alluded to in these pages.

[EN#87] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. IX.

[EN#88] Kúfah or in Persian means a basket or
a coffin.

[EN#89] Roaring when the rider mounts, halts, or dismounts, is
considered a proof of snobbish blood among the Bisha'ri'n: for
some months the camel-colt is generally muzzled on such occasions
till it learns the sterling worth of silence.

For an admirable description, far too detailed to place before
the general public, of the likeness and the difference between
the dromedary of the Bishárín and the Númaní and Maskatí, the
purest blood of the Arabs, see pp. 145--154, "L' Etbaye, etc.,
Mines d Or," by my old friend Linant de Bellefonds Bey, now
Sulayman Pasha. Paris: Arthus Bertrand (no date).

[EN#90] The contents worked into shape by Mr. William J. Turner,
of the Royal Geographical Society, appear in the Appendix.

[EN#91] "Desert of the Exodus," p. 347.

[EN#92] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. VI.

[EN#93] In "The Gold-Mines of Midian" (passim) this "Spring of
the She-Cook" appeared as the "She-Cork!"

[EN#94] A region to the north-west of 'Aynúnah, afterwards
visited by Lieutenant Yusuf. See Chap. IX.

[EN#95] Such an act would disgrace an Arab tribe, and of course
it is denied by the Beni 'Ukbah. We visited this valley, which is
one of the influents of the Wady 'Aynúnah, during the first
Expedition ("The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 165).

[EN#96] The modern Beni 'Ukbah ignore the story of Abú Rísh, not
wishing to confess their obligations to the Huwaytát.

[EN#97] The tomb on the hillock north of El-Muwaylah.

[EN#98] South-east of EI-Muwaylah.

[EN#99] These hard conditions were actually renewed some
twenty-five years ago.

[EN#100] For ample notices on this subject, see "The Gold-Mines
of Midian," Chap. XII. In p. 337, however, I made the mistake of
supposing Makná to be the capital, instead of the port of the
capital. The true position is north lat. 28 degrees 24'.

[EN#101] For historical notices of the diamond in North-Western
Arabia, see "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 168.

[EN#102] Dr. Beke's artist made a plan of this rude affair (p.
349), and nothing can be worse. The Egyptian Staff-officers drew
the ruin correctly; but the poor remains by no means deserve the
honour of a wood-cut.

[EN#103]. The word is corrupted from Jamb, "the side," alluding
to the animal's gait; we did not find the true lobster (Homarus
vulgaris), the astica of the Adriatic, whose northern waters
produce such noble specimens.

[EN#104] The spirit-tins, prepared for me at Trieste, were as
most things there are, very dear and very bad; after a short use
they became full of holes. So the bowie-knives, expressly made to
order at old Tergeste, proved to be of iron not of steel.

[EN#105] "Travels," Vol. II. Chap. IV.

[EN#106] Confirmed by Dr. Beke, p. 533.

[EN#107] P. 351.

[EN#108] I am doubtful about this name, which the Bedawi apply to
more than one place.

[EN#109] Strictly speaking, the dust of the Nevada country was
oxide of silver.

[EN#110] M. Burat ("Géologie Appliqée," i. 8) gives the following
minima proportions in which metal may be worked on a grand scale,
of course under the most favourable circumstances. The extremes
are 0.25 (iron), and 0.00001 (gold); and antimony, bismuth,
cobalt, and nickel are neglected, because the proportions vary so
much.

Iron, 0.25
Zinc, 0.20
Lead, 0.02 (two per cent.)
Copper and mercury, 0.01
Tin, 0.005 (1/2 per cent.)
Silver, 0.0005 (1/2 per 1000)
Gold, 0.00001 (1/100,000)

This table is recommended to the many "profane" who do not
believe a rock to be auriferous or argentiferous, unless they can
see the gold and silver with the naked eye.

[EN#111] The button, when assayed by the official mining office
at Trieste, was pronounced to be antimony! It was extracted from
ruddle (red ochre) and limonite (brown ochre or hydrous oxide of
iron): both are sesquioxides (Fe2O3) which become dark when
heated and change to magnetic oxide (Fe3O4). M. Marie is probably
the first who ever "ran down" iron oxide with lead. No wonder
that Colonel Ross pronounced his culot a marvellous alloy.

[EN#112] Kárún was a pauper cousin of Musá, who had learned
alchemy from Kulsum, the Lawgiver's sister. The keys of his
treasure loaded forty mules; and his palace had doors and roof of
fine gold. As he waxed fat he kicked against his chief, who as
usual became exceeding wroth, and prayed that the earth might
swallow him.

[EN#113] Pp. 337--339.

[EN#114] "Tasbíh" literally means uttering Subhán Allah!--"Praise
be to Allah!"

[EN#115] It is curious how this goddess has extended, through the
Dalmatian "Fortunale" and the Slav "Fortunja" of the Bosnian
peasants, to Turkey, Egypt, and even Arabia. Applied to a violent
storm, perhaps it is a euphuism for the Latin word in the sense
of good sign or omen; so in Propertius--"Nulla ne placatæ veniet
fortuna procellæ."

[EN#116] P. 341.

[EN#117] The singular is Maknáwi, pronounced Magnáwi.

[EN#118] Loc. cit. p. 79.

[EN#119] The passage was brought to my notice by my excellent
friend, Mr. James Pincherle of Trieste. In the "Atlante Storico e
Geografico della Terra Santa, esposto in 14 Tavole e 14 Quadri
storici della Palestina," republished (without date) by Francesco
Pagnoni of Milan, appears an annexed commentary by Cornelius à
Lapide. The latter, Cornelius Van den Steen (Corneille de la
Pierre), born near Liege, a learned Jesuit, profound theologian,
and accomplished historian, was famous as a Hebraist and lecturer
on Holy Writ. He died at Rome March 12, 1637; and a collected
edition of his works in sixteen volumes, folio, appeared at
Venice in 1711, and at Lyons in 1732. It is related of him that,
being called to preach in the presence of the Pope, he began his
sermon on his knees. The Holy Father commanded him to rise, and
he obeyed; but his stature was so short that he appeared to be
still kneeling. The order was reiterated; whereupon Zacchaeus,
understanding its cause, said modestly, "Beatissime Pater, ipse
fecit nos, et non ipsi nos."

[EN#120] The name and other points connected with it have been
noticed in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338.

[EN#121] See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338.

[EN#122] "Travels in Syria, etc.," p. 524.

[EN#123] In "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338, this name became,
by virtue of the author's cacography, "Beoche."

[EN#124] "Diario in Arabia Petrea" (1865) di Visconte Giammartino
Arconati. Roma, 1872.

[EN#125] Wellsted, ii. 143.

[EN#126] "Ghor" is the whole depression including the Jordan and
the Dead Sea, while El-'Akabah is its southernmost section. In
older maps this gulf is made to fork at the north--a
topographical absurdity. I have also fallen into a notable
blunder about the Jebel el-Shará', in "The Gold-Mines of Midian,"
note ?, p. 175.

[EN#127] See Appendix, p. 537, "Geological Notes," etc., in Dr.
Beke's "Sinai in Arabia."

[EN#128] See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," pp. 338, 339.

[EN#129] This Yitm, which Burckhardt first wrote El-Ithem,
unfortunately gave Dr. Beke an opportunity of finding, in his
"Wady el-Ithem," the "Etham of the Exodus." (See "The
Gold-Mines of Midian," pp. 359--361). The latter has been
conclusively shown by Brugsch-Bey in his lecture, "La Sortie des
Hébreux d'E'gypte" (Alexandrie: Mourès, 1874), p. 31, to be the
great fort of Khatom, on the highway to Phoenicia. The roots
Khatam, Asham, Tam, like the Arabic "Khatm" () signify to
seal up, close; and thus Khatom in Egyptian, as Atham, Etham in
Hebrew, means a closed place, a fortress. Wallin calls the
"Yitm," which he never visited, "Wâdî Lithm, a cross valley
opening through the chain at about eight hours (twenty-four
miles) north of 'Akaba'"--possibly Lithm is a misprint, but it is
repeated in more than one page.

[EN#130] Dr. Beke, who afterwards changed his mind, would
identify Hor, the burial-place of Aaron, with Horeb of the Rock
("Orig. Biblicae," 195). He then adopted ("Sinai in Arabia," p.
77) the opinion of St. Jerome ("De Situ," etc., p. 191), "Mihi
autem videtur quod duplice nomine mons nunc Sina, nunc Choreb
vocatur." Wellsted (ii. 103) also makes Horeb synonymous with
"Wilderness of Sinai." Professor Palmer (118) translates Horeb by
"ground that has been drained and left dry:" he would include in
it the whole Desert of Sinai, together with "the Mountain;"
whilst he warns us that the monks call the whole southern portion
of their mountain "Horeb." Others confine "Horeb" to Jebel Musá,
and even to its eastern shoulder.

[EN#131] For the Mount or Mountain see Exodus xix. 2, 12, 20, 23;
also xxxii. 19; Deut. iv. II, and v. 23; Heb. xii. 18. Josephus
("Antiq.," II. ii. I) speaks of it similarly as a "mountain," and
describes it with all the apparatus of fable; while his
compatriot and contemporary, St. Paul (Epist. to the Galatians
iv. 25), calls it only "Mount Sinai in Arabia," i.e. east of
Jordan.

[EN#132] See Athenaeum, February 8th and 15th, 1873.

[EN#133] They were heard of by Burckhardt ("Syria," p. 510).

[EN#134] Beke (p. 446), on February 6th, estimated the rise of
the tide at 'Akabah head to be three to four feet. This is
greatly in excess of actuality; but, then, he was finding out
some rational way of drowning "Pharaoh and his host."

[EN#135] Those living further north, the 'Ammárín and the
Liyásinah, are unmitigated scoundrels and dangerous ruffians:
amongst the former Shaykh Sala'mah ibn 'Awwád with his brother,
and among the latter Ibrahím el-Hasanát, simply deserve hanging.
In Edom, too, 'Abd el-Rahmán el-'Awar ("the One-eyed"), Shaykh of
the Fellahín, is "wanted;" and the 'Alawín-Huwaytát would be
greatly improved were they to be placed under Egyptian, instead
of Syrian, rule.

[EN#136] Dr. Beke's artist (p. 374) has produced a work of
imagination, especially in the foreground and background of his
"Migdol or Castle of Akaba."

[EN#137] Commonly written Kansúh (Kansooh) and corrupted by
Europeans to Campson (like Sampson) Goree.

[EN#138] Not Hámid, as some mispronounce the word.

[EN#139] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. XII.

[EN#140] The chain did not part. The anchor was afterwards fished
up by divers from El-Muwaylah, and its shank was found broken
clean across like a carrot. Yet there was no sign of a flaw. Mr.
Duguid calculated the transverse breaking strain of average
anchor-iron (8 1/2 inches x 4 = 22 square inches), at 83 1/10
tons; and the tensile breaking strain at 484 tons, or 22 tons to
the square inch; while the stud-length cable of 1 1/8 inch chain,
150 fathoms long, would carry, if proof, 24 tons. Captain
Mohammed was persevering enough, after the divers had failed, to
recover his chain when on his cruise homewards; and the Rais of
the Sambúk was equally lucky.

[EN#141] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Ch. XII. p. 317.

[EN#142] See Chap. X.

[EN#143] Lieutenant-Colonel Bolton kindly compared the specimens
with those in his cabinet. The first, which was accompanied by
quartz, resembled the produce of Orenburg. A Peruvian
mine-proprietor had pronounced it to be "Rosicler" silver. The
magnetic sand bore a tantalizing resemblance to the highly
auriferous black sand of Ekaterinburg.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20