The Land of Midian, Vol. 1

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

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Tome 1 p. 5: "De cette mer de la Chine dérive encore le golfe de
Colzoum (Kulzum), qui commence à Bab el-Mandeb,[EN#64] au point
ou se termine la mer des Indes. Il s'étend au nord, en inclinant
un peu vers l'occident, en longeant les rivages occidentales de
l'Iemen, le Téháma, l'Hédjaz, jusqu'au pays de Madian, d'Aila
(El-'Akabah), et de Faran; et se termine à la ville de Colzoum,
dont il tire son nom."

P. 142: "Les districts fortifiés, dependents de la Mecque, sont .
. . Ceux qui sont sous la dépendance de Médine sont . . .
Madyan."

P. 328: "Pour aller de Misr (Cairo) à' Yetrib (sic pro Yathrib),
on passe par les lieux suivants, Aïlah (Aylah) Madian," etc.

P. 333: "Sur les bords de la mer Colzoum est la ville de Madian
(in orig. Madiyan) plus grande qui Tabouk (Tabúk), et le puits ou
Moïse (sur qui soit le salut!) abreuva le troupeau de Jethro
(E1Shu'ayb). On dit que ce puits est (maintenant) à sec [Note at
foot: Je lis Mu'attilah comme porte le MS. B., et non
Mu'azzamah,[EN#65] leçon donnee par le MS. A.]; et qu'on a élevé
audessus une construction. L'eau nécéssaire aux habitants
provient de sources. Le nom de Madiyan (sic) de'rive de celui de
la tribu à laquelle Jethro appartenait. Cette ville offre trés
peu de ressources et le commerce y est misérable."

The following notice of Madyan is taken from the Kitáb el-Buldán
("Book of Countries"),[EN#66] by Ahmed ibn Abí Ya'kúb bin Wádhih,
surnamed El-Ya'kúbí and El-Kátib (the writer); according to the
Arabic colophon it was completed on the morning of Saturday,
Shawwál 21, A.H. 607 (= A.D. 1210). The author gives (p. 129, T.
G. J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1861) a description of the
route from Misr (Egypt, here Cairo) to Meccah. The first ten
stages are--1. Jubb el-'Umayrah; 2. El-Kerkirah (variant,
Karkírah); 3. 'Ajrúd, the well-known fort on the direct
Suez-Cairo line; 4. Jisr el-Kulzum, where the Gulf was crossed;
and, lastly, six Desert marches (Maráhil) to Aylah.[EN#67] The
latter station is described as a fine city upon the shore of the
Salt Sea, the meeting-place of the pilgrim-caravans from
Syria,[EN#68] Egypt, and the Maghrib (West Africa). It has
merchandise in plenty, and its people are a mixed race (Akhlát
min el-Nás).[EN#69] Here also are sold the fine cloaks called
Burdu habaratin, and also known as the Burd of the Apostle of
Allah[EN#70] (upon whom be peace!). He resumes, "And from Aylah
you march to Sharaf el-Baghl, and from the latter to Madyan,
which is a large and populous city, with abundant springs and
far-flowing streams of wholesome water; and gardens of
flower-beds. Its inhabitants are a mixed race (Akhlát min
el-Nás).[EN#71] The traveller making Meccah from Aylah takes the
shore of the Salt Sea, to a place called 'Aynúná (variant, 'Uyún,
plural of 'Ayn, an eye of water, a fountain): here are buildings
and palm clumps, and seeking-places (Matalib: see Lane for the
authorities), in which men search for gold." Dr. Badger draws my
attention to the last sentence, which seems also to have been
noticed by Sprenger (Alt. Geog. p. 32).[EN#72]

The following is from the Kitáb Asár el-Bitad ("Book of the
Geographical Traditions of Countries"), by the far-famed
Zakariyyá bin Mohammed bin Mahmúd, surnamed El-Kazwíní, who died
A.H. 653 = A.D. 1255:--"Madyan" (p. 173, edidit. F. Wustenfeld,
Göttingen, 1848) "is a city of the tribe (Kaum) of Shu'ayb upon
whom be peace!): it was founded by Madyan, son of Ibrahim, the
Friend (of Allah), the grandfather of Shu'ayb. It exports the
merchandise of Tabúk between El-Medinah and El-Shám (Damascus).
In it is the well whence Musá (upon whom be peace!) watered the
flocks of Shu'áyb, and it is said that the well is of great
depth; and that over it is a building visited by (pious) men.
This settlement Madyan is subject to the district of Tabaríyyah
(Tiberias); and near it is the well, and at it a rock which Moses
uprooted,[EN#73] and which remains there to the present day."

The Imám Abú'l-Abbás Ahmed ibn 'Ali Takiyy el-Dín, better known
as "El-Makrízi," wrote his book El-Mawáiz w'el-I'tibár fi' Zikr
el-Khitat w'el-'Asár ("The Admonition and Examples in
Commemorating Habitations and Traditions") in A.H. 825 (= A.D.
1421), during the latter part of the second Mamlúk dynasty; and
he brings down the history to the reign of Kansu Ghori, whose
fort we shall see at El-'Akabah. He tells us (edition of
Gottingen, 1848, Sahífah 48), "The loftiest mountain in Madyan
is called Zubayr.[EN#74] . . . It is also related that amongst
the settlements of the (Madyanite) tribe are the villages of
Petræa (), namely, the Kúrat (circuit) of El-Tor, and
Fárán (Pharan), and Ráyeh, and Kulzum, and Aylah (El-'Akabah)
with its surroundings; Madyan with its surroundings; and Awíd and
Haurá (Leukè-Kóme) with their surroundings, and Badá[EN#75] and
Shaghab."[EN#76] He speaks of many ruined cities whose
inhabitants had disappeared: forty, however, remained; some with,
and others without, names. Between El-Hejaz and Egypt-Syria were
sixteen cities, ten of them lying towards Palestine. The most
important were El-Khalasah,[EN#77] with its idol-temple destroyed
by Mohammed, and El-Sani'tah, whose stones had been removed to
build Ghazzah (Gaza). The others were El-Mederah, El-Minyah,
El-A'waj, El-Khuwayrak, El-Bírayn, El-Máayn, El-Sebá, and
El-Mu'allak.[EN#78]

The Marásid el-Ittílá 'alá Asmá el-Amkanat w'el-Buká'
("Observations of Information on the Names of Places and
Countries"), which contains two dates in the body of the work,
viz. A.H. 997 ( = A.D. 1589) and A.H. 1168 (A.D. = 1755), and
which is probably compiled from El-Kazwíní, says sub voce Madyan,
after giving the "movement" of the word: "It is a city of the
tribe of Shu'ayb, opposite Tabúk, and upon the sea of El-Kulzum,
six stages (Maráhil) separating the two. It is larger than Tabúk,
and in it is the well whence Moses watered the flocks of
Shu'ayb." Finally, it repeats that Madyan is under the district
of "Tabariyyá" or Tiberias[EN#79] (vol. iii. p. 64, edidit. T. G.
J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1854, e duobus Codd. MSS.).

I conclude this unpopular chapter with some remarks by Dr. Badger
concerning the apparent connection of Jethro and
El-Medínah:[EN#80] "It struck me when studying 'Madyan,' which is
the name of a place as well as of a man,[EN#81] that 'Yáthrib,'
the ancient term of al-Madínah, might have served the same double
purpose. At all events, it was singular to find a Yáthrib
somewhere near Madyan, and that the word was not far removed from
the (Yithro), the name given in Hebrew to Moses'
Midianite father-in-law. I also note that the Septuagint renders
the Hebrew Yithro by Peshito by (Yathrûn),
which the new Arabic version of the Bible, published at Bairu't
(Syria), follows; making it (Yáthrûn). The name in
Hebrew (Exod. iv. 18) is also written (Yether).

"My theory is this. Firstly, there is no dependence to be placed
on the Masoretic points, especially when affixed to names of
places. Secondly, we have no certain knowledge of the language
used by the Midianites in those ancient times. Their territory
extended northwards towards Palestine, and from their very
intimate relations with the Israelites, as friends and as
enemies, both nations appear to have understood each other
perfectly. May not their language, then, have been a dialect of
the Aramean?[EN#82] If so, the (Yithro) of the Bible
might have been (Yithrab, Yathrib, etc.). Instances of
the apocopated (b) are common in the Chaldean or
Syro-Chaldaic at the present day; e.g. (Yáheb Alaha) is
pronounced Yáu-Alaha; (Yashuá'-yaheb) becomes
Yashuá-yau, etc., the final Beth (b) or the
(heb) being converted into a (w). Hence why may not
(Yithro) have been originally (Yithrab or
Yathrib)? Of course, this is only a conjecture of mine."

Mr. E. Stanley Poole (loc. cit.) says that the Arabs dispute
whether the name "Medyen" be foreign or Arabic; and whether
"Medyen" spoke Arabic. He considers the absurd enumeration of the
alphabetical kings (El-Mas'údi, quoted above) to be curious, as
possibly containing some vague reference to the language of
Midian. When these kings are said contemporaneously to have ruled
over Meccah, Western Nejd, Yemen, "Medyen," Egypt, etc., it is
extremely improbable that Midian ever penetrated into Yemen,
notwithstanding the hints of Arab authors to the contrary. Yákút
el-Hamawi (born A.H. 574 or 575 = A.D. 1178-79, and died A.H. 626
= A.D. 1228), in the Mu'jam el-Buldán (cited in the Journ. of the
Deutsch. Morgen. Gesellschaft), declares that a South Arabic
dialect is of Midian, and El-Mas'údi (apud Schultens, pp.
158-159) inserts a Midianite king among the rulers of Yemen. The
latter, however, is more probable than the former; it may be an
accidental and individual, not a material occurrence.

The following list of ruins, some cities, others towns, were all,
with two exceptions (Nos. 2 and 18), visited or explored by the
second Khedivial Expedition. The Mashghal, ateliers or subsidiary
workshops, were in cases learned only by hearsay:--

1. Old 'Akabah (Aylah) Mashghal, up Valley el-Yitm. 3.

2. El-Hakl (pronounced "Hagul"), the of Ptolemy: it
was seen from the sea, and notes were taken of its ruins and
furnaces.

3. Nakhil Tayyib Ism, in mountain of the same name: its ruined
dam (?) and buildings were surveyed by Lieutenant Amir.

4. Makná. Twice visited.

5. Magháir Shu'ayb. Two ateliers inspected, and one heard of on
the Jebel el-Lauz: total, 3.

6. 'Aynúnah. In Jebel Zahd (ruins and furnaces). 1.

7. Sharmá. An atelier on the Jebel Fás, and another on the Jebel
Harb, both high up: total, 2.

8. Tiryam. An atelier in the Wady Urnub. 1.

9. Abu Hawáwít, near El-Muwaylah. Scoriæ found about the fort of
El-Muwaylah and near Sharm Yáhárr. 2.

10. Zibayyib in Wady Surr. Atelier Sayl Umm Laban (Wady Sadr). 1.

11. Khulasah.[EN#83] Saw specimens of worked metal from Wady
Kh'shabríyyah, and the upper Wady Surr; also ruins in the Sayl
Abú Sha'r, south-west and seawards of the Shárr block.

12. Ma' el-Badá, alias Diyár el-Nasárá, in the upper Wady Dámah.

13. Shuwák, the of Ptolemy. Atelier in Jebel
el-Sání. 1.

14. Shaghab, another large city mentioned by El-Makrízi.

15. Ruins of El-Khandakí. Broken quartz, and made road at
El-Kutayyifah; two other ateliers in Wady Ruways to the west:
total, 3.

16. Umm Amil. Near it an atelier still called El-Dayr, or the
Convent. 1.

17. Ziba', old town; Umm Jirmah to the north. 1.

18. Majirmah (pronounced M'jirmah), one day's march south of
Zibá. Large ruins, supposed to have been the classical
Rhaunathos.

Thus, besides a total of eighteen ruins, more or less extensive,
twenty ateliers were seen or heard of; making up a total of
thirty-eight--not far removed from the forty traditional
settlements of the mediæval Arab geographers.

In the plateau of New Red Sandstone called El-Hismá, ruins and
inscriptions are said to be found at the Jebel Rawiyán, whose
Wady is mentioned by Wallin (p. 308); at Ruáfá, between the two
hills El-Rakhamatayn; and at sundry other places, which we were
unable to visit. Beyond the Hisma' I also collected notices of
El-Karáyyá, large ruins first alluded to by Wallin (p.
316).[EN#84]

During our exploration of the region below El-Muwaylah (my
Southern Midian), and our cruise to El-Haura', the following
sites were either seen or reported:--

1. Ruins in the Wady Dukhán, south of the Wady el-Azlam: north of
El-Wijh.

2. El-Nabaghah, in the Wady el-Marrah: north of El-Wijh.

3. Ruins, furnaces and quartz-strews, in the Fara't Lebayyiz.

4. El-Wijh, the port of Strabo's "Egra" (?).

5. Inland fort of El-Wijh; an old metal-working ground.

6. The great mine and ruins, Umm el-Karayya't, everywhere
surrounded by ateliers.

7. El-Kubbah, a small isolated ruin to the east of No. 6.

8. El-Khaur, a working-place to the west of No. 6.

9. The large works called Umm el-Hara'b, with two ruined ateliers
near them.

10. Aba'l-Gezáz, a working-place in the watercourse of the same
name, an upper branch of the Wady Salbah.

11. The fine plain of Bada', with the Mashghal el-'Arayfát heard
of to the north.

12. Marwát, ruins on a ridge near Badá, and signs of a settlement
in the valley. In the Wady Laylah, remains also spoken of.

13. Aba'l-Marú, probably the Zu'l-Marwah of Bilázurí; extensive
remains of buildings; a huge reef of quartz, carefully worked,
and smaller ruins further down the valley.

14. The classical temple or tomb on the left bank of the great
Wady Hamz, dividing Southern Midian from El-Hejaz in the Turkish
dominions.

15. Large remains, in two divisions, at El-Haurá.[EN#85]

Concerning the ateliers, details will be found in the following
pages. Many of them suggest a kind of compromise between the
camps and settlements of the Stone Age, where, e.g. at Pressigny
and Grimes' Graves, the only remnant of man is a vast strew of
worked silexes; and the wandering fraternity of Freemasons who
hutted themselves near the work in hand. And I would here lay
special stress upon my suspicion that the ancestors of the
despised Hutaym may have been the Gypsy-caste that worked the
metals in Midian.

For the date of the many ruins which stud the country, I will
assume empirically that their destruction is coeval with that of
the Christian Churches in Negeb, or the South Country,[EN#86]
that adjoins Midian Proper on the north-west. It may date from
either the invasion of Khusrau Anúshírawán, the conquering
Sassanian King Chosroes (A.D. 531-579); or from the expedition,
sent by the Caliph Omar and his successors, beginning in A.D.
651. But, as will appear in the course of these pages, there was
a second destruction; and that evidently dates from the early
sixteenth century, when Sultán Selim laid out his maritime road
for the Hajj-caravan. Before that time the Egyptian caravans, as
will be seen, marched inland, and often passed from Midian to
El-Hijr.

Chapter V.
Work At, and Excursions From, Magháir Shu'Ayb.

By the blessing of Nebi Shu'ayb and a glance from his eyrie, I at
once suspected that the western Shigd was the "Mountain on a
mountain" alluded to by Haji Wali;[EN#87] and, on January 12,
1878, I ascertained that such was the case. The old man had given
me a hand-sketch of the most artless, showing a gorge between two
rocks, a hill of two stages to the left or west, and a couple of
Wadys draining it to the sea; one (Wady Makná) trending
northwest, and the other (Wady 'Afál) south-west. The word
"Ishmah," affixed to the northern part of the route, is evidently
the Hismá plateau, and not, as I had supposed it to be, the Jebel
Tayyib Ism.

Nor had we any difficulty in discovering Haji Wali's tree, a
solitary Mimosa to the right of the caravan-track, springing from
the sands of the Shigdawayn gorge. The latter is formed by the
sister-blocks before alluded to. The western Shigd, on the right
of the Wady 'Afál, is composed of carbonate of lime and
sandstones dyed with manganese, the whole resting upon a core of
grey granite; the formation is the same as the eastern feature,
but the lines of the latter are gentler, and the culminating
tower is wanting.

The western Shigd, indeed, is sufficiently peculiar. It is the
southern apex of a short range, numbering some four heads: the
eastern flank discharges the Wady Kizáz, which feeds the 'Afál;
and the western the Wady Makná. The summit of the broken and
spiny cone is a huge perpendicular block, apparently inaccessible
as a tower, and composed of the dull yellow ferruginous
conglomerate called "El-Safrá:" the tint contrasts strongly with
a long line of bright white Rugham (gypsum), bisecting the head
of the Wady Makná. Below the apex is a thick stratum of
manganese-stained rock: the upper line, with a dip of 15 deg.
towards the main valley, looks much like a row of bulwarks which
had slipped from the horizontal, while still bluff between the
north-east and east. Indeed, the shape is so regular that M.
Lacaze, at first sight, asked if it was une construction.

As soon as the washing-trough was brought up from Sharmá, we
opened operations by digging a trench, at least twelve feet deep,
in the re-entering angle of the bed close to the Mimosa tree. The
sand, pink above and chloritic yellow below, ended in a thick bed
of water-rolled pebbles, not in ground-rock; nor did it show the
couch of excellent clay which usually underlies the surface, and
which, I have said, is extracted through pits to make sun-dried
brick, swish, and other building materials. We also secured some
of the blood-red earth from the eastern tail of the northern
"Shigh," the manganese-stained Tauá and the gravelly sand washed
out of the Cascalho-gravel, the latter very promising. The result
of our careless working, however, was not successful; the normal
ilmenite, black sand of magnetic iron, took the place of
gold-dust. And this unlooked-for end again made us suspicious of
my old friend's proceedings: the first occasion was that of his
notable "malingering." Had he bought a pinch of "Tibr" (pure
gold) from the Bedawin, and mixed it with the handful of surface
stuff ? Had the assayer at Alexandria played him a trick ? Or had
an exceptionally heavy torrent really washed down auriferous
"tailings"? I willingly believe the latter to have been the case;
and we shall presently see it is within the range of possibility.
Traces of gold were found by Lieutenant-Colonel W. A. Ross,
through his pyrological process, in the sandy clays brought from
the mouth of Wady Makná.

Meanwhile, despite our magnificent offers, the Arabs managed to
keep inviolate their secret--if they had one. An old man, now a
rich merchant and householder at Suez, had repeatedly declared to
Mr. A. G. K. Levick, that in his young days the Bedawin washed
gold in Midian, till the industry fell into disrepute. During my
last visit he was unfortunately absent upon a pilgrimage; after
our return he asserted that he had sent for specimens of the
sand, but that it paid too little even for transport. This 'Abd
el-Hámid el-Shámi, interviewed, after our return, by Mr. Clarke,
declared more than once, and still declares, that many years ago
he obtained from the Wady Zibá, behind the settlement, a certain
quantity of reddish sand which appeared auriferous. He roasted
and washed the contents of three small baskets called
"Coffas"[EN#88] by Europeans; and this yielded a pinch of "what
looked like pure gold."

In camp our men spoke freely of Tibr stored in quills, carried
behind the ear, and sold at Suez--not at Cairo for fear of
consequences. Yet neither promises nor bribes would persuade the
poorest to break through the rule of silence. The whole might
have been a canard: on the other hand, there was also a valid
reason for reticence; the open mouth would not long have led to a
sound throat. So our many informants contented themselves with
telling us frequent tales of gold ornaments picked up after rain;
they showed us a ring made from a bit found on the Tabúk road,
and they invariably assure us that we shall find wondrous
things--about the next station.

At Magháir Shu'ayb we wasted a whole fortnight (January 11-24,
1878) in vain works; and I afterwards bitterly repented that the
time had not been given to South Midian. Yet the delay was
pleasant enough, after the month which is required to acquire, or
to recover, the habit of tent-life. The halting-day was mostly
spent as follows: At six a.m., and somewhat later on cold
mornings, the Boruji sounds his réveillé--Kum, yá Habíbí, sáh
el-Naum ("Rise, friend! sleep is done"), as the Egyptian officers
interpret the call. A curious business he makes of it, when his
fingers are half frozen; yet Bugler Mersál Abú Dunya is a man of
ambition, who persistently, and despite the coarse laughter of
Europeans, repairs for quiet practicing to the bush. We drink tea
or coffee made by Engineer Ali Marie, or by Quartermaster Yusuf,
not by Europeans; two camels supply us with sweet milk; butter we
have brought; and nothing is wanted for complete comfort but
bread.

We then separate to our work, after telling off the quarrymen to
their several tasks. Inveterate idlers and ne'er-do-weels, their
only object in life is not to labour; a dozen of them will pass a
day in breaking ten pounds' weight of stone. They pound in the
style of the Eastern tobacconist, with a very short stroke and a
very long stay. At last they burst the sieves in order to enjoy a
quieter life. They will do nothing without superintendence;
whilst the officer is absent they sit and chat, smoke, or lie
down to rest; and they are never to be entrusted with a
water-skin or a bottle of spirits. The fellows will station one
of their number on the nearest hill, whilst their comrades enjoy
a sounder sleep; they are the greatest of cowards, and yet none
would thus have acted sentinel even in the presence of the enemy.
These useful articles all expect a liberal "bakhshísh" when the
journey is done, with the usual Asiatic feeling: they know that
they deserve nothing, but my "dignity" obliges me to largess. On
this occasion it did not.

Those told off to dig prefer to make a deep pit, because fewer
can work together at it, rather than scrape off and sift the two
feet of surface which yield "antíka's." They rob what they can:
every scrap of metal stylus, manilla, or ring is carefully
tested, scraped, broken or filed, in order to see whether it be
gold. Punishment is plentifully administered, but in vain; we
cannot even cure their unclean habits of washing in and polluting
the fountain source. Three Europeans would easily do the work of
these thirty poor devils.

Mr. Clarke is our camp-manager in general: he is also our jäger;
he shoots the wild poultry, duck and partridge, sand-grouse, and
"Bob White" the quail, for half our dinners; and the Arabs call
him the "Angel of Death belonging to the Birds." He failed to
secure a noble eagle in the Wady 'Afál, whose nest was built upon
an inaccessible cliff: he described the bird as standing as high
as our table, and with a width of six to seven feet from wing to
wing. He also brought tidings of a large (horned?) owl, possibly
the same species as the fine bird noted at Sinai. The Arabs call
it classically Búmah, and vulgarly Umm Kuwayk ("Mother of
Squeaking"): the Fellahin believe that it sucks out children's
eyes, and hence their name, "Massásah." Here, as in the Sinaitic
Peninsula, "the owl and the hyena are used as charms; and the
burnt feathers of the former, and the boiled flesh of the latter
(superior filth!), are considered as infallible specifics for
numerous disorders." In other parts of Arabia the hooting of the
owl portends death; and the cry, Fát--fát, is interpreted, "He is
gone, gone."

The two Staff-officers make plans and sketches of the new places,
or they protract their field-books, working very hard and very
slowly. I have but little confidence in their route-surveys:
sights are taken from mule-back, and distances are judged by the
eye. True, the protractions come out well, but this is all the
worse, suggesting the process commonly called "doctoring." For
the style of thing, however, "dead reckoning" did well enough.

M. Lacaze is the most ardent. Accompanied by his favourite
orderly, Salámat el-Nahhás, an intelligent negro from Dár-For, he
sets out after breakfast with a bit of bread, a flagon of water,
a tent-umbrella, and his tools, which he loses with remarkable
punctuality, to spend the whole day sketching, painting, and
photographing. M. Philipin is our useful man: he superintends the
washing-cradle; he wanders far and wide, gun in hand, bringing us
specimens of everything that strikes the eye; and he is great at
his forge: the Bedawin sit for hours, gazing attentively as he
converts a file into a knife, and illustrating the reverence with
which, in early days, men regarded Vulcan and Wayland Smith.

At eleven a.m. the bugle sounds Tijrí taakul! ("Run and feed"), a
signal for déjeuner à la fourchette. It is a soup, a stew, and a
Puláo ("pilaff") of rice and meat, sheep or goat, the only
provisions that poor Midian can afford, accompanied by onions and
garlic, which are eaten like apples, washed down with bon
ordinaire; followed by cheese when we have it, and ending with
tea or coffee. George the cook proves himself an excellent man
when deprived of oil and undemoralized by contact with his fellow
Greeks. After feeding, the idlers, who have slumbered, or rather
have remained in bed, between eight p.m. and six to seven a.m.,
generally manage a couple of hours' siesta, loudly declaring that
they have been wide awake. One of the party seems to live by the
blessing of him who invented sleep, and he is always good for
half of the twenty-four hours--how they must envy him whose
unhappy brains can be stupefied only by poisonous chloral!

At two p.m., after drinking tea or coffee once more, we proceed
to another four hours' spell of work. As sunset and the cold
hours draw near, all assemble about the fire, generally two or
three huge palm trunks, whose blaze gladdens the soul of the
lonely night-sentinel; and, assembling the Shaykhs of the Arabs,
we gather from them information geographical, historical, and
ethnological. The amount of invention, of pure fancy, of airy
lying, is truly sensational; while at the same time they conceal
from us everything they can; and, more especially, everything we
most wish to know. Firstly, they do not want us to spy out the
secrets of the land; and, secondly, they count upon fleecing us
through another season. During the whole day, but notably at this
hour, we have the normal distractions of the Arabian journey. One
man brings, and expects "bakhshísh" for, a bit of broken metal or
some ridiculous stone; another grumbles for meat; and a third
wants tobacco, medicine, or something to be had for the asking. I
am careful to pay liberally, as by so doing the country is well
scoured.

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