But The Wahaby Tax-Gatherers Came;
And The Inhabitants, Who, Except Customhouse Duties, Had Never Before
Been Subject To Any Imposts, Found The Government Of The Wahabys Press
Very Heavily Upon Them.
In the autumn of 1811, when the Turkish army under Tousoun Pasha
effected its first landing near the town,
The Yembawys were very willing
to shake off the government both of the Sherif and the Wahabys; and the
officers of Ghaleb and Saoud then in the town fled, and, after a
trifling show of resistance, the two first days, by Ghaleb's commander,
who had but a few soldiers with him, and who soon saw that the spirit of
the inhabitants was wholly against fighting, the town opened its gates,
and experienced some slight injuries from the disorderly Turkish
soldiers. Since that time Yembo has been garrisoned by them, and was
made the commissariat depot of the Turkish army employed against the
enemy in the neighbourhood of Medina. The soldiers, being at a distance
from the Pasha, or his son, behaved with much more irregularity than
they dared to do either at Djidda or Mekka. Every Bimbashy, or commander
of a company, who landed here with his soldiers, assumed, during his
stay, the government of the town; while the real governor, Selym Aga,
who had but a few soldiers under him, was often reduced to a mere
cipher. Several affrays happened during my stay, and the inhabitants
were extremely exasperated. A Turkish officer shot, with his pistol, in
the open street in mid-day, a young Arab, to whom he had for some time
been making infamous proposals; he committed this murder with the
greatest composure, in revenge for his refusal, and then took refuge in
the quarters of a Bimbashy, whose soldiers were called out
[p.425] to defend him against the fury of the populace.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 596 of 669
Words from 162439 to 162746
of 182297
