The Height Of
The Hills And The Glare Of The Rising Sun Prevented My Seeing Objects
Very Distinctly, But My
Companions pointed out to me places where the
rock had been scarped, and where a kind of rough stone breastwork-
The
Sangah of Afghanistan-had been piled up as a defence, and a rest for
the long barrel of the matchlock. It was useless to challenge the
Badawin to come down and fight us like men upon the plain; they will do
this on the Eastern coast of Arabia, but rarely, if ever, in Al-Hijaz.
And it was equally unprofitable for our escort to fire upon a foe
ensconced behind stones. Besides which, had a robber been killed, the
whole country would have risen to a man; with a force of 3,000 or
4,000, they might have gained courage to overpower a Caravan, and in
such a case not a soul would have escaped. As it was, the Badawin
directed their fire principally against the Albanians. Some of these
called for assistance to the party of Shaykhs that accompanied us from
Bir Abbas; but the dignified old men, dismounting and squatting in
council round their pipes, came to the conclusion that, as the robbers
would probably turn a deaf ear to their words, they had better spare
themselves the trouble of speaking.
[p.274] We had therefore nothing to do but to blaze away as much
powder, and to veil ourselves in as much smoke, as possible; the result
of the affair was that we lost twelve men, besides camels and other
beasts of burden.
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