So At Length, When Poor Selim Had
Exhausted All His Rhetoric Of Voice And Action And Tears, He Fixed
His Despairing Eyes For A Minute Upon The Cherished Beasts That
Were His Only Wealth, And Then Suddenly And Madly Dashed Away Into
The Farther Desert.
I continued my course and reached the city at
last, but it was not without immense difficulty that we could
constrain the poor camels to pass under the hated shadow of its
walls.
They were the genuine beasts of the Desert, and it was sad
and painful to witness the agony they suffered when thus they were
forced to encounter the fixed habitations of men. They shrank from
the beginning of every high narrow street as though from the
entrance of some horrible cave or bottomless pit; they sighed and
wept like women. When at last we got them within the courtyard of
the khan they seemed to be quite broken-hearted, and looked round
piteously for their loving master; but no Selim came. I had
imagined that he would enter the town secretly by night in order to
carry off those five fine camels, his only wealth in this world,
and seemingly the main objects of his affection. But no; his dread
of civilisation was too strong. During the whole of the three days
that I remained at Gaza he failed to show himself, and thus
sacrificed in all probability not only his camels, but the money
which I had stipulated to pay him for the passage of the Desert.
In order, however, to do all I could towards saving him from this
last misfortune I resorted to a contrivance frequently adopted by
the Asiatics: I assembled a group of grave and worthy Mussulmans
in the courtyard of the khan, and in their presence paid over the
gold to a Sheik who was accustomed to communicate with the Arabs of
the Desert. All present solemnly promised that if ever Selim
should come to claim his rights, they would bear true witness in
his favour.
I saw a great deal of my old friend the Governor of Gaza. He had
received orders to send back all persons coming from Egypt, and
force them to perform quarantine at El Arish. He knew so little of
quarantine regulations, however, that his dress was actually in
contact with mine whilst he insisted upon the stringency of the
orders which he had received. He was induced to make an exception
in my favour, and I rewarded him with a musical snuffbox which I
had bought at Smyrna for the purpose of presenting it to any man in
authority who might happen to do me an important service. The
Governor was delighted with his toy, and took it off to his harem
with great exultation. He soon, however, returned with an altered
countenance; his wives, he said, had got hold of the box and put it
out of order. So short-lived is human happiness in this frail
world!
The Governor fancied that he should incur less risk if remained at
Gaza for two or three days more, and he wanted me to become his
guest. I persuaded him, however, that it would be better for him
to let me depart at once. He wanted to add to my baggage a roast
lamb and a quantity of other cumbrous viands, but I escaped with
half a horse-load of leaven bread, which was very good of its kind,
and proved a most useful present. The air with which the
Governor's slaves affected to be almost breaking down under the
weight of the gifts which they bore on their shoulders, reminded me
of the figures one sees in some of the old pictures.
CHAPTER XXIV - GAZA TO NABLUS
Passing now once again through Palestine and Syria I retained the
tent which I had used in the Desert, and found that it added very
much to my comfort in travelling. Instead of turning out a family
from some wretched dwelling, and depriving them of a repose which I
was sure not to find for myself, I now, when evening came, pitched
my tent upon some smiling spot within a few hundred yards of the
village to which I looked for my supplies, that is, for milk and
bread if I had it not with me, and sometimes also for eggs. The
worst of it is, that the needful viands are not to be obtained by
coin, but only by intimidation. I at first tried the usual agent,
money. Dthemetri, with one or two of my Arabs, went into the
village near which I was encamped and tried to buy the required
provisions, offering liberal payment, but he came back empty-
handed. I sent him again, but this time he held different
language. He required to see the elders of the place, and
threatening dreadful vengeance, directed them upon their
responsibility to take care that my tent should be immediately and
abundantly supplied. He was obeyed at once, and the provisions
refused to me as a purchaser soon arrived, trebled or quadrupled,
when demanded by way of a forced contribution. I quickly found (I
think it required two experiments to convince me) that this
peremptory method was the only one which could be adopted with
success. It never failed. Of course, however, when the provisions
have been actually obtained you can, if you choose, give money
exceeding the value of the provisions to SOMEBODY. An English, a
thoroughbred English, traveller will always do this (though it is
contrary to the custom of the country) for the quiet (false quiet
though it be) of his own conscience, but so to order the matter
that the poor fellows who have been forced to contribute should be
the persons to receive the value of their supplies, is not
possible. For a traveller to attempt anything so grossly just as
that would be too outrageous. The truth is, that the usage of the
East, in old times, required the people of the village, at their
own cost, to supply the wants of travellers, and the ancient custom
is now adhered to, not in favour of travellers generally, but in
favour of those who are deemed sufficiently powerful to enforce its
observance.
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