the Dubbah, who had left us, as before stated, to make arrangements
for furnishing us with others. He entered our tent with three large
ostrich eggs wrapped up very carefully in the folds of his baracan,
(for this garment may be considered as a general envelope for everything
which, an Arab thinks worthy,of a cover,) and having unfolded
them, one by one, laid them down very solemnly and ceremoniously,
and with the greatest air of consequence imaginable, on the mat upon
which we were , sitting. All this was, of course intended to enhance
the. value of the present, and we received it accordingly with all due
acknowledgments. The prelude being over, Shekh MaKommed
assumed a very mysterious air, and drew a little ] closer towards u s;
then lowering his voice, which was not usually one of the most gentle,
he began to inform us (looking occasionally round the tent, as if he
feared to be overheard from without) that a large troop of marauding
Arabs were then at Kebrit, having recently arrived there from
the neighbourhood of Cairo, and that they were lying in wait for our
party. There could be no doubt, he added, of the truth of this statement,
for one of his own sons had just arrived from Cairo himself! On
our asking him whether this son had actually seen the Arabs , in question,
he replied that, as yet, no person had seen them, but that the
prints of horses’ feet, to the number of sixty, had been observed about
the wells near Kebrit, and that there could be no doubt whatever of
the sinister intentions of the party. “ But fear nothing,” continued
the Shekh, with an air of greater importance, “ while the Dubbah is
your friend and conductor; for I will myself,” said: he, “ go on in •
advance, and if I find the tracks of hostile horses about the wells,
TR IPO LY TO BENGAZI. 181
* •
woe be to the rascals upon their backs!” We had been trying
very, hard, during this important communication, to keep as solemn
a face as we could, but the concluding bravado of old Shekh Mahom-
med rendered all our best efforts unavailing; and we fairly laughed
out, in spite of ourselves, to the great discomposure of our valiant
protector. The old Shekh had often talked , of similar interruptions
which were to be expected upon the road, but we could not, at first,
upon the present occasion, perceive his actual motive for introducing
the subject so formally and circumstantially. The,next day, however,
we found there had been a competition between the Dúbbah and our
Mesurata camel-drivers, who were desirous of accompanying us to Ben-
gazi, and whom for their good conduct on most occasions we should
have been very willing to retain in our service. At any rate, we
wished the competition to continue till we had concluded our bargain
with one of the parties, as we knew that we should otherwise be. exposed
to the extortion which is almost invariably practised by an Arab
when hé knows there is no alternative but to accept his proposals.
Both parties, however, knew that we must, under any circumstances,
continue our route ; and that it would not be possible for us to do
so without camels, whether we advanced or returned. . For this reason
we had never made any positive promise that we would take the
Diibbah’s camels at Boosaida, and we.had never given any notice to
the camel-drivers of Mesurata that we should not continue them if
they wished to proceed with us farther.
Having reason to believe that his Mesurata rivals were willing to
go on with us to Bengazi, Shekh Mahommed now brought forward