to bring their camels to be loaded as usual ; whereas one single
word from him would, at, any time of thé dispute, have been sufficient
to put an end to it altogether. ,
This farce was kept up, however, with all due solemnity ; and as
an opening was now made towards accommodation, we left Shekh
Mahommed to manage matters in his own way, without,letting him
know we saw through his manoeuvres. I t must be allowed, at the
same time, that the acting on both sides was excellent: some pretended
they were weighing the Dûbbah’s arguments very gravely,
while others made a show of not listening to them at all, and
walked away towards their camels as if to drive them away, the old
Shekh following closely, and holding them by the baracan, while he
went through all the manual of pantomimic persuasion. At last he
made his appearance in our servants tent, and told them very
gravely that he had succeeded in appeasing the malcontents, who
had now agreed to drop their demands, and to bring, their camels to
be loaded. He then went through a long string of arguments which
he had been obliged to use to induce them to make these concessions,
but all of which had proved unavailing ; and he promised at
last (he majestically asserted) laying his hand, at the same time on
his breast, to be answerable for the money himself! Nothing, however,
would do, till he fortunately bethought himself of offering in
pledge the new gold-lace crimson burnoose, which His Highness the
Bashaw had presented him with on- his departure from Tripoly ! All
eyes, he observed, were fixed on it, as he drew this precious object
out of the bag; and when he unfolded the eloquent garment, and
displayed all the logic contained in its rich folds, they had not a
word more left'to ‘ say On the subject, but consented immediately
to receive it in pawn, and to abide by whatever he should decide.
I t is scarcely possible for those who have had no dealings, with
Arabs, to imagine'all thé trouble and exertions which they will give
themselves in getting up a performance of this nature ; the whole
piece too is in general so naturally acted, that if the spectators had
no cause for suspicion, they would seldom perceive that the acting
was overdone, which is almost invariably the case in some part or
other of the play. We had been much accustomed to scenes of the
kind, but till the time when the Dûbbah began to interfere, we
never suspected that the parties were not in earnest, although it was
clear that they acted in concert. The good-humour with which an
Arab will bear his disappointment, when nothing after all is gained
by his stratagem, is another very prominent feature in his character.
He never appears to regret the trouble he has taken ; though it may
have cost'him whole days to plan his manoeuvre, and a great deal of
personal exertion to put it in execution. He bears no ill will to the
persons who may have detected him ; but will relate the whole thing
as an excellent plot, immediately after its failure, and» commend the
penetration of those who have baffled his best efforts to deceive
them.
I t was not worth our while to undeceive the old Shekh, by letting
him know that we saw through the whole of this manoeuvre, and he
Continued to give himself great credit for the mode in which he
had terminated it ; he really believed that he had greatly ingratiated