CHAPTER VIII.
Leave Nehīm — Arrive at Boosaida — Shekh Hamed Shakshak — Return of Shekh Mahommed — Revival of the Report above mentioned — Motive for renewing it — Discharge our Mesurata Camel-drivers — Treaty with the Dúbbah for others — Interested Conduct of Shekh Mahommed — Commencement of another Salt-Lake at Sharfa — Easy mode of shifting Quarters practised by the Arabs — Their manner of travelling — Termination of the Lake — Arrive at Shegga — Remains of Forts observed there — Other Remains in its Neighbourhood — Abundant Pasturage at Shegga — Fortress of Bengerwàd — Peculiarities of its Position — Bengerwàd considered as the Castle of Euphrantas — Objections to this Supposition — Reasons in favour of it — Leave Wady Shegga — Cross a Tract of Red Sand — Spacious Bay at Ras Howeijah — Good Anchorage probably found there — Remains of an ancient Town near Ras Howeijah considered as those of Charax — Trade of Charax alluded to, as mentioned by Strabo — Further Reasons for placing the Tower of Euphrantas at Bengerwàd — Allusion to the Barter of Silphium at Charax — Emendation of Strabo’s Text proposed by Signor Della Cella — Arrive at Hudīa — Alleged Origin of this Name as applied to the Place in question — Hudīa lately infested by a formidable Band of Robbers — Precautions of our Arab Escort to prevent any Attack — Rigorous Measures of Mahommed Bey apparently very necessary — Remarkable Hill of Gypsum at Hudīa — Celebration of Christmas-day by our Party at Hudīa — Fortress at Mahirīga — Arrival of a Party of Pilgrims from the Westward — Disturbance at Linoof — Apparent Causes of it — Ill-behaviour of the Dúbbah — His sudden change of Conduct, and artful Manœuvres — Remarks on Arab Character — Satisfactory Termination of the Disturbance — Arrival at Mukhtàr, the Boundary of the Districts of Syrt and Barka.
On quitting Nehīm we proceeded along the edge of a marsh which commences there, extending itself for several miles parallel with the beach, from which it is separated by sand-hills, and in the evening arrived at Boosaida. The whole of this tract (from Nehīm to Boosaida) is very flat and uninteresting, and we could perceive no remains there of any kind. At Boosaida may be observed the ground-plans of small walls, apparently those of dwelling-houses, between where our tents the spot were pitched and the sea; the remains are however so few and inconsiderable, and so much mixed with stones belonging to the soil, as to be wholly without any interest.
The country at Boosaida is somewhat hilly, and overrun with grass and brushwood, a small part only being planted with barley. The few Bedouins who inhabit it appear to have no other occupation than that of tending their camels, sheep, and goats; and the women are chiefly occupied in curing skins for containing water and manteca, which is done by means of certain roots found in great quantities in the neighbourhood. The Shekh, or principal man of the place, was named Hamed Shakshak, who, in order to ensure our being well supplied, for we ought not to suspect so obliging a personage of any less praiseworthy motive, took care to usurp the sole right and privilege of furnishing us himself with whatever we wished to purchase; never forgetting, however, in the excess of his zeal, to put a most unconscionable price upon everything. So careful had this considerate person been in his manœuvres, that we could not get even a draught of milk from the women in other tents, without promising to keep it secret from Hamed Shakshak. As we had no wish to embroil the honest inhabitants with their Shekh, we thought it better to take no notice of this proceeding, especially as the time we had to remain at Boosaida was short, and our demands were not likely to be very great.
It was here that our agreement with the Mesurata camel-drivers finished; and the day after our arrival we were rejoined by our friend the Dúbbah, 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 Mahommed assumed a very mysterious air, and drew a little closer towards us; 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 Kebrīt, 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 Kebrīt, 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 Dúbbah 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, 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 Mahommed 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 Bengazi, 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 he 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 Dúbbah’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 his story of the robbers to deter them from accompanying us any farther; for in the event of our being surprised and overpowered, they would themselves have lost their camels as well as all they had with them. Whether this story, which the Dúbbah had taken care to have generally circulated, really frightened the men of Mesurata, or whether they thought it imprudent to make an enemy of the old Shekh at a distance from their own country, and in a part of his own, did not very clearly appear; but they soon after came to us, and declined proceeding any farther, alleging, at the same time, that Shekh Mahommed had already engaged camels for us from his own people in the neighbourhood, and that we should therefore have no occasion for theirs. We told them that we had as yet made no bargain with the Dúbbah, and that although we might wish to give him an opportunity, as our friend and conductor, of making a fair profit of his camels, we should certainly not accept them if we found that his demands were unreasonable. Finding, however, that the men were really unwilling to go on, under any circumstances, though they would not state precisely the grounds of their objection, we settled our accounts with them, giving each a few piastres in addition to what had been agreed for, as an acknowledgment of their good behaviour, and they shortly after set out on their return to Mesurata. Before their departure, however, we sent for Shekh Mahommed, and told him the number of camels we should have occasion for; stating, at the same time, the sum we intended to pay him for them, to which, after some little parley, he consented. The next morning he made his appearance in our tent, and said that the camels would be brought to us immediately, but that the men whom they belonged to, on estimating the weight of our baggage, had refused to carry it so long a journey, unless we would consent to take twenty-five instead of eighteen camels, (the number we had mentioned to him on the preceding evening,) and which was fully sufficient for the whole of our baggage. To this proposal, however, we gave a very decided negative, and a long parley, ensued in which the Dúbbah went through the whole gamut of Arab vociferation, accompanying each tone with its appropriate gestures, and expressing himself with an energy which almost amounted to frenzy. The whole strength of the Dúbbah’s lungs, with all his powers of gesticulation, were, however, unable to convince us that his proposal was a reasonable one; although it must be confessed, in justice to his logic, that no poissard ever screamed louder, and that the most accomplished Neapolitan buffoon could not have surpassed him in vehemence and variety of gesture.
The result was that we could come to no satisfactory terms; for the Dúbbah was aware that our old camel-drivers were gone, and thought we had no alternative but to comply with his demands: he concluded by declaring, in the name of the Prophet, that we should either have none at all, or else take the whole number of camels which he had proposed, and went out of the tent as he delivered his final resolve, fully satisfied that we should soon call him back and agree to his unreasonable terms.
Had we done so he would soon have found some excuse for increasing the number still further, and we should in all probability not have been able to get away without twice as many camels as we had any occasion for.
We were, however, determined not to submit to this imposition while any means remained of avoiding it; and Shekh Mahommed had no sooner left the tent than we ordered two horses to be saddled immediately, and despatched one of our party, accompanied by the Chaous, to bring back the Mesurata camel-drivers, who we knew could not have been far advanced on their journey. The old Shekh now imagined that we were going to send express to Tripoly to complain of his conduct to the Bashaw; although such an embassy, had we waited for the reply, must have detained us much longer than it would have been advisable to delay the expedition for any point so comparatively trifling. As he had however fallen into this error, and was evidently much disturbed at the idea, we did not of course undeceive him; and when he had most solemnly promised to abide by our decision on the subject in dispute, he begged that we would allow him to recall the two horsemen, who had already made some little progress: no sooner had he obtained our permission to do so than he mounted his mare in all speed, which he had contrived to have saddled in the interval, and riding after the envoys as fast as he could gallop, overtook them as they were nearly out of sight. By this time the day was half gone, and our departure was consequently deferred till the following one, which, as the weather turned out, saved us a good wetting. We left Boosaida on the morning of the 22nd, and passing through Sharfa, stopped for the night at Shedgane, having only made good twelve miles, in consequence of the delays occasioned by the young camels which the Dúbbah had provided for us, which were continually throwing off their loads. The ground was besides so full of holes, made by the Jerboa, that both horses and camels were continually tripping.