Naturally conversing about the locusts, he informed his companions that the year before he had been upon a part of the Saaran coast where a cloud of these insects had been driven out to sea by a storm and drowned. They were afterwards washed ashore in heaps; the effluvia from which became so offensive that the fields of barley near the shore could not be harvested, and many hundred acres of the crop were wholly lost to the owners.
Chapter Sixty Seven.
The Arabs at Home.
Soon after encountering the locusts, the kafila came upon a well-beaten road running through a fertile country, where hundreds of acres of barley could be seen growing on both sides.
That evening, for some reason unknown to the slaves, their masters did not halt at the usual hour. They saw many walled villages, where dwelt the proprietors of the barley-fields, but hurried past them without stopping either for water or food, although their slaves were sadly in need of both.
In vain the latter complained of thirst and begged for water. The only reply to their entreaties was a harsh command to move on faster frequently followed by a blow.
Towards midnight, when the hopes and strength of all were nearly exhausted, the kafila arrived at a walled village where a gate was opened to admit them. The old sheik then informed his slaves that they should have plenty of food and drink, and would be allowed to rest for two or three days in the village.
A quantity of water was then thickened with barley meal, and of this diet they were permitted to have as much as they could consume.