route at which we could stop for the night, except his. He therefore wanted us to pitch our tents in his garden. This we declined, but found a square space, marked out by low mud walls, which suited purpose nicely. The tent was no sooner up, with the open door looking across the desert, towards the blue mountains, than a little boy, about twelve, attended by a servant, came to see us. This, we were informed, was the sheykh's nephew; indeed, we understood that he was the heir to the family estates, and that the sheykh was only administering them for him until he should come of age. We were a little puzzled how to entertain him but the Collector soon unpacked his musical box: and we bethought us of a certain little pot of cherry jam which had been regularly produced for luncheon every day, and as regularly put back untouched. Our young Arab looked supremely happy, but perfectly quiet and dignified, as he sat on one of our camp stools at the shady side of the tent, the musical box tinkling and trickling on the table, and a tin plate of cherry jam in his hand. He took his leave at last: walking solemnly round to us, one after the other, and kissing our hands. Once more we composed ourselves to rest on our beds. The Collector sorted over the scarabs and coins he had bought in the last few days, the Antiquary lay with his eyes closed, discoursing vaguely on transliteration and the names of Dendera; the Scot calculated the sheykh's probable income, and endeavoured to guess at the Arab laws which control the succession of property. It was very pleasant to have no sights to see: and, in fact, to find that our principal duty was to get as much rest as we could in the only idle afternoon we were likely to have for a long time to come. It was very pleasant, too, though it seems harsh to say so, to be, for once, out of reach of the sights and sounds which had beset our path in the morning. Marashteh was but a little place. The land was poor. There was no sugar cane. The level was higher than about How, and the inundation had done little harm. Then, too, the glorious dry air of the desert came fresh to us, and the Scot, who had never breathed it before, immediately began to feel, so he said, as if his foot was once more on his native heath. It was certainly most invigorating; and as the sun began to go down we agreed to walk across the sandy plain towards the mountains. We soon passed under the telegraph wires which cut up the view from the tents, and then turning west walked towards the cloudless sunset, to where a few sont trees, some little grave mounds, and a ruined house, showed that a village and some cultivation had once existed. A deep well with a now dismantled wheel accounted for the traces of cultivation. No doubt the whole hamlet had been deserted not long ago; and it was but too easy to guess the reason. Villages where land is difficult to water, or X where the desert comes very near, cannot be kept going under the present pressure from the superior powers; but this, according to English newspapers, is to be called developing the resources of the country. In the sont trees a magnificent peregrine falcon and her mate, a slighter and smaller bird, were flying about, and looked on us as strange intruders indeed, where no one had come perhaps since the village was deserted. When we got back Hassan's face was in a glow of pride and satisfaction. The sheykh had sent in bread for the boys, and had then called himself. Finding we were out, he left word that he hoped we would allow him to send us a dinner, and that he intended to come and see us again. Even as Hassan spoke the dishes began to appear, and we had just time to send word that we hoped the sheykh would join us at dinner, when he appeared with several attendants,a grave elderly man with a large hooked nose and a melancholy expression. He was accompanied by his nephew, and both took their seats at our little table, with a quiet politeness such as one seldom sees even in good society in Europe. The Collector, who loved the Arabs, was charmed. "Think," he exclaimed, "of the grimaces and shrugs a Frenchman would go through on such an occasion. Yet the French are called polite. Give me Arab politeness. No fuss," &c., &c. The first course consisted of our own soup, with which the sheykh was greatly pleased. Then followed the dishes he had sent in, which were excellent and many, but as I did not write the menu down at the time, I am unable to remember anything but a kind of pickled radish, which both the Englishman and the Scot liked greatly, but which the Antiquary could not manage to eat. They were surprised that the boy was allowed to sit down with his uncle. True, he went round and kissed his hand before he would sit down at the table, and probably asked his leave beforehand : but it is one of the prettiest features of Arab manners that sons never sit in their father's presence. On a subsequent occasion, when a young gentleman came to see us, and sat smoking for some time till his father arrived, he immediately rose and remained standing, and could not be prevailed on to finish his cigar, till he had gone formally and kissed his father's hand while he asked leave. When dinner was over we were amused at the violent hiccoughs and eructations which the little boy made. He had eaten very little, being evidently shy, and unaccustomed to the use of knives and forks, but it seemed that these noises were intended to make us believe he had eaten so much that he could hardly keep it down. Here, I think, the Collector would have preferred even French politeness. |