treading upon our toes, pulling to pieces
everything they could lay their hands on,
and using language that would have alarmed
an old man-of-war's man. One urchin,
scarcely three years old, told me that his
father had a sword at home with which he
would cut my throat from ear to ear, suiting
the action to the word; because I objected to
his perching on my wounded foot. By a few
taunts I made the little fellow almost mad
with rage; opening his enormous round black
eyes to their utmost stretch, he looked at me
and licked his knee, a sign that he would have
my heart's blood, and then caught up one of
my loaded pistols—fortunately it was upon
half-cock—and clapped it to his neighbour's
head. Then a serious, majestic boy, about
six years years old, with an inkstand in his
belt, in token of his literary destination,
seized my pipe, and began to smoke it with
huge puffs. I ventured laughingly to
compare his person to the pipe-stick, when he
threw it upon the ground in furious anger.
These boys are spoiled, scolded, and never
whipped. They were, however, manly boys.
They punched one another like little Anglo-
Saxons; and, out of the house, fought with
sticks and stones. Before deigning to look at
anything else, they examined our weapons; as
if eighteen years, instead of five, had been the
general age."

All this time the patience of our friend
Abdullah was nearly exhausted; and at
length, to the horror of the boy Mohammed,
he broke through all the rules of Arab
politeness, by saying plainly that he was
hungry, thirsty, sleepy, and wanted to be
alone. The good-natured shaykh, who was
preparing to go out to pray at his father's
grave, immediately brought breakfast, lighted
a pipe, spread a bed, darkened the room,
turned out the children, and left him to
himself.

The following is a sketch of the daily life
at El-Medinah: "At dawn we rose, washed,
prayed, and broke our fast upon a crust of stale
bread before smoking a pipe and drinking a
cup of coffee. Then it was time to dress,
to mount and visit one of the harems—holy
places outside the city. Returning before the
sun became intolerable, we sat together, with
conversation, pipes, coffee, and cold water
perfumed with mastich smoke, wiled away the
time until, at eleven in the forenoon, the meal
called El-Ghada was served in a large copper
tray sent from the upper apartments.
Ejaculating Bismillah! we all sat round it, and
dipped equal hands in the dishes set before
us—unleavened bread, different kinds of
meat and vegetable stews; at the end of the
first course plain boiled rice, eaten with
spoons, then fruits, fresh dates, grapes and
pomegranates. After dinner, on pretext of a
siesta, or the being a sawdawi, or person of
melancholy temperament, I used to have a
rug spread in a dark passage, and lie reading,
writing notes slily, smoking, and dozing
there the worst part of the day. Then came
the hour of receiving and paying visits.
The evening prayers ensued, either at home
or in the harem; then Asha, or supper—a
substantial meal like the dinner, but more
plentiful. In the evening occasionally we
sallied out for adventures, dressed in common
clothes, shouldered nebbut, and went to the
café. Usually we sat upon mattresses spread
before the shaykh's door, receiving evening
visits, chatting, telling stories, making merry
until bed-time."

The account of the sacred mosques, tombs,
and prayer-places of El-Medinah we omit;
noting only that our traveller, rigorously exact
in all ceremonies, inscribed in pencil on the
wall of the dome of the Prophet's Broken
Teeth, in Arabic characters:—

Abdullah, the servant of Allah, (A. H. 1269).

At length came the time for leaving in
great haste with the Damascus caravan.
The preparations were serious for passing
a desert where there would be no water
for three days. The dervish did not
disdain to patch his water-skins damaged by
the rats. The Indian Nur set about
obtaining provisions for fourteen days, wheat
flour, rice, turmeric, onions, dates,
unleavened bread, cheese, limes, tobacco, sugar,
tea, and coffee. A bargain was next struck
with Masud of the Rahlah, a sub-family of
the Hamidah family of Beni Hart; a short,
thin, well-built old man, with regular
features, a white beard, and a cool eye, who
came with a dignified demeanour, pressed
the palm of his right hand on the pilgrim's,
declined a pipe, took coffee, and after much
discussion agreed to find two camels with
water, and accompany to Arafat and back,
in consideration of twenty dollars, half in
advance, and food for the Bedouin and his
son, Hamid. The host then addressed our
pilgrim, in flowery praises of the old Bedouin,
after exclaiming—

"Thou wilt treat these friends well, O
Masud the Harbi!"

Whereon the old man answered, with grave
dignity, designating the pilgrim by his most
prominent feature.

"Even as Abu Shawarib (the Father of
Moustachios), behaveth to us, so will we
behave to him."

When the Bedouins left. Shaykh Hammid
strongly recommended his friend Abdullah to
give them plenty to eat, and never to allow
twenty-four hours to pass, without dipping a
hand in the same dish with them! At length,
preparations were concluded, debts paid,
presents made, our dervish forgave Hammid the
five pounds lent at Suez, in consideration of
his kindness. The prayers of departure
were repeated under the shaykh's direction,
and very beautiful it is, and the traveller lay
down about two in the morning to sleep, until
the gun anounced that the caravan was under
way. And so he departed safely, after he had