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IX. THE CITY OF THE KHALIPHS.

ONE evening, whilst we were preparing for dinner, we heard a great noise of men and dromedaries; we looked out of the dining-room window, and saw Baron Taylor. He had left Alexandria the preceding morning, and, with the rapidity of Arab couriers, had traversed the forty-five leagues which separate that city from Cairo.

M. Taylor had succeeded in his negotiations, and was very anxious to continue his journey: our departure, at his desire, was fixed for the evening of the following day.

On the morning of this great day, we went with our Arabs to the vice-consul of France, M. Dantan, to make our bargain in the presence of a witness. We first fixed the number of men and beasts; we then opened the principal question, namely, how much we should pay both for the journey, which, going and coming, would occupy more than a month.

Disputes are the glory of the Arabs: cunning, steady, insatiable, they baffle your arguments by affecting not to comprehend them, or oppose you by statements which, from ignorance of persons, places, and customs, you are unable to contradict. Fearing to ask too little, they make such extravagant de

mands, that when, with the air of men making a sacrifice, they consent to some reduction, they are still paid double the value of their services. Their constant answer to our chaffering was, that the peninsula of Mount Sinai was divided between three different tribes, and that there was a convention between them, securing travellers under the escort of one tribe from being annoyed by the others: as this was a purchased neutrality, they declared that the sum they asked, great as it appeared, was in reality reasonable, since, after subtracting the portion due to the other two tribes, the remainder would scarcely defray the expenses of drivers and convey-This was manifestly one of those obscure and stubborn arguments to which there is no reply; so we nearly agreed to their demands: the only concession we obtained was, that they should feed themselves during the journey; but we were to supply provender for the dromedaries.

ances.

When the bargain was finished, M. Dantan, who had assisted at it, warned us not to put absolute confidence in the amicable relations between the tribe of Waleb Saide and their brethren of the Desert; 'Still," said he, "it is a brave tribe, and in case of necessity, will assist in your defence." He therefore recommended us not to forget adding weapons to our baggage, and powder and ball to our provisions.

Our Arabs paid great attention to M. Dantan's

speech, and though too distant, they perceived its effect reflected on our countenances, and guessed that it was not to their advantage: their first notion was that we repented of the bargain which we had just concluded, and that we were seeking an excuse to break off: immediately one of them, named Bechara, who spoke, came to us as if he was not sensible of the interruption. He invited us to come and see his dromedaries, thus taking me by my weak side. I followed Bechara, who led me into the court, and stopped in front of his beasts. He begged me to consider that there were dromedaries and dromedaries; that those we had hired were true Haghins, light as gazelles, strong as lions, gentle as lambs; that each of them had his genealogy recorded as regularly as the best-blooded courser of Arabia; finally, he declared that if I followed them in the desert, I could not find their traces on the sand, so rapid was their course, and so light their tread.

This assertion, I must confess, seemed amply confirmed by a simple inspection of the wretched beasts which were the subject of this eulogy; their leanness was absolutely wonderful; their skins, which seemed to have formerly served animals of double their size, hung in folds over a kind of steel carcase, in which all the springs were open to examination. On the other hand, their aspect was mild and gentle, and the iron ring passed through their nos

trils seemed to me an advantageous substitute for the bit and bridle; so that, with the exception of their extraordinary height, I had no reason to complain. Besides, I began to take pity on the future companions of my travels; their vaunted sobriety was written on their meagre forms; but I had doubts of the continued health of such wretched-looking animals. At once all the Arabs replied in chorus, and Mohammed took the same side. Everything that inspired me with fear was with them an additional motive of security; everything, which seemed to me a defect, was exalted by them as a perfection. I saw that I was beaten, and held my tongue; still I could not help thinking that I had never seen dromedaries of such gigantic stature.

Baron Taylor and M. Mayer came to join me; it was necessary to purchase provisions; we put off our market until the evening, and made the Arabs give us a list of the necessary articles. Short as the catalogue was, it forced us to visit almost every bazaar in Cairo, because, as I have said, each bazaar is limited to articles of one class.

I insert a list of our purchases; it will give an idea of the simplicity of nomade life, which reduces the requisites of a traveller to the absolute necessities of life.

Leather bags for water.

Leather bottles to hang at the saddles, so that

a person wanting to drink need not halt the

caravan.

Rice for three persons coming and going: they told us that we could obtain a supply in Sinai, but we thought it better to lay in our stock at Cairo. Flour for bread.

Beans for the dromedaries.

Dates, the fruit most easily preserved on similar journies.

Mich-mich; that is apricot-paste dried in the sun and rolled up like pieces of cloth; I have already said, in my description of the provision-bazaar, that it is sold by the yard; it is easy of transport, and when boiled with water makes excellent marmalade. Tobacco for presents to our escort and the Arabs we might meet on our journey.

Sugar, a gift to the convent on Mount Sinai.

A tent to shelter us against the heat of the sun and coldness of the nights.

Finally, iron vessels to dress our food; earthenware would not resist the dromedary's trot for ten minutes.

This last article brought me back to my fixed idea; among the qualities of his haghins he had forgotten to vaunt their formidable trot, and I thought, although the comparison was not very flattering, that we were destined to play the part of the earthen pot in La Fontaine's fable.