At Wochnee we found no one to welcome us. The cameleers, having
unladen their camels, were going to depart, when a servant of one
of the officers sent to receive us by his Majesty arrived. He brought
us compliments from his master, who could not join us for a few
days, as he was collecting bearers; he told us that we must proceed
another stage by the camels, as no bearers could be obtained in the
district of Wochnee. A serious altercation then took place between
the governor of Wochnee and the cameleers. They declined to proceed
any further, and after a short consultation between themselves,
each man seized his camel and walked away. But the governor and the
officer's servant had also been consulting together: seeing the
cameleers departing, they went to the village, and, as it happened
to be market-day, soon collected a good number of soldiers and
peasants. As the cameleers were passing close to the village, on
a given signal, the whole of the camels were seized. I regret to
say, for the honour of the Arabs and Takruries, that, though well
armed, they did not show fight, but on the contrary, ran away in
every direction. Unwilling to lose their precious beasts of burden,
the owners returned by twos and threes. More consultations followed:
at last, on the promise of an extra dollar for each, and a cow for
all, peace and harmony were satisfactorily restored.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137