He heard and saw all this in a score of seconds, as the maherry hurried him forward into their midst. The encampment was close to the bottom of the hill round which the camel had carried him. He had at length made up his mind to dismount _coute qui coute_; but there was no time. Before he could make a movement to fling himself from the shoulders of the animal, he saw that he was discovered. A cry coming from the tents admonished him of this fact. It was too late to attempt a retreat, and, in a state of desponding stupor, he stuck to the saddle. Not much longer. The camel, with a snorting scream, responding to the call of its fellows, rushed on into the encampment, right into the very circle of the dancers; and there, amidst the shouts of men, the screeches of women, the yelling of children, the neighing of horses, the bleating of sheep and goats, and the barking of a score or two of cur dogs, the animal stopped, with such abrupt suddenness that its rider, after performing a somersault through the air, came down on all-fours in front of its projecting snout! In such fashion was Sailor Bill introduced to the Arab encampment. CHAPTER TWENTY. A SERIO-COMICAL RECEPTION. It need scarce be said that the advent of the stranger produced some surprise among the Terpsichorean crowd, into the midst of which he had been so unceremoniously projected. And yet this surprise was not such as might have been expected. One might suppose that an English man-o'-war's-man, in pilot-cloth pea-jacket, glazed hat, and wide duck trousers, would have been a singular sight to the eyes of the dark-skinned individuals who now encircled him; dressed, as all of them were, in gay-coloured floating shawl-robes, slippered or sandalled feet, and with fez caps or turbans on their heads. Not a bit of a singular sight; neither the colour of his skin, nor his sailor-costume, had caused surprise to those who surrounded him. Both were matters with which they were well acquainted, alas! too well. The astonishment they had exhibited arose simply from the _sans facon_ manner of his coming amongst them; and on the instant after it disappeared, giving place to a feeling of a different kind. Succeeding to the shouts of surprise, arose a simultaneous peal of laughter from men, women, and children; in which even the animals seemed to join, more especially the maherry, who stood with its uncouth head craned over its dismounted rider, and looking uncontrollably comic. In the midst of this universal exclamation the sailor rose to his feet. He might have been disconcerted by the reception, had his senses been clear enough to comprehend what was passing. But they were not. The effects of that fearful somersault had confused him; and he had only risen to an erect attitude under a vague instinct or desire to escape from that company.