The Lands of the Saracen: Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and SpainTaylor, Bayard
History
The Lands of the Saracen: Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain
Taylor, Bayard
Middle East -- Description and travel; Spain -- Description and travel
Towards evening, as Mr. H. and myself, with François, were riding in
advance of the baggage mules, the former with his gun in his hand, I with
a pair of pistols thrust through the folds of my shawl, and François with
his long Turkish sabre, we came suddenly upon a lonely Englishman, whose
companions were somewhere in the rear. He appeared to be struck with
terror on seeing us making towards him, and, turning his horse's head,
made an attempt to fly. The animal, however, was restive, and, after a few
plunges, refused to move. The traveller gave himself up for lost; his arms
dropped by his side; he stared wildly at us, with pale face and eyes
opened wide with a look of helpless fright. Restraining with difficulty a
shout of laughter, I said to him: "Did you leave Jaffa to-day?" but so
completely was his ear the fool of his imagination, that he thought I was
speaking Arabic, and made a faint attempt to get out the only word or two
of that language which he knew. I then repeated, with as much distinctness
as I could command: "Did--you--leave--Jaffa--to-day?" He stammered
mechanically, through his chattering teeth, "Y-y-yes!" and we immediately
dashed off at a gallop through the bushes. When we last saw him, he was
standing as we left him, apparently not yet recovered from the shock.
At the little village of El Haram, where we spent the night, I visited the
tomb of Sultan Ali ebn-Aleym, who is now revered as a saint. It is
enclosed in a mosque, crowning the top of a hill. I was admitted into the
court-yard without hesitation, though, from the porter styling me
"Effendi," he probably took me for a Turk. At the entrance to the inner
court, I took off my slippers and walked to the tomb of the Sultan--a
square heap of white marble, in a small marble enclosure. In one of the
niches in the wall, near the tomb, there is a very old iron box, with a
slit in the top. The porter informed me that it contained a charm,
belonging to Sultan Ali, which was of great use in producing rain in times
of drouth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
The Lands of the Saracen: Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain — John Shaqi
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