Now you can imagine yourself going to sleep in the state-room of this
great steamer, and away we go. The anchor comes up clank, clank, as the
great chain cable is wound up by the donkey engine, and now we move off
silently and smoothly. In about five hours we have made the fifty miles,
and down goes the anchor again in Tripoli harbor. At sunrise the Tripoli
boatmen come around the steamer. We are two miles off from the shore and
a rough north wind is blowing. Let us hurry up and get ashore before the
wind increases to a gale, as these North winds are very fierce on the
Syrian coast. Here comes Mustafa, an old boatman, and begs us to take
his feluca. We look over the side of the steamer and see that his boat
is large and clean and agree to take it for twelve piastres or fifty
cents for all of us and our baggage. Then the other boatmen rush up and
scream and curse and try to get us to take their boats, but we say
nothing and push through them and climb down the steps to the boat. The
white caps are rolling and the boat dances finely. Mustafa puts up a
large three-cornered sail, Ali sits at the rudder, and with a stroke or
two of the oars we turn around into the wind and away we dash towards
the shore. The Meena (port) is before us, that white row of houses on
the point; and back among the gardens is the city of Tripoli. In less
than half an hour we reach the shore, but the surf is so high that we
cannot go near the pier, so they make for the sand beach, and before we
reach it, the boat strikes on a little bar and we stop. Out jump the
boatmen, and porters come running half naked from the shore and each
shouts to us to ride ashore on his shoulders. They can carry you and
Harry with ease, but I am always careful how I sit on the shoulders of
these rough fellows. There is Ibrahim on the shore with our animals, and
two mules for the baggage. We shall take beds and bedsteads and cooking
apparatus and provisions and a tent. Ibrahim has bought bread and
potatoes and rice and semin (Arab butter) and smead (farina) and
candles, and a little sugar and salt, and other necessaries. We will
accept Aunt Annie's invitation to breakfast, and then everything will be
ready for a start.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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