Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846Richardson, James
History
Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846
Richardson, James
Sahara -- Description and travel
Nothing new with Rais. Speaking of the Arabs, he says, "You know Arabs to
be very devils. There are two ways to consider Arabs, but whichever way
they are robbers and assassins. When they are famished, they plunder in
order to eat; when their bellies are full, they plunder because they kick
and are insolent. Now, we (Turks) keep them upon low diet in The
Mountains; they have little, and always a little food. This is the
Sultan's _tareek_ (government) to manage them. Their spirits are kept
down and broken, and they are submissive." He then told me he had held a
Divan to obtain the extra contribution of 3,200 mahboubs, for the Pasha;
but the people protested they could not pay such an amount. I wrote a
letter to Colonel Warrington, stating this circumstance, and asked him if
he could assist the people in any way. I thought it a bare possibility
that the hand of foreign diplomacy might be stretched out to save this
city, which had flourished in the pursuits of its own peaceful commerce
for more than a thousand years. . . . To mitigate the apparent harshness
of his demand, the Rais observed, that before the Sultan occupied
Ghadames, the country between this and Tripoli was full of banditti. "The
Arabs of The Mountains," he added, "were all banditti, those amongst whom
you resided eight days. The Touaricks were not so bad, they generally
protected Ghadamsee merchants. Now since the Sultan, there are only the
Shânbah and the Sebâah, therefore the Ghadamseeah must pay." So, _Audi
alteram partem_.
_26th._--To-day, resident thirty days in Ghadames which time I have
certainly not lost. Written a good deal of MS., such as it is, and
several letters; besides, applied myself to reading and writing Arabic.
Likewise distributed medicines to a considerable number of invalids. Wish
to pass the next month as profitably as the month gone. My expenses of
living, including a guard to sleep in the house at night, and Said, are
only at the rate of eighteen-pence per day; this, however, excludes tea,
coffee, and sugar. Besides, Sheikh Makouran refuses to take anything for
house-rent, saying, "It would be against the will of God to receive money
from you, who are our sure friend, and our guest of hospitality." Few
patients, in comparison with the past. As the winter approaches, the
cases of ophthalmia are less. In the precipitation of leaving Tripoli,
brought little ink with me, and most of that I gave away; so am obliged
to go about the town to beg a little. The custom is, when one person
wants ink, he begs it of another. Went to Ben Weleed, who procured me a
supply.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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