Page 223 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

12 NEGLECTED ARABIA
that he have curtailed their strength and decreased their possessions,
which were considered too great lor the peace of the country ahum, ami
have conferred some of the powers upon the Uni Ain man, making him
a sheikh. But he is in constant arrears with his taxes and seems to
delight m showing a discourteous independence. It was necessary for
us to ask him for the loan of his mashhoot, to which lie consented in
a very noncommittal way.
Marly the next morning the mashhoot* was at the launch, furnished
with mattresses and pillows, and three men. They were the pilot, the
captain and the '‘main-push,” literally. The pilot was wearing a
costume which he evidently enjoyed and to prove it even summer's heat
and a trip through the marshes could not induce him to part with it.
The costume consisted of a heavy military coat, resplendent with braid
and brass buttons and a cocked hat, both of them after the style of the
days of Napoleon. Looking at his back one could easily imagine that
some one had stepped out from a picture in history's pages. After some ten
minutes' going, we left the branch we were on and entered one of hi
branches, a respectable small stream at first which gradually terminated
in a ditch just wide enough to allow the mashhoof to pass through,
which grazed the banks, stirring up the frogs which jumped into the
mashhoof, getting mixed up with the pillows and ourselves. We
passed several settlements and through acres of barley and rice fields.
Reapers with their sickles, still following ancient methods in their work,
were harvesting the barley while others were tramping in the newly
sown rice, which, in this country, is not transplanted. After poling,
pulling and pushing for nearly an hour the ditch spread out into a very
large marsh which was covered, in part, with a very small water lily(
very fragrant, and in part with maish reeds. The marsh is not very
deep anywhere but only those born and raised in its neighborhood can
find their way through it. The reeds stand nearly eight feet above
water, there are numberless tracks and the whole expanse gives the
uninitiated a weird, lost feeling. But the men knew what they were
about and piloted us through this watery waste with unerring direct­
ness. Plant life in this marsh and along the streams is abundant,
including our white "pasture” clover which grows luxuriantly along
the streams. The water buffalo was in his element wading and bathing
in this marsh and grazing on the grasses and plants. There were birds
peculiar to these parts such as the Goliath heron, water heron, wild
duck and a bird the Arabs call burhaan. The men assured us that ?
there were a variety of snakes in the water and of course the whole of
it is a frog’s paradise. As we proceeded, I gathered specimens of
various plants and the men seemed delighted to bring them to me,
when they saw something new. In the course of this business one of
the men showed an unexpected trait of humor which we all enjoyed.
B He had noticed my consternation when the frogs had hupped ^
familiarly into the mashhoof and later as he was bringing me a hit of
green he was trying to conceal a frog with the specimen he was pre­ i
senting. Happily I saw in time what he was planning to do so the joke
was on him. He seemed just as pleased that way and told others how
intelligent I was!

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