Page 199 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

which he met there. When the poor old man’s conversation
brought back the joys which lie had experienced during that
sojourn, his countenance lit up, and his eyes sparkled with delight
as, putting the first three fingers of his right hand to his mouth,
blowing a kiss from them, lie exclaimed: “dear England, dear
England! I am happy for England!” ’
Having sold his ship, he went back to Smyrna to settle down
with his family but he found that they had all ‘fallen victims of
the plague’. Owing to his long absence his house and property
had been confiscated by the Government, and he was unable to
obtain any redress. Since then lie spent his time travelling from
place to place, living on his pension. He had come to Basra with
the fleet of the Governor, who had eventually succeeded in
clearing the river passage and driving back the hostile Arabs. The
old man stayed to dinner, ‘drinking wine, contrary to the Mo­
hammedan rule’ which he probably learned to do in ‘dear
England’. He returned, as lie had come, carried on the back of
his servant. Loch docs not mention his name.
While Loch was at the factory a theft occurred. Some trinkets
were taken from somebody staying there by one of the servants.
Taylor sent for a ‘conjuror’ to recover the stolen property. ‘All
the domestics were assembled round the necromancer, who sat
on the ground repeating prayers and verses and making grimaces.’
He then produced a piece of spring wire, shaped like a swan’s
neck, with a little bell loosely attached to the end of it. He
fastened the wire on to each of the servants, one by one, so that
the bell hung over the person’s heart, not touching his body.
The more the person’s heart beat the more the wire vibrated,
causing the bell to tinkle. While he did this, he whispered into
the ears of the servants. Each one was then ordered to go outside
and collect a handful of dust which he was told to place in a
corner of the room. On the completion of this performance,
sure enough, the stolen trinkets were found in the heap of dust.
During this visit, Loch explored most of Basra; walking alone
through the crowded streets was impossible, ‘without meeting
with some insult’, so he went on foot, escorted by a retainer from
the factory. This impressive personage, a Turk with a large
moustache, wore a scarlet turban, scarlet coat and trousers,
trimmed with gold, a bright green, gold embroidered waistcoat,
a white sash and yellow boots. He carried a pair of handsome
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