Page 245 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

226 COAST OF ARABIA. [CH.

They belong to the Harb tribe, who bear the
character of being subtle and ferocious.
During our stay, after purchasing several
sheep from them, they made a ridiculous de­
mand for money as a port-due for entering
their harbour, which was of course refused.
On this they seized the pilot, who was on
shore; and one of the party, eager to com­

mence a fray, attempted to shoot a man of the
boat’s crew. A message had been brought
off previous to this by one of the pilot’s sons,
intimating that we had no right to make ob­
servations and erect flags on their coast, and
they would immediately drive us off it, but
that our great guns gave us an advantage
over them. “ If,” they added, “ we would
dispense with these, and come on shore, they
should be happy to meet us on equal terms.”
Though we were not displeased at their cha­

racteristic challenge, it was deemed necessary
to watch their motions, and this act of vio­
lence did not pass unobserved. A gun was
immediately got in readiness, and a shot or
two were fired over them, which sent the
whole party scampering off. It was amusing
to observe other groups who, seeing us visit