Page 440 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

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XXI.J SOUTHERN ARABIA. 413 % S.
1
ports, and during our stay the former was two I
l
hundred per cent, cheaper than at Mokha.
In exchange for these, they receive grain and I
dates. Considering the loose character of the 1
Arabs in this part, it was to me a subject of

surprise that property should be exposed in 1
the public way it is; but the present Sheikh is
inexorable in his punishment of robbers. An
instance of his vengeance on an Arab, who was
it
caught pilfering coffee from one of the bales, S-
m
was related to me. He directed the offender’s m
i
hand to be cut off, and to be inserted in the
space he had cleared ; the aperture was then
closed, and the bale sent on to its destination.
When such instances occur, which are,
i
however, rare, the culprit is usually detected
by his footsteps, which are easily traced on
the sand around. I

Sultan Ahmed, the principal Sheikh of the £
Futhalis, usually resides here. He is a per­ £
I
fect Bedowin in his mode of living, character, I
and address; and the able manner in which
he has conducted some late operations against
the dominions of the Sultan of Aden has
gained him, as a leader, great renown on the
coast.