Page 89 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

70 SHEKM TO SINAI. [CH»

small pot and a circular iron for roasting the
berry. The use of this beverage is indeed
almost universal; and a few cups, with a pipe
of tobacco, to which their chiefs as well as
the poorer classes are passionately attached,
will, after the greatest fatigue, induce them to
remain up chatting the greater part of the
night. Yesterday our guides, thus employed,
did not retire until within two hours of day­
light, and we had packed up and left a short
time after sunrise.

The Bedowins were highly amused at the
pranks of the sailors I had with me. Ever
restless, these men could not endure the mo­
notony of camel travelling, and were continu­
ally seeking some expedient to divert it.
Every position was successively tried, and
some few falls were the result. All their mis­
haps or allusions had some reference to nau­
tical affairs. The appellations they bestowed
on the Bedowins, or received from them in
3 return, were a source of constant mirth. Our
3 1
3 venerable-looking Sheikh was not inaptly

= termed Father Abraham. His real name was
=
3 Ibram.
Towards noon we commenced ascending a

s