102 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE 



as well as to ourselves. They seemed as merry as 

 possible at the prospect of being sold and of soon 

 finding, each of them, a master and a home. 



A journey so far as Khartum was then thought 

 something of a feat, even in Syria, and Ali, as I am 

 convinced, greatly fibbed about my social importance. 

 It must have been on that account that the Governor 

 of the Quarantine, or whatever his title may have 

 been, relaxed his restrictions on my behalf so greatly as 

 to call down severe newspaper criticism on his acts of 

 favouritism. In fact, we made a champagne picnic 

 together in two boats, under the sole condition of the 

 party in the one not touching any one in the other. 

 For a similar reason, as I suppose, I was invited and 

 entertained in a most stately way at the palace of a 

 Druse chief, situated among the hills. 



I bought travelling gear at Beyrout, and went 

 inland to buy a pair of horses for myself and Ali, 

 because it was not easy to hire good riding-horses, 

 though baggage-horses could always be had. I set 

 myself up in style, with tent and extra walls, a canteen, 

 and handsome coffee and pipe apparatus. On arrival 

 at the place where the horses were to be bought, I 

 camped on ground intersected with ditches of stagnant 

 water a most insanitary-looking place. I caught 

 there a sharp intermittent fever which plagued me 

 for years, and, though often kept in abeyance for a 

 long time together, has occasionally recurred most 

 unexpectedly. It is only a few weeks now since I 

 had an attack of it. I returned with my horses to 

 Beyrout, but was too unwell to make much use of 

 them. 



After some wanderings, I settled in Damascus, 



