164 AFOOT THROUGH THE 



such a familiar bit of colour to him, but he had never 

 been able to introduce it into his work, not being able 

 to copy except from the flat. 



On leaving he pressed me to visit a neighbour who 

 had wonderful brocades from Central Asia, and, on 

 my pleading absolute inability to purchase, he assured 

 me that would not be in the least expected. So I 

 went, and found a royal personage with a vast following, 

 filling most of the warehouse, though room was made for 

 me, and, examining such riches of embroideries, silk 

 draperies, antique brocades, gold cloths, and softest 

 satins from many countries and many lands as I had 

 hardly realised existed nowadays, I thought they must 

 have been raped from some rich fairy store, and the 

 silence of the owner as to their origin strengthened the 

 idea, but I do not know. They may be merely the 

 harvest of many visits to such hovels as I had visited 

 in the morning in my search after carpets, and savage 

 kings and wild tribesmen in Central Asia may own such 

 gorgeous draperies. Anything is possible in the general 

 topsy-turveydom east of Suez, where men write from 

 right to left, and keep their heads covered to be 

 respectful, where they run away when beckoned to, 

 and have to be waved away if desired to approach, 

 where the correct hanging of a portrait is head down- 

 ward, and even the robin wears his red under his tail! 



The light was fast failing as I left that treasure- 

 house of colour and material, and I bade my boatmen 

 paddle fast that I might not be too late on the water 

 without warm wraps. Reluctantly they made ready 

 to start; they had been listening to a quarrel 

 between two women each stalwart, abusive, truculent 

 and wished to watch the conclusion. However, the 

 principals themselves considered that nightfall was too 



