40 8 Notes on Sport and Travel iv 



moment they saw it they gave the wild cry of the 

 camel, and throwing themselves down before him, 

 they began biting large mouthfuls from the leaf, 

 making the groaning and gurgling sounds of the 

 brute they were imitating. The old sheik held it 

 quietly out, every now and then removing the 

 sharp spines from their lips and faces, and sticking 

 them composedly into the leaf again, like pins into a 

 pincushion. This ' doing camel ' was evidently 

 highly popular, and the shrill wild ululu came down 

 with prolonged vigour from the white-shrouded 

 figures in the upper gallery. 



After this the interest in the performance tailed 

 off a little. One man tried to do wonders with a 

 piece of red-hot iron, but was evidently afraid of 

 burning his fingers ; he however held it between his 

 teeth, and put it on his tongue, and made himself 

 more familiar with it than I should have liked to have 

 done ; but to any one who has seen the marvels in 

 the way of meddling with hot and molten metals 

 that English workmen indulge in for a pot of beer, 

 the business was not very startling. 



Then there was a pause, and a prolonged search, 

 a lifting up of carpets, a shaking of drawers, and a 

 peeping into burnooses. On asking the dragoman, 

 we were informed that somebody had sat upon the 

 box of scorpions and that they had escaped. On 

 this hint we rose and fled, most happy to exchange 

 the heavy incense-laden air of that intolerable den 

 for the fresh sea-breeze and calm, cool quiet of the 



