2 Bedouin Ti'ibes of the Euphrates, [ch. xvi. 



The MoUah, it appeared, had been at De}^: at the 

 time of our arrival, had seen ns and known of our 

 wish to visit his chief and, on one occasion, had 

 actually been waiting in the courtyard of the Serai 

 to speak to us, when Huseyn, happening to pass 

 by, had sent him about his business, with the threat 

 of extreme displeasure if he ventured to show him- 

 self there again during our stay. We knew then 

 that our successful visit to Faris w^ould not be a 

 very agreeable piece of news to our old host ; and 

 the Serai, Avithout the Consul to suj)port us there, 

 seemed suddenly changed in our eyes from the 

 harbour of refuge it had been, to something not 

 unlike a prison. We had counted throughout on 

 his presence to set us right with the authorities ; 

 and now he was not there. 



It was necessary however to put a bold face on 

 it ; so, when shortly after our arrival Huseyn 

 appeared, Wilfrid in a cheerful voice appealed to 

 him for congratulations on the success of our enter- 

 prise. We had seen everything and everybody in 

 Mesopotamia ; and everybody and everything had 

 been delightful. Ferhan's sons, Smeyr and Faris, 

 were the most agreeable people in the world, the 

 desert had been a Garden of Eden, the ghazu stories 

 all nonsense, and the country as safe for travellers 

 as any part of the empire, or of Europe itself, for 

 that matter. It was only to be regretted that his 

 Excellency had not been able to make the journey 

 with us, he would have enjoyed it so immensely. 



