CH. XX.] JMohannncd Duk/ii. lOi 



charming, but in the ehil)oratc Turkish fashion 

 rather than as a Bedouin, making us long speeches 

 full of compliments, and j^i'otesting his desire to 

 serve us. We were in some difficulty about a cloak 

 for him, for, when we left Deyr, we did not expect 

 to make acquaintance \vitli any of the great sheykhs 

 but Jedaan, and the only one we had left we were 

 reserving for Beteyen ibn Mershid, sheykh of the 

 Gomussa. Mr. S., however, who knows the Ibn 

 Mershids well, offered to explain matters with them 

 if we would send the cloak we had with us to j\lo- 

 hammed Dukhi, for he was a stranger to us all. It 

 was a handsome cloak of Karyeteyn make, dark 

 blue and white, but without gold embroidery, and 

 we sent it as usual by Hanna ; but, to our surprise, 

 Mohammed Dukhi sent it back again, coming him- 

 self immediately after to our tent to explain that it 

 was quite unnecessary for travellers so far down in 

 the Hamad to send presents to anyone ; that we 

 might want it for others or for ourselves, and a 

 good deal more which came so very d j^^ojws, that 

 we guessed it must have been suggested to him by 

 Hdnna. How this was I do not know, but we 

 have had considerable trouble in persuading our 

 host to keep the gift. He has been sitting with us 

 most of the afternoon, relating tales of the different 

 Europeans he has seen, for the Welled All have 

 their summer quarters near Damascus, and are in 

 constant communication with the town. It is to 

 this, I suppose, that he owes his fine manners. As 



UNIVEP.v^TTY OF CALIFORNIA 

 Q.'. VTA TIARRARA 



