NO WHISTLING ALLOWED THERE. 439 



reared their airy turrets to amuse me in my 

 solitude. 



To aid reminiscences of other days, not from any 

 want of thought, I began to whistle a favourite air, 

 but being overheard by Moosa, he sat upon his 

 mat, and tried, by calling out, " Ahkeem," two or 

 three times, to intimate that it was not exactly 

 proper; but as I still continued, Zaido also 

 awakened, and supposing I did not understand 

 Moosa, put his hand up from where he lay by the 

 side of the hut, and shook me by the foot, saying, 

 " Ahkeem, that is very bad ; all the Jinn in this 

 country will seize the camels, if you whistle in 

 that manner." As he was evidently in earnest, and 

 as I was getting tired, I slipped down from off the 

 boxes, crept into my hut, and was very soon as 

 quiet as they could w T ish me. 



May 19fA. — I w r as awakened some time before 

 sunrise, by the usual loud summons of Ohmed 

 Mahomed, for the Kanlah " to up and saddle," but 

 which, from the pitch and prolonged tone, I knew 

 was intended to mean just the contrary. The very 

 last thing, in fact, that Allee told me the night before 

 was, that we should not start to-day, and w T anted me 

 to bet to the contrary half a dozen small gilt buttons, 

 against a milk basket hung round with shells I 

 had taken a fancy to. The truth was, that the 

 country so abounded with vegetation, not having 

 been exposed for some months to any grazing 

 exhaustion by passing Kafilahs, that one and all 



