482 



SAID BIN SALIM. 



She leant over me, casting a glance of love, 

 But from Meccah I sped, saving, " "Farewell, sweet ! " ' 

 (Three Kafir clicks, diminuendo, signifying ' No go.') 



The reader will ask what induced me to take 

 a guide apparently so little fit for rough and 

 ready work ? In the first place, the presence 

 of Said bin Salim el Lamki, el Hinawi, was a 

 pledge of oar utter 6 respectability,' and as a 

 court spy, he could report that we were not 

 malignants. Moreover, he was well known upon 

 the coast, and he had a knowledge-box filled 

 with local details, which he imparted without 

 churlishness. During the first trip I found 

 him full of excellent gifts, courteous, thoroughly 

 good-tempered, and apparently truthful, honest, 

 and honourable— a bright exception to the rule 

 of his unconscientious race. When I offered 

 him the task he replied, s Verily, whoso bencfit- 

 eth the beneficent becometh his lord; but the 

 vile, when well treated, will turn and rend 

 thee.' I almost hoped that he would not dis- 

 appoint me in the end; but the delays, the 

 dangers, and the hardships of the second journey 

 proved too much for Said bin Salim. The thin 

 outer varnish disappeared from the man, and the 

 material below was not inviting. The Maskat 

 Arab, especially the half-caste, easily becomes 



