PTOLEMETA TO MERGE. 
391 
spent,) the camel-drivers refused to go on, alleging that Abou-Bukra 
had hired them only to Merge. Abou-Bukra himself was not present 
at the time, having ridden towards the other end of the valley where 
the tents of Bey Halil, who had been some days at Merge, were 
pitched near the tomb of a celebrated Marabut. As we had no 
means of disproving the compact alleged, and the camel-drivers per- 
sisted in their refusal to proceed, we did not think it worth while to 
take any further trouble in endeavouring to overcome their scruples; 
we therefore ordered the tents to be pitched and rode on to Bey 
Hahl, fully expecting that he would furnish us with other camels to 
enable us to continue our journey on the following morning. The 
Bey received us as usual with the greatest civility, and promised the 
camels at an early hour the next day, by which time, he added, 
Shekh Hadood would most probably arrive and take the charge of 
escorting us to Cyrene. The next day, however, no camels arrived, 
and we again rode down to the tents of Bey Halil to learn the reason 
of this unseasonable delay. We found the Bey’s tent filled with 
Bedouin Arab Shekhs, who appeared to be in grand consultation, 
and Halil had either been, or pretended to have been, persuading 
them to furnish us with camels for the journey. The result of the 
conclave was not, however, by any means favourable, for none of the 
worthy Shekhs present would let us have their camels for less than 
eighty dollars ; a demand so extremely exorbitant that we did not 
hesitate a moment in declining it, and offered them at the same time 
thirty, expecting that they would relax, as is usually the case with 
them, when they found that we persisted in our refusal. 
