must worm your way by timidity
and subservience; in fact, by becoming an animal too contemptible for
man to let or injure. But to pass through the Holy Land you must either
be a born believer, or have become one; in the former case you may
demean yourself as you please, in the latter a path is ready prepared
for you. My spirit could not bend to own myself a Burma, a renegade--to
be pointed at and shunned and catechized, an object of suspicion to the
many and of contempt to all. Moreover, it would have obstructed the aim
of my wanderings. The convert is always watched with Argus eyes, and men
do not willingly give information to a "new Moslem," especially a Frank:
they suspect his conversion to be a feigned or a forced one, look upon
him as a spy, and let him see as little of life as possible. Firmly as
was my heart set upon traveling in Arabia, by Heaven! I would have given
up the dear project rather than purchase a doubtful and partial success
at such a price. Consequently I had no choice but to appear as a born
believer, and part of my birthright in that respectable character was
toil and trouble in obtaining a tezkirah.

Then I had to provide myself with certain necessaries for the way. These
were not numerous. The silver-mounted dressing-case is here supplied by
a rag containing a miswak, a bit of soap, and a comb--wooden, for bone
and tortoise-shell are not, religiously speaking, correct. Equally
simple was my wardrobe: a change or two of clothing. The only article of
canteen description was a zemzemiyah, a goatskin water-bag, which
communicates to its contents, especially when new, a ferruginous aspect
and a wholesome though hardly an attractive flavor of tanno-gelatine.
This was a necessary; to drink out of a tumbler, possibly fresh from
pig-eating lips, would have entailed a certain loss of reputation.
For bedding and furniture I had a coarse Persian rug--which, besides
being couch, acts as chair, table, and oratory,--a cotton-stuffed
chintz-covered pillow, a blanket in case of cold, and a sheet, which
does duty for tent and mosquito curtains in nights of heat. As shade is
a convenience not always procurable, another necessary was a huge cotton
umbrella of Eastern make, brightly yellow, suggesting the idea of an
overgrown marigold. I had also a substantial housewife, the gift of a
kind friend: it was a roll of canvas, carefully soiled, and garnished
with needles and thread, cobblers' wax, buttons, and other such