ld
woman and decrepit, fit only to carry wood to market." This would bring
a torrent of angry words, but when they met again all was forgotten and
the flirtations of the day before were repeated.

24. The Pilgrim Ship, 6th July 1853.

Burton and his party now embarked on the sambuk which was to take them
to Yambu, the port of Medina. As ninety-seven pilgrims were crowded on
a vessel constructed to carry only sixty, most extraordinary scenes
occurred. Thanks to the exertions of Sa'ad the Demon, Burton and his
friends secured places on the poop, the most eligible part of the
vessel. They would not be very comfortable anywhere, Sa'ad explained,
but "Allah makes all things easy." Sa'ad himself, who was blessed with
a doggedness that always succeeds, managed to get his passage free by
declaring himself an able seaman. Disturbances soon commenced. The chief
offenders were some Maghrabis, "fine looking animals from the deserts
about Tripoli," the leader of whom, one Maula Ali, "a burly savage,"
struck Burton as ridiculously like his old Richmond schoolmaster, the
Rev. Charles Delafosse. These gentry tried to force their way on to the
poop, but Sa'ad distributed among his party a number of ash staves six
feet long, and thick as a man's wrist. "He shouted to us," says Burton,
"'Defend yourself if you don't wish to be the meat of the Maghrabis!'
and to the enemy 'Dogs and sons of dogs! now shall you see what the
children of the Arab are.' 'I am Omar of Daghistan!' 'I am Abdullah
the son of Joseph!' 'I am Sa'ad the Demon! [117]' we exclaimed." And,
Burton, with his turbulent blood well stirred, found himself in the
seventh heaven. "To do our enemies justice," he continues, "they showed
no sign of flinching; they swarmed towards the poop like angry hornets,
and encouraged each other with cries of 'Allaho Akbar!' But we had a
vantage ground about four feet above them, and their short daggers could
do nothing against our terrible quarter staves. Presently a thought
struck me. A large earthen jar full of drinking water, in its heavy
frame of wood stood upon the edge of the poop. Seeing an opportunity, I
crept up to the jar and rolled it down upon the swarm of assailants. Its
fall caused a shriller shriek to rise above the ordinary din, for heads,
limbs and bodies were sorely bruised by the weight, scratched by
the broken potsherds, and wetted by the sudden discharge. [118] The
Maghrabis then slunk off towards the end of the v