‘A Pilgrimage to Nejd, the cradle of the Arab race. A visit to the court of the Arab Emir, and "Our Persian Campaign."' [‎219] (274/334)

CH. X.]
219
and the whole thing was over in half-an-liour. At
last the Emir rose, bowed to us, and went into the
palace, while we, very glad to stretch our legs 7
which were cramped with squatting on the bench
barely a foot wide, were escorted to our lodgings by
the chamberlain and two of the soldiers.
We found a double house provided for us in the
main street of Hail, and not two hundred yards
from the kasr—a house without pretence, but suffi
cient for our wants, and secure from all intruders,
for the street door could be locked, and the walls
were high. It consisted of two separate houses, as
1 believe most dwellings in Arabia do, one for men
and the other for women. In the former there was
a kahwah and a couple of smaller rooms, and this
we gave over to Mohammed and the servants,
keeping the harim for ourselves. This last had a
small open court, just large enough for the three
mares to stand in, an open vestibule of the sort
they call liwan at Damascus, and two little dens.
In one of these dens we stored our luggage, and in
the other, spread our beds. The doors of these
inner rooms could be locked up when we went out,
with curious wooden locks and wooden keys ; the
doors were of ithel wood. All was exceedingly
simple, but in decent repair and clean, the only
ornaments being certain patterns, scratched out in
white from the brown wash which covered the walls.
Here we soon made ourselves comfortable, and were
not sorry to rest at last, after our long journey.