‘A Pilgrimage to Nejd, the cradle of the Arab race. A visit to the court of the Arab Emir, and "Our Persian Campaign."' [‎223] (278/334)

CH. X.]
The Emir s gardens.
223
worked into the modern building; but this we did
not think it necessary to explain. Mohammed's
reputation rose in consequence, and I already began
to fear that the Emir's civilities had turned his
head. I heard him whisper to Hamud that the silver-
hilted sword he is wearing, and which is the one
Wilfrid gave him at Damascus, was an ancestral
relic ; it had been, he said, " min zeman," from
time immemorial, in the Aruk family. He had
also established a fiction, in which he privately
entreated us to join, that we started from home
with a hawk (for all the best falcons come from
Tudmur), and lost it on the journey.*
While we were discussing these important
matters, the call to prayer was heard, and the two
Ibn Kashids, begging us to remain seated, rose and
went out.
They were absent a few minutes, and on their
return the Emir, to our great delight, proposed to
show us his gardens, and immediately led the way
down tortuous passages and through courts and
doors into a palm grove surrounded by a high wall.
Here we were joined by numerous slaves, some
black, some white, for there are both sorts at Hail.
A number of gazelles were running about, and came
up quite familiarly as we entered. These were of
two varieties, one browner than the other, answer
ing, I believe, to what are called the " gazelle des
* To travel with a hawk is a sign of nobility.