'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from September 1850 to June 1852. Edited by the Secretary. Volume X.' [‎93] (226/458)

MEMOIR ON THE " TIGRIS.’*
93
ttMali slieikli CJ!
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er we have^i
’ liis having I,
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ave rendered k
vicinity, and r
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is seen e,n tir l
endis under
an d discourteous, and we therefore glean from the sons that the father
is the same Ahmed-ath-Thahir who was so cruelly shot, and deprived
0 f both his eyes by some irregular troops of 5 Ali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , twenty
years since; in fact, the same person so feelingly mentioned by the
j a te Dr. Ross {Jour. Geo. Soc.,) in his journey to Al-Hadhr. Like
ourselves, these worthies had sought the hospitality of the tribe for the
night, but after being entertained had treated the women of the family
with indignity, which was naturally enough resented by the chief.
Tin's interference so incensed a brutal soldier that he fired his gun
into the temple of Ahmed-ath-Thahir, and from that day the venerable
old sheikh has not seen “the light of the Slm ,, as his children expres
sed it. He is now I am told nearly eighty years of age, and though
blinded by the licentious fury of a Turk,—-the Turkish agent has no
consideration for his peculiar sufferings, his darkened state and the
decrepitude of years—but for a sum equivalent to £2 10s. of English
money, has incarcerated him in the dungeons of Beled. We lent a
ready ear to the sad tale, and have promised to write to the Zabit in
his behalf, having in fact good grounds for a friendly interference from
the Zabit's recommendation of us by letter to a man whom we find in
the custody of his agent, and therefore incapable of attending to his
wishes. A despatch was accordingly sent to Suraeyeheh with a
request that the blind sheikh might be freed from bis bondage, the mes
senger being at the same time charged to pay the sum he is detained
for, if his release could not be effected otherwise. In a few days we
had the satisfaction of sending the order directing his emancipation
from prison, received with a note full of unmeaning compliments and
apologies, but not a hint on the subject of the debt;—we found,
however, that our surmises on this head had not been far wrong, for
the person sent to release the unfortunate sheikh was desired to ac
quaint the agent of the tender that had been made, with full authority
for him to accept, but not to demand, the uttermost farthing, in return
for the liberty that had been accorded. The hint to this effect on the
part of the agent, with a show of extolling his master's liberality, was
actually intended as an indirect plan of securing payment, which was
accordingly made, and it now remains a question whether the sum is
shown on the profit or loss side on the state accounts,—for with the
latitude granted, and a knowledge of the character of these worthies