"حياة ومراسلات اللواء السير جون مالكوم، قائد فرسان وسام الطُهر، المبعوث السابق إلى بلاد فارس وحاكم بومباي؛ من رسائل ومذكرات غير منشورة. في مجلّدين. المجلد II." [‎٤‎٠‎١] (٦٥٤/٤١٨)

VOYAGE TO EGYPT.
blowing of boisterous winds, and the high waves of angry waters,
I had no sleep, and got up sea-sick to death. Charles, who is
always the same, had laid out new pantaloons, white waistcoat,
laced jacket, and smart cap, and I put them on as a duty to the
day. " Merry Christmas!" was the salutation from all quarters.
I repeated it, but saw no one merry but the ship, who danced at a
most lively rate.
As I could not remain in the dark cabin below, and it was
almost impossible to keep one's legs upon, deck, I felt grateful for a
small place the captain directed to be made for me to lie in, upon
deck, between two guns. My bed was some flags, and I was
secured on one side by the bulkhead of the vessel, and on the
other by a capstan-bar. Here I lay, and with a sheet of paper
and a pencil amused myself by writing some nonsensical lines to
my dear little children; and I really think I shall be more gra
tified by the smiles this chicken flight may one day excite in their
faces, than by all the approbation given to the higher soarings of
the Muse.
December 26.—Still contrary wind, but rather moderated, and
we are becoming more accustomed to this tossing about. We
have had for these last few days a great number of locusts blown
on board, and the numbers of these insects that have passed the
ship head is incredible. They have appeared for four or five
hours floating past in heaps, and look at a distance like a red
bank, above a mile long. " It is an ill wind that blows nobody
good," and the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, or Abyssinia (God
knows to which land they belong), are freed by the gale that
plagues us from these locusts, who appear drowned in numbers
sufficient to have made a famine in a day wherever they had
alighted. I have a native of Bussorah who looks after my horse,
who has-amused all the ship by the voracious manner in which he
eats the locusts. It is indifferent to him whether they are dead or
alive (boiled or raw); he plucks off the wings, legs, and a piece of
the head, then eats them with great relish. He tells me that they
are in Arabia deemed a dainty by man and beast, and told me to
try Sultan. I did, and was surprised to see the horse eat the
locusts so greedily. " He has learned it in Arabia," said his
keeper (Ahmed).
December 27.—Still contrary wind, but towards the evening,
VOL. n, 2 D