"يوميّات رحلة من بلاد فارس إلى الهند عبر هراة وقندهار. وأيضًا تقرير رحلة إلى العاصمة الوهابية، الرياض في وسط الجزيرة العربية" [ظ‎‎١‎٠‎٥] (٢٦٨/٢١٠)

60
which he had intended as a present to the Pasha of Bagdad; and
which were now at Kateef waiting embarkation. Finally, the
Imam said that he had placed a confidential servant at my disposal
to accompany me to the coast. On leaving the Fort, the Secretary
pointed the servant out to me. The man accompanied me to
my house, and then asked permission to return as he had a fast
camel and could easily overtake me before I reached El Alisa. It
was good riddance, so I let him go; and forthwith ordered my
camels to be saddled. The camel-men proved obstinate, and
it seemed doubtful whether I should get off. At length I hit
on the expedient of telling the Imam’s servants, who had been
set as spies over my house, that I was determined to go, and
that if they could get the camels on their way by 9 o’clock
they should have a present, otherwise not one farthing. By
9 o’clock accordingly we were in the saddle, but just as I was mov
ing a man appeared with the Imam’s gold watch (one of the frying-
pan class) and stated that the watch had got out of order, and
that the Imam would be obliged if I could get it repaired for
him. This I agreed to, and the watch has since been repaired in
England and returned to Riyadh.
83. We were scarcely clear of the town walls when the head
camel-man again insisted on an immediate halt. I explained to
him that I was now off and that if he gave trouble I would make
him march 24 hours without stopping. He continued his inso
lence until he found that he was likely to be taken out of
charge and put under restraint, when he became cowed.
84. The first night of our arrival at Riyadh had been cloudy,
and subsequently the constant supervision maintained over us had
rendered it difficult for us to take our stellar observations. One
morning we managed to get the longitude by means of five
solar observations, taken from the top of our house. But we
were interrupted before noon; and the latitude remained un
determined. On the night, therefore, of our leaving Riyadh, it
was an object to fix our latitude as soon as possible, and we halted
for this purpose shortly after clearing the suburbs : marching in