Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/120

 excessive we could not entertain them. A long and angry discussion ensued, and the prospect of an arrangement seemed less and less imminent as time went on. At this juncture Major Kitchener produced a document which he hoped would have a wholesome effect on the minds of these unreasonable people. It was a Firman, granted to him when Consul for Anatolia, by which he was authorised to visit all the Holy places of the Turkish Empire! The document was explained to the envoys from Petra, who scrutinised it closely, probably without becoming much the wiser as regards its contents. For a time this seemed to have some effect. They retired for consultation, and we gave them till the next morning to propose reasonable terms to us.

I may here explain that these Arabs of Petra, though practically independent, and accustomed on all occasions to have their own way with travellers, still have a lingering respect for the Sultan as the head of the Mohammedan world; and if this respect can be made to fall in with their pecuniary interests it becomes of paramount effect.

Next morning a parley was held; terms were proposed by us and accepted. They were then committed to writing, and the money was counted out and placed on the table. The document was about to be signed when a new mine was sprung by the Petra Sheikhs. "Bakhsheesh," they said, "must be paid for the Head Sheikh Arari, absent in Damascus." Now, as his share had already been included in the sum to be paid, this was too much for us to put up with. We all exclaimed, "Helas!" The money was returned to the bag by Bernhard Heilpern, and I declared the negotiation at an end. Orders were then issued to strike the tents, and to commence our march down the valley. The Petra envoys retired, decidedly crestfallen at this turn of affairs, and at the prospect of losing the good sum which was just within their reach. But we saw that it was necessary to give these extortioners a lesson, and to show that all travellers were not to be trifled with or fleeced with impunity. For the time, therefore, the prospect of a visit to Petra, and of triangulating from the summit of Mount Hor, seemed at an end.

The Petra horsemen who had momentarily departed up the Wâdy Haroun soon returned, and, joined by others, followed our party. Presently they rejoined us, and humbly asked for bakhsheesh to remunerate them for the loss of their valuable time. This we sternly refused. After