From this eventful epoch1 each sultry day did indeed bring a numerical accession to the beasts of burthen collected in the town; but they were owned of many and self-willed proprietors2; were, generally speaking, of the most feeble description, melancholy4 contrasts to the gigantic and herculean dromedary of Egypt and Arabia; and no trifling5 delay was still in store through their arrival from distant pastures bare-backed, which involved the necessity of making up new furniture for the march. The Dankáli saddle is fortunately a simple contrivance; a mat composed of plaited date leaves thrown over the hump, supporting four sticks lashed6 together in couples, and kept clear of the spinal7 process by means of two rollers as pads, having been proved by centuries of experience to be not more light than efficient. Accoutrements completed, and camels ready for the march, other provoking excuses for delay were not wanting, to fill, even to overflowing8, the measure of annoyance9. The demise10 of a nephew of the Sultán—the protracted11 funeral obsequies of the deceased—and the almost nightly abstraction of one or more hired camels by the lurking13 Bedouin, all contributed their mite14. At length however no further pretext15 could be devised, and nine loads being actually in motion towards Ambábo, the first halting ground on the road to the kingdom of Shoa, the schooner16 “Constance,” getting under weigh, stood up the bay of Tajúra, and cast anchor off the incipient17 camp, of which the position was denoted by a tall cluster of palms.
Endless objections being now provokingly raised to the shape, size, and weight of the boxes to be transported, it next became requisite19 to reduce the dimensions of the greater number, in the progress of which operation it was discovered that the hurry of transhipment at Aden had resulted in the substitution of several dozens of choice marasquino, for a similar number of cases, of equal size, freighted with round shot for the galloper-guns. The work in hand was one of no ordinary labour and difficulty; and, after all, its completion proved insufficient20 to satisfy the parties. One blockhead complained that his load was heavier than his neighbour’s, who had wisely risen earlier in the morning to make his selection; another, that his case, although confessedly light, was not of convenient size; one was too long, another not long enough, a third too deep, and a fourth too loosely packed. From earliest dawn, until final close of day, on a sandy beach, under a broiling21 sun, was this torment22 continued without intermission, until the 30th of May, when, by dint23 of coaxing24, menacing, and bribing25, every article had been removed saving an unwieldy hand-organ, at which every camel-owner had shaken his wig26 in turn, and a few stand of arms which had been removed from wooden cases, and repacked in mats and tarpaulins27. A great hulking savage28 finally proposed to carry these latter, upon condition of their being transversely divided with a saw to suit the backs of his wretched hip-galled camels. “You are a tall man,” quoth Aboo Bekr drolly29, “suppose we shorten you by the legs?”
“No, no,” cried the barbarian30, “I’m flesh and blood, and shall be spoiled.”
“So will the contents of these cases, you offspring of an ass,” retorted the old pilot, “if you divide them.”
The almost insurmountable difficulties thus experienced in obtaining carriage, but now happily overcome, had so far delayed the advance of the Embassy, as to oblige it to cross the Teháma during the height of the fiery31 and unwholesome blast which, during the months of June and July, sweeps over that waterless tract12 from the south-west; and had moreover rendered it impossible to reach Abyssinia before the setting-in of the annual heavy rains, when the river Hawásh becomes impassable for weeks together. Independently of the natural apathy32 of the camel-owning population, the fact of the season of all intercourse33 with the interior, by Káfilah, having already passed away, rendered every one averse34, under any consideration of gain, to so hazardous35 a journey. Grain was to be carried for the consumption of horses and mules36 during the passage of arid38 regions, where, during the hot season, neither vegetation nor water exists; and the wells and pools having notoriously failed in every part of the road, during three consecutive39 seasons of unusual drought, it was necessary to entertain a large proportion of transport for a supply of water sufficient to last both man and beast for two and three days at a time; whilst, neither grass nor green food remaining near the sea-shore, the hundred and seventy camels now forming the caravan40, had been individually assembled from various grazing grounds, many miles distant in the interior.
A sufficient number of water-skins had fortunately been purchased at exorbitant41 prices to complete the equipment, together with mules for the conveyance42 of the European escort and artillery43; and the greedy Sultán, besides receiving the lion’s share of the profits on all, had sold his own riding beast for three times its worth in solid silver. But the forage44 brought over from Aden being long since consumed, the whole were fed upon dates, and to the latest moment the greatest difficulty continued to exist in regard to followers45. The services of neither Dankáli, Bedouin, nor Somauli, were obtainable at whatever wages; and the whole of the long train of live stock was consequently to be attended by a few worthless horse-keepers, enlisted47 at Aden, aided by a very limited number of volunteers from the shipping48, whose indifferent characters gave ample promise of their subsequent misdeeds.
On the departure of the last load, a general begging commenced on a grand scale, on the part of all who flattered themselves that they had in the most remote manner been so fortunate as to render assistance during the protracted sojourn49 of the Kafirs. Many, whose claims were far from being apparent, after confessing themselves satisfied in propriis personis, modestly urged demands on behalf of their still more worthless neighbours; and in order to have any chance of passing in safety to the mountains with so long a line of camels, it was only prudent50 to propitiate51 each and all of this predatory hosts of locusts52, before entering upon their lawless country.
With a feeling of pleasure akin3 to that experienced by Gil Blas, when he escaped from the robbers’ cave, the party at length bade adieu to Tajúra. Of all the various classes and denominations53 of men who inhabit the terrestrial globe, the half-civilised savages54 peopling this sea-port, are perhaps the most thoroughly55 odious56 and detestable. They have ingeniously contrived57 to lose every virtue58 wherewith the rude tribes to which they pertain59, may once have been adorned60; and having acquired nothing in exchange, save the vices46 of their more refined neighbours, the scale of abject61 degradation62 to which they are now reduced, can hardly descend63 lower. Under this sweeping64 and very just condemnation65, the impotent Sultán, Mohammad ibn Mohammad, stands pre-eminently in relief; and the old miser’s rapacity66 continuing unsated up to the very latest moment, he clutched his long staff betwixt his skinny fingers, and hobbled forth67 from his den18, resolved to squeeze yet another hundred dollars as a parting memento68 from his British victims. The European escort were in the act of mounting the mules already harnessed to the galloper-gun, which he had vainly persuaded himself could never be transported from the coast, since no camel-owner consented to take it, and repeated attempts that he had witnessed to yoke69 a pair of oxen to the limbers had proved unsuccessful, even after their stubborn noses were pierced. But mule37 harness had been ably manufactured to meet the exigency70, and when his lustreless71 eyes beheld72 the party in horse artillery order, firmly seated in their saddles, and moving along the strand73 towards Ambábo—forgetting the vile74 errand upon which he had come, he involuntarily exclaimed, “In the name of Allah and the holy Prophet, whither are those fellows going?” “Raheen el Hábesh,” “to Abyssinia,” was the laconic75 reply that fell upon his astounded76 ears as the whips cracked merrily in succession; and His Highness was long after seen, still leaning on his slender crutch77, and staring in idiotic78 vacancy79 after the departing cavalcade80, as it disappeared under a cloud of dust from before his leaden gaze.
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1
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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spinal
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| adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的 | |
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8
overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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demise
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| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
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protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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incipient
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| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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20
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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broiling
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| adj.酷热的，炽热的，似烧的v.（用火）烤（焙、炙等）( broil的现在分词 )；使卷入争吵；使混乱；被烤（或炙） | |
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22
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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coaxing
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应 | |
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bribing
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| 贿赂 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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tarpaulins
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| n.防水帆布，防水帆布罩( tarpaulin的名词复数 ) | |
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28
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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drolly
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| adv.古里古怪地；滑稽地；幽默地；诙谐地 | |
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30
barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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32
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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33
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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35
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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39
consecutive
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| adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的 | |
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40
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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41
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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42
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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43
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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44
forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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45
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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46
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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47
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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48
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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49
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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50
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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51
propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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52
locusts
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| n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树 | |
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53
denominations
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| n.宗派( denomination的名词复数 )；教派；面额；名称 | |
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54
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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55
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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56
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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57
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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58
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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59
pertain
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| v.(to)附属，从属；关于；有关；适合，相称 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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62
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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63
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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64
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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65
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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rapacity
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| n.贪婪，贪心，劫掠的欲望 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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memento
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| n.纪念品，令人回忆的东西 | |
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69
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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exigency
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| n.紧急；迫切需要 | |
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71
lustreless
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| adj.无光泽的，无光彩的，平淡乏味的 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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laconic
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| adj.简洁的；精练的 | |
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76
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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77
crutch
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| n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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79
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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