Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-05-07


which you see. He was a rogue and a cur
greedy for gain as Jew, and willy as Hindu
4 lie swore that the haft was of silver, and you
4 see IL is only copper coated with silver. Sc
4 when found this, cast ii at his feet and
said, Thou son Of Shaitan, thou hast cheated
4 me; there is thy dagger. Return me my ten
dollars.n But he would not, and as we walked
he grew bitter and snappish, like dog as he
4 was and threw the knife at my head. BE.
hoIdi" he said, lifting his turban, and show.
ing a raw wound in his temple. Then, .
continued the youth, "the hot blood OF the
BENZ Amrou boiled in my veins, and struck
him through the ribs with my dagger. He
/ never spoke again. For three days my broth
4 ers and my Kindred concealed and defended
me but the Mohassanees were too strong fol
n u.s.. and fed for safety behind the forts oi
the Imaum. So saved thy life to atone fol-
the life which took, contrary to the oath
that had sworn to my father. Though thou
| art but Persian and Sheah, think thy
life is quite as much worth as that OF Zeyn ibn
Abdallah."
The merchant was to well accustomed to
the contempt with which those of his creed
and nation were regarded by the Arabs, Ga
contempt which the Persians retort with equal
bitterness in their own country,) to take ex-
ception at the ambiguous compliment with
2
After moments reflection he said-"And
will nothing but thy life content the friends
of the young man 7 Will they not take the
price of blood, seeing that he began the fray,
and thou art betrothed to his sister 7"
ssisfAnd where,n asked the youth, lam to
find two thousand dollars for the life of a Mo-
hassaneei All my family have not so much.
nTwo thousand dollars are a large sum, +"
said the Persian, shaking his head II am a
poor man nay, beggaf; and in debt to zem-
in Khan for money advanced in this last ven
ture. Yet il my boat and my two slaves had
not been lost, might have shown thee how
/ to gain two thousand dollars in two months.
fWhat dost thou mean H' asked the Johas-
NEE, eagerly; s'is it to plunder? Dost thou
know of'a prize Ihave good boat, in which
came from Ras el Rheima: and three stout
slaves, brave as lions in battle"
lsI know of no prize, +" replied the merchant,
laughing "and besides, am too old to fight.
But are thy slaves as good swimmers as thou!
Can they dive as we'll ~
| 1Whati would thou have us go to fish for
pearls and to make two thousand dollars in
two months7 Am / an idiot, that thou shouldst
laugh at my beardPi
'sNay, but listen most excellent young man,
flower OF Bedowees--be not so hasty. Wilt
thou swear by the holy Kaaba, and the tomb
OF tn6 frOpnel3 tatl Wiitb Shhii oai '" tiiNN
shall remain secret in thy breast n
| "By the holy Kaaba and the tomb of the
Prophet, swear that will not betray thee,
said the youth, whose curiosity was now ex-
cited.
The merchant looked about on every side to
assure himself that there were no listeners,
and then proceeded, in low tone, and with
great seriousness, as follows :-"About the
time of the last Ramadham, there came to
| Zemin Khan in Bushire a pearl-diver, who in
formed him that, when fishing in boat alone,
| near the island OF Karak, he was driven ofby q
strong wind TO the westward, until he came to
lowIrock. He had heard of this rock, for
many vessels have been wrecked uponit But
he found, to his astonishment, that there was
bank of six or seven fathoms on one side.
The existence fthis bsaa had never before been
known, and judging from the depth that there
might be good pearls in il, he dived five or six
times. He brought up but twelve oysters, for
thDuBh they were very numerous. vet, tho wat
er being deep, and having no assistance, he
could not obtain more. But these oysters were
very large, and in them were three pearls, eth
er of them worth ten tomauns of Bosrah.-
Look, here is one, and unwinding the sash
which confined at the waist his ample trow
sers, the merchant drew from its folds pearl
whose value the experienced Johasmee saw had
not been oyerrated.
'It is pearl of eight coats, . said he.
t'True, Khalil, thou understandest the bus-.
ness as Johasmee should do" replied the
merchant. rWhen the diver found these, he
was, as thou mayst think, overjoyed. AS soon
as the wind served, he made his way back to
Karak, and thence to Bushire. He came to
Zemin Khan who, thou knowest, was once a
great man IN Bushire but is now poor meg-
chant and informed him of his discovery.
Zeptin Khan was not rich enough to send out a
boat with divers of his own, and, besides, he
feared that the Sheikh of Bushire might seize
the pearls as coming from Karak, which, thou
knowest, he claims as his property. So lie
came to me, who was then at Muscat, should
proceed thither with Haroun the diver, and
that we should hire a boat with our joint stock,
and divide the profits. SO one month ago l
came hither for that purpose, but poor Haroun
was smittsn by the angel of death in our voy
age here, and died on board the bugalah. How
ever, as knew the way to the rock by his
directions, and also by chart, | did not re-
nounce my project, but sold my S hop and all
my merchandise for twelve hundx d dollars,
and bought two slaves, and also Boat, of the
people Of Oman, Alas they are gone before
we entered the harbor of this accursed Mus
cat, and one half my money is gone with them.
But if thou wilt lend thy boat, and go with me
In ,InlA ,auVeuIuret nave euOuBl ielt W illfe
divers, and also for equipment and provisions.
We will divide the profits into three equalparts,
one for thee, one for me, and one for zemin
Khan, What sayst thouf Is it not good
offer?n
In truth, Khaln could not deny that the en-
terprise bore promising appearance, and that
he was admitted ON very advantageous terms. |
That, however, which chiefly influenced him
to accept the merchants offer was his earnest
desire to get away from the town of Muscat, |
where, irolosed by walls and armed fotresses,
and jostled in the narrow, dirty streets by
soldiers, public officers, towns-people, and trad
ers from every CLINE, the free-born Bedowee
pined in spirit and chafed against his confne-
inent like wild sea-bird in an aviary. After
few moments thought, he acceded to the
the proposal of his new friend, and they pro-
oeeded together towards the town, settling, as
they went, the details of their enterprise.
Muscat, it Is we'll known, il seaport on
the eastern coast of Arabia, near the enter
ance of the Persian Gulf. It's excellent har- |
bor, and its advantageous position, have made |
it great emporium of Oriental commerce +;
and the intelligent and energetic prince, who,
with the title of Imaum, now possesses the
government of it, has ayailed himselfof these
advantages to the fullest extent. While en-
couraging commerce., and forming treaties
with the, principal naval powers of Europe
and America, he has employed all his resour-
ces in nsubjecting to his sway the petty gov
ernments and independent tribes in his neigh
borhood. In this way, he has become master
of an extensive line of sea-coast not only in