They are readily distinguished from modern imitations by their clear and
silvery ring when struck, and by the finely watered appearance of the
blade, produced by its having been first made of woven wire, and then
worked over and over again until it attained the requisite temper. A droll
Turk, who is the _shekh ed-dellàl,_ or Chief of the Auctioneers, and is
nicknamed Abou-Anteeka (the Father of the Antiques), has a large
collection of sabres, daggers, pieces of mail, shields, pipes, rings,
seals, and other ancient articles. He demands enormous prices, but
generally takes about one-third of what he first asks. I have spent
several hours in his curiosity shop, bargaining for turquoise rings,
carbuncles, Persian amulets, and Circassian daggers. While looking over
some old swords the other day, I noticed one of exquisite temper, but with
a shorter blade than usual. The point had apparently been snapped off in
fight, but owing to the excellence of the sword, or the owner's affection
for it, the steel had been carefully shaped into a new point. Abou-Anteeka
asked five hundred piastres, and I, who had taken a particular fancy to
possess it, offered him two hundred in an indifferent way, and then laid
it aside to examine other articles. After his refusal to accept my offer,
I said nothing more, and was leaving the shop, when the old fellow called
me back, saying: "You have forgotten your sword,"--which I thereupon took
at my own price. I have shown it to Mr. Wood, the British Consul, who
pronounced it an extremely fine specimen of Damascus steel; and, on
reading the inscription enamelled upon the blade, ascertains that it was
made in the year of the Hegira, 181, which corresponds to A.D. 798. This
was during the Caliphate of Haroun Al-Raschid, and who knows but the sword
may have once flashed in the presence of that great and glorious
sovereign--nay, been drawn by his own hand! Who knows but that the Milan
armor of the Crusaders may have shivered its point, on the field of
Askalon! I kiss the veined azure of thy blade, O Sword of Haroun! I hang
the crimson cords of thy scabbard upon my shoulder, and thou shalt