"O Allah! Four dromedaries and twenty camels for four men!"

"Abuser of the salt," said the stranger calmly, "hast thou not heard of
the paschal charity, and of the fine to the poor? Shall I go empty
handed to the most sacred of cities?"

Finally an agent was found who, in concert with associates, undertook to
furnish the high votary with all he asked complete.

The morning of the fourth day after his arrival the Indian was pulled
ashore, and conducted out of town a short distance to where, on a rising
ground, a camp had been set up provisionally for his inspection. There
were tents, one for storage of goods and provisions; one for the suite;
one for the chief Shaykh, the armed guards, the tent pitchers, and the
camel drivers; and a fourth one, larger than the others, for the Prince
himself. With the dromedaries, camels, and horses, the camp was
accepted; then, as was the custom, the earnest money was paid. By set of
sun the baggage was removed from the ship, and its partition into
cargoes begun. The Prince of India had no difficulty in hiring all the
help he required.

Of the thirty persons who constituted the train ten were armed horsemen,
whose appearance was such that, if it were answered by a commensurate
performance, the Prince might at his leisure march irrespective of the
caravan. Nor was he unmindful in the selection of stores for the
journey. Long before the sharp bargainers with whom he dealt were
through with him, he had won their best opinion, not less by his
liberality than for his sound judgment. They ceased speaking of him
sneeringly as the _miyan_. [Footnote: Barbarous Indian]