A GREEDY EMIR.

Evening Star, Issue 14037, 19 April 1909, Page 5

A GREEDY EMIR.

Captain S. S. Butler recently described to a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society an amusing incident which befell Captain Aylmer and himself while they were journeying from Bagdad to Damascus. At EI Jof, in Northern Arabia, they were received by the Emir, Feysul Ibn Rashid, one of whose first questions after greeting them was : " Are your teeth vour own or are they false?" "On our arrival at the house placed at our disposal," continued the lecturer, " Captain Aylmer and myself congratulated ourselves on our good fortune in having such a cordial welcome, but we had not been there more than five minutes when FeysuTs head slave, a richly-dressed personage called Dahm, came to tell us that the Emir would not take our camels or our money, as be had plenty of both, but that he would like any things of European make or of interest that we happened to have. This was only too true, and during our five-days' stay there there was a continued procession of slaves and hangers-on from the castle demanding things for the Emir and his visitors and favorites, and demanding them in such a way that it wis impossible for. us, situated as we were, to refuse, until at last we had practically nothing of any value left, having been fleeced of watches, revolver, compass-is, various clothes, ' and other articles of our kit. The slave given us was nothing more or less than a spv, and the climax was reached and I fairly lost my temper when a negro slave, who had come to demand scent, hair-grease and moustache-wax for the Emir, told me T was a liar when I said I had none."