The Story Teller of the Desert—"Backsheesh!" or, Life and Adventures in the Orient

Thomas Wallace Knox

The Story Teller of the Desert—Backsheesh! or, Life and Adventures in the Orient

Published by Good Press, 2022

goodpress@okpublishing.info

EAN 4057664606433

Table of Contents

AUTHOR’S PREFACE.

ILLUSTRATIONS

CHAP I—STEAMER LIFE ON THE ATLANTIC.

CHAP II—SCENES IN VIENNA.—DOWN THE DANUBE.

CHAP III—LIFE AMONG THE MAGYARS.

CHAP IV—NEARING THE ORIENT.—BACKSHEESH!

CHAP V—THROUGH THE CRIMEA.—IN AND AROUND SEVASTOPOL.

CHAP VI—ACROSS THE BLACK SEA.

CHAP VII—CONSTANTINOPLE.—THE CITY OF DOGS.

CHAP VIII—TURKISH CURIOSITY SHOPS.—SIGHTS AND SCENES IN THE BAZAARS.

CHAP IX—LIFE IN THE HAREM.—MYSTERIES OF THE SERAGLIO.

CHAP X—THE MOSQUES.—FAITH AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE MUSSULMANS.

CHAP XI—WHIRLING AND HOWLING DERVISHES.—WHO AND WHAT THEY ARE.

CHAP XII—GOOD-BYE, CONSTANTINOPLE!—ADVENTURES BY THE WAY.

CHAP XIII—SYRA, THE MARBLE ISLAND.—LIFE IN AN ATHENIAN HOTEL.

CHAP XIV—ATHENS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.—SIGHTS AND SCENES IN THE GRECIAN CAPITAL.

CHAP XV—ROUND ABOUT ATHENS.—THE COUNTRY OF THE BRIGANDS.

CHAP XVI—THE GLORY OF ATHENS.—ITS SIGHTS, SCENES, RUINS, AND RELICS.

CHAP XVII—ADVENTURES IN QUARANTINE.—RHODES AND ITS MARVELS.

CHAP XVIII—SYRIA, THE LAND OF THE SUN.—DRAGOMEN, GUIDES, AND COURIERS.

CHAP XIX—THE GROVES OF LEBANON.—A NIGHT AMONG THE ARABS.

CHAP XX—DAMASCUS.—THE GARDEN CITY OF THE EAST.

CHAP XXI—SYRIAN LIFE.—DEALERS IN HUMAN FLESH.—WE TRY ZE LUXURIES OF ZE BATH.

CHAP XXII—TRAVELLING IN A CARAVAN.—SIGHTS ON THE WAY.

CHAP XXIII—TENT-LIFE AMONG THE BEDOUINS—THE WARRIORS OF THE DESERT.

CHAP XXIV—ADVENTURES IN THE MOUNTAINS OF SYRIA.

CHAP XXV.—FROM DAN TO BEERSHEBA—JOURNEYING THROUGH THE HOLY LAND.

CHAP XXVI—IN THE HEART OF PALESTINE.

CHAP XXVII—THE LAND OF THE PHILISTINES.—SAMARIA AND ITS PEOPLE.

CHAP XXVIII—FROM DAMASCUS TO JAFFA.—INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP.

CHAP XXIX—ENGAGING A DRAGOMAN.—OUR START FOR JERUSALEM.

CHAP XXX—THE LIONS OF JERUSALEM.—THE TEMPLE, THE SEPULCHRE, AND THE HOLY OF HOLIES.

CHAP XXXI—AMONG THE MONKS.

CHAP XXXII—AMONG THE BEDOUINS.—TRAVELLING UNDER ESCORT, AND LIVING IN TENTS.

CHAP XXXIII—THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, AND SHRINE OF THE CITY OF DAVID.

CHAP XXXIV—THE LAND OF PHARAOH.—THROUGH THE EGYPTIAN DESERT.

CHAP XXXV—IN AND AROUND THE CITY OF THE CALIPHS.

CHAP XXXVI—AN INTERVIEW WITH THE KHEDIVE.—LIFE IN THE CITY OF THE NILE.

CHAP XXXVII—STREET LIFE IN CAIRO.

CHAP XXXVIII—THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO.—EGYPTIAN CURIOSITY SHOPS.

CHAP XXXIX—ADVENTURES WITH A DONKEY.—A DAY AT THE RACES.

CHAP XL—THE PASHA AND HIS PRIESTS—EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE—SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.

CHAP XLI—THE GREAT PYRAMIDS—IN THE KINGS’ BURIAL CHAMBERS.

CHAP XLII—A VOYAGE UP THE NILE.—THE MYSTERIES OF EGYPTIAN ART AND WORSHIP.

CHAP XLIII—LIFE ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE.—COPTS, JUGGLERS, AND THIEVES.—AMUSING EXPERIENCES.

CHAP XLIV—ADVENTURES IN UPPER EGYPT.—FUN AND FROLIC WITH THE NATIVES.

CHAP XLV—THE DANCING GIRLS OF KENEH.—THE TREASURES OF DENDERAH.

CHAP XLVI—LUXOR, THE CITY OF GIANTS—AMONG THE MUMMIES OF ANCIENT THEBES.

CHAP XLVII—A VISIT TO A HAREM IN UPPER EGYPT.—LIFE AMONG THE NUBIANS.

CHAP XLVIII—CAMEL-RIDING.—ADVENTURES AMONG THE NUBIANS.

CHAP XLIX—IN THE SLAVE COUNTRY—SIR SAMUEL W. BAKER’S EXPEDITION.

CHAP L—SUNSET IN THE ORIENT.—VOYAGING DOWN THE NILE.

CHAP LI—THE WEDDING OF THE KHEDIVE’S SON.—ENJOYING A MONARCH’S HOSPITALITY.

CHAP LII—WOMEN AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS.—LIFE IN THE HAREM.

CHAP LIII—WINTER ON THE NILE.—THE KHAMSEEN AND ITS EFFECTS.—BEDOUIN LIFE.

CHAP LIV—LAST DAYS IN EGYPT.

BACKSHEESH.

B A C K S H E E S H.

CHAPTER I—STEAMER-LIFE ON THE ATLANTIC.

CHAPTER II—SCENES IN VIENNA—DOWN THE DANUBE.

CHAPTER III—LIFE AMONG THE MAGYARS.

CHAPTER IV—NEARING THE ORIENT—BACKSHEESH!

CHAPTER V—THROUGH THE CRIMEA—IN AND AROUND SEVASTOPOL.

CHAPTER VI—ACROSS THE BLACK SEA.

CHAPTER VII—CONSTANTINOPLE—THE CITY OF DOGS.

CHAPTER VIII—TURKISH CURIOSITY SHOPS—SIGHTS AND SCENES IN THE BAZAARS.

CHAPTER IX—FASTING AND FEASTING—THE SULTAN AND HIS COURT.

CHAPTER X—THE MOSQUES—FAITH AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE MUSSULMANS.

CHAPTER XI—WHIRLING AND HOWLING DERVISHES—WHO AND WHAT THEY ARE.

CHAPTER XII—ON THE BOSPHORUS.—AMONG THE ISLES OF GREECE.

CHAPTER XIII—SYRA, THE MARBLE ISLAND.—LIFE AT AN ATHENIAN HOTEL.

CHAPTER XIV—ATHENS ANCIENT AND MODERN—SIGHTS AND SCENES IN THE GRECIAN CAPITAL.

CHAPTER XV—ROUND ABOUT ATHENS.—THE COUNTRY OF THE BRIGANDS.

CHAPTER XVI—THE GLORY OF ATHENS.—ITS SIGHTS, SCENES, RUINS, AND RELICS.

BACKSHEESH!!

CHAPTER XVII—ADVENTURES IN QUARANTINE.—RHODES AND ITS MARVELS.

CHAPTER XVIII—SYRIA, THE LAND OF THE SUN.—DRAGOMEN, GUIDES, AND COURIERS.

CHAPTER XIX—THE GROVES OF LEBANON.—A NIGHT AMONG THE ARABS.

CHAPTER XX—DAMASCUS—THE GARDEN CITY OF THE EAST.

CHAPTER XXI—SYRIAN LIFE—DEALERS IN HUMAN FLESH—WE TRY ZE LUXURIES OF ZE BATH.

CHAPTER XXII—TRAVELING IN A CARAVAN—SIGHTS ON THE WAY.

CHAPTER XXIII—TENT-LIFE AMONG THE BEDOUINS.—THE WARRIORS OF THE DESERT.

CHAPTER XXIV—ADVENTURES IN THE MOUNTAINS OF SYRIA.

CHAPTER XV—FROM DAN TO BEERSHEBA.—JOURNEYING THROUGH THE HOLY LAND.

CHAPTER XXVI—IN THE HEART OF PALESTINE.

CHAPTER XXVII—THE LAND OF THE PHILISTINES.—SAMARIA AND ITS PEOPLE.

CHAPTER XXVIII—FROM DAMASCUS TO JAFFA.—INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP.

CHAPTER XXIX—ENGAGING A DRAGOMAN.—OUR START FOR JERUSALEM.

CHAPTER XXX—THE LIONS OF JERUSALEM.—THE TEMPLE, THE SEPULCHRE, AND THE HOLY OF HOLIES.

CHAPTER XXXI—AMONG THE MONKS.

CHAPTER XXXII—AMONG THE BEDOUINS.—TRAVELLING UNDER ESCORT, AND LIVING IN TENTS.

CHAPTER XXXIII—THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, AND SHRINE OF THE CITY OF DAVID

CHAPTER XXXIV—THE LAND OF PHARAOH.—THROUGH THE EGYPTIAN DESERT.

CHAPTER XXXV—IN AND AROUND THE CITY OF THE CALIPHS.

CHAPTER XXXVI—AN INTERVIEW WITH THE KHEDIVE.—LIFE IN THE CITY OF THE NILE.

CHAPTER XXXVII—STREET-LIFE IN CAIRO.

CHAPTER XXXVIII—THE BAZAARS OF CAIRO.—EGYPTIAN CURIOSITY SHOPS.

CHAPTER XXXIX—ADVENTURES WITH A DONKEY.—A DAY AT THE RACES.

CHAPTER XL—THE PASHA AND THE PRIESTS.—EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE—SCHOOLS AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.

CHAPTER XLI—THE GREAT PYRAMIDS.—IN THE KINGS’ BURIAL CHAMBERS.

CHAPTER XLII—A VOYAGE UP THE NILE.—THE MYSTERIES OF EGYPTIAN ART AND WORSHIP.

CHAPTER XLIII—LIFE ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE.—COPTS, JUGGLERS, AND THIEVES.—AMUSING EXPERIENCES.

CHAPTER XLIV—ADVENTURES IN UPPER EGYPT.—FUN AND FROLIC WITH THE NATIVES.

CHAPTER XLV—THE DANCING GIRLS OF KENEH.—THE TREASURES OF DENDERAH.

CHAPTER XLVI—LUXOR, THE CITY OF GIANTS.—AMONG THE MUMMIES OF ANCIENT THEBES.

CHAPTER XLVII—A VISIT TO A HAREM IN UPPER EGYPT.—LIFE AMONG THE NUBIANS.

CHAPTER XLVIII—CAMEL RIDING.—ADVENTURES AMONG THE NUBIANS.

CHAPTER XLIX—IN THE SLAVE-COUNTRY—SIR SAMUEL W. BAKER’S EXPEDITION.

CHAPTER L—SUNSET IN THE ORIENT.—VOYAGING DOWN THE NILE.

CHAPTER LI—THE WEDDING OF THE KHEDIVE’S SON.—ENJOYING A MONARCH’S HOSPITALITY.

CHAPTER LII—WOMEN AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS—LIFE IN THE HAREM.

CHAPTER LIII.—WINTER ON THE NILE—THE KHAMSEEN AND ITS EFFECTS—BEDOUIN LIFE.

CHAPTER LIV—LAST DAYS IN EGYPT.

FINIS.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE.

Table of Contents

The following pages are the result of a peaceful crusade to the East, undertaken for purposes of pleasure and profit. The author has endeavored to combine the humorous features of the journey with the store of useful knowledge that should be the result of a tour through the Orient. He trusts that he has so combined them that both will be satisfactory, and that the reader will be amused while seeking instruction and instructed while seeking amusement.

There is a story of an honest old Quaker resident of Philadelphia, who sent his son to make the tour of Europe. The young man determined to see all that could be seen, and gave his whole mind to the search for enjoyment. When he returned from his travels his father said:

John, thou hast been absent a twelvemonth and past, and thou hast drawn on me for eighteen thousand dollars. John, that is a great deal of money for thee to spend in one year.

I know it, father, was the young man’s response, but I have had lots of fun for that money.

In return for the labor and fatigue incident to Oriental travel, the author believes that he found an ample reward in the entertainment and information which the journey afforded.

The author is glad to avail himself of this opportunity to express the gratification he feels at seeing his book so profusely and artistically illustrated. In this department of the work the publishers have displayed their enterprise and liberality in such a creditable manner, as to justly entitle them, not only to the author’s grateful acknowledgments, but to the hearty thanks of all who may read his book.

He would also return his thanks to the artists and engravers, who have so skilfully designed and executed the illustrations, many of which were drawn and engraved in London and Paris, expressly for this volume.

Finally he would thank most cordially the many gentlemen in the various countries he visited who gave him the benefit of their personal experience and observation. Their names are too numerous to be included in this preface, and their nationalities comprise nearly all the civilized countries of the globe. T. W. K.

Principally designed, or reproduced from photographs, by Karl Giradet, Faguet, Frank Beard, James C. Beard, Arthur Lumley, L. Hopkins, and eminent artists, and mostly engraved by Messrs. Holier, Pannemaker, Laptante, Gusmand, Gauchard, and other noted engravers of Paris; by W. J. Palmer, and the London Illustration Company, of London; and by Charles Speigle, of New York.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Table of Contents

Page

6. Head Piece...............................................033

7. Steamer Day..............................................034

8. The Judge’s First Day at Sea.............................035

9. The Judge’s Second Day at Sea............................036

10. The Race................................................039

11. The Judge...............................................040

12. A Practical Joke........................................044

13. Head Piece..............................................048

14. Fraternizing............................................050

15. Eternal Friendship......................................051

16. Proof of the Affray.....................................052

17. Avenging an Insult......................................054

18. I must have a Duel....................................055

19. An Imperial Wine Cellar.................................060

20. Head Piece..............................................063

21. Salt by Yer...........................................068

22. The Snoring Match.......................................069

23. The Doubter.............................................071

24. A Turkish Hamal.......................................073

25. Tail Piece..............................................077

26. Head Piece..............................................078

27. Among the Fleas.........................................079

28. A Toilet in Public......................................082

29. Natives of the Country................................085

30. Precautionary Measures..................................086

31. She is a Jewess.......................................089

32. The Palace Tshiragan....................................091

33. Head Piece..............................................093

34. Shirking the Cemetery...................................097

35. Fresh Paint...........................................100

36. Driving a Bargain.......................................104

37. A Night at Baidar.......................................106

38. Caught in the Act.......................................108

39. Tail Piece..............................................109

40. Head Piece..............................................110

41. Putting in his Best Licks.............................112

42. Backsheesh............................................113

43. An Impressive Scene.....................................116

44. Constantinople from the Tower of Golata—Full..........116

45. Head Piece..............................................123

46. A Street in Constantinople..............................124

47. Strategy................................................126

48. The Reconnoitre.........................................129

49. The Retreat.............................................130

50. A Damas-cussed Dog......................................131

51. Stowing the Sandwiches..................................132

52. Admiring the Mosque.....................................132

53. A Sudden Attack.........................................132

54. The Pursuit.............................................133

55. A Hopeless Chase........................................133

56. Retrospection.........................................134

57. Tail Piece..............................................135

58. Headpiece...............................................135

59. A Sedan Chair...........................................136

60. A Turkish Beauty........................................137

61. An Importunate Moslem...................................143

62. Extorting Backsheesh..................................144

63. Head Piece..............................................145

64. End of the Fast and Beginning of the Feast.............146

65. Good-Bye, my Friend, Good-Bye.........................148

66. A Turkish Cavass......................................149

67. Head Piece..............................................153

68. Moslems at Prayer.......................................154

69. Bismillah............................................155

70. The Duplicate.........................................157

71. Muezzin announcing the Hour of Prayer...................158

72. An Oriental Boot Jack...................................160

73. Fartha, or Opening Chapter of the Koran.................163

74. Tail Piece..............................................165

75. Head Piece..............................................166

76. A Whirling Dervish......................................170

77. Effect of too much Whirling.............................171

78. Howling as a Profession.................................173

79. Homopathic Treatment....................................175

80. Head Piece..............................................177

81. Some of the Brothers of Far-Away Moses..................178

82. Interviewing a Purser...................................184

83. Head Piece..............................................187

84. Head Piece..............................................197

85. View of Athens and the Acropolis........................199

86. The Decline of Greece...................................201

87. Greek Priest of Modern Times............................204

88. Doing the Ruins.......................................206

89. Tail Piece.............................................212

90. Head Piece..............................................213

91. Sending Up the Ear of a Victim..........................217

92. Head Piece.............................................225

93. Pickling the Doubter..................................229

94. Backsheesh! Backsheesh!.............................231

95. Head Piece..............................................236

96. Inspecting the Crew.....................................241

97. Bad Backsheesh.—It was Counterfeit.................243

98. St. Jean D’Acre—Full Paye..............................249

99. A Tricky Beast..........................................254

100. Beyrout and the Mountains of Lebanon—Full Page........257

101. Mou Dieu! Is this the Party for Damascus?............262

102. Head Piece.............................................264

103. The Cedars of Lebanon—Full Page.......................265

104. Cedar of Lebanon.......................................270

105. Great Stone at Baalbek.................................272

106. Portal of the Temple of the Sun at Baalbek.............275

107. Court of a House in Damascus...........................279

108. Moslem Women Weeping at a Tomb.........................282

109. Syrian Jew with Phylactery.............................285

110. A Money Changer in the Bazaar..........................288

111. Flat Roofed Houses—Damascus...........................291

112. Abd-el-Kader...........................................293

113. We Strip to ze buff..................................296

114. You will have all ze luxuries........................296

115. We Enter Ze Bain Beautiful...........................297

116. One of the Luxuries....................................297

117. Softening the Asperities...............................298

118. A Not One..............................................298

119. What is Curlew?......................................305

120. A Bedouin Encampment...................................308

121. A Bedouin of the Desert................................309

122. The Terror of the Desert on his Arabian Charger........311

123. Enins of Palmyra—Full Page............................315

124. Hebron—Full Page......................................319

125. Mount Carmel—Full Page................................323

126. An Inhabited Boot,.....................................325

127. Ploughing in Syria,....................................332

128. All that remains of Capernaum,.........................334

129. Backsheesh! O Howadji!...............................335

130. The Sea of Tibenas—Full Page..........................337

131. Magdala,...............................................339

132. Unhorsing the Doubter,...............................342

133. Nazareth—Full Page....................................345

134. Jeivs of Nazareth—Full Page...........................349

135. A Syrian Water Bearer,.................................353

136. Jerusalem and Surrounding Country—Full Page...........359

137. Sidon—Full Page.......................................365

138. Tyre,..................................................368

139. Tail Piece,............................................369

140. Jaffa—Full Page.......................................371

141. Our Dragoman, Ali Soloman,............................374

141. Backsheesh,..........................................376

143. Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives—Full Page..........377

144. Ancient Arch; Portion of the Haram Wall,...............380

145. A Street in Jerusalem,................................381

146. Arched Street and Fountain, Jerusalem,.................382

147. Jdrindpal Street of Jerusalem—Full Page...............383

148. The Golden Gate, Jerusalem,...........................386

149. Interior of the Golden Gate,...........................387