owed by a long green
boat which six Moors were rowing. She made no headway, shipped water
which deluged the cargo, and seemed half aground on the bar. No other
boat or boatmen seemed to be available: the steamer was not within hail.
Certainly there were three more cargo-boats lying in shelter in a corner
of the river-estuary a little way off the land, but some men in one of
them seemed half asleep--at any rate, they were out of our reach, and
deaf to our shouts and gesticulations to the effect that we wanted to be
rowed on board the steamer.

We waited and waited; Madunnah yelled himself hoarse; but the cargo-boat
still rolled on the bar, lashed by the waves, and the men still strained
at their oars and paid no heed to our cries. Twice we thought they meant
coming to our signals, but each time they were only trying fresh
manoeuvres.

Rain came on, a sharp easterly scud; the pock-marked boy drew his jellab
over his head; the mules turned their backs to the squall; but Madunnah
still stood at the edge of the waves, gesticulating wildly with our
sticks and umbrellas at the impassive rowers. Sunset was upon us. At a
fire of driftwood on the beach a short distance off R. and I tried to
warm ourselves.

Suddenly the long green boat left the cargo and pulled towards us: the
sea was rising, and looked anything but encouraging; breakers were
showing their white teeth on the bar; but the green boat drew nearer and
came in at last, or nearly so--for she stopped short off the shore, and,
half aground, lost her rudder. Still none of the crew paid the faintest
attention as we hailed them in Arabic, English, and Spanish across the
few yards of water which put them just out of our reach. They had
something else to do except attend to three mad Britishers--let them
rave.

The cargo-boat, deserted by the long green boat, had stuck worse than
ever: darkness was coming on, and she was in a bad case. The men in the
"long green" roused the half-sleeping Moors in the companion boat, and it
was evident that both meant going out together to tow the belated cargo
in.

Our voices carried less as the wind rose, and it was evident even to
Madunnah that words were wasted. The rain drove in torrents; it was
bitterly cold, and growing darker every moment; as the two boats turned
their heads towards the wave-swept cargo we realized that it was night,
that all chance of getting on board was at an end for that day at least,
and we set our backs to