The Throne of Solomon
They had already done all the level bits as far as Varian, an<
were now tackling the rocky intervals, which had been lef
like islands; where we came upon such places, we had tc
abandon the new smooth surface and take to the old track
which appeared more precipitous than ever by contrast anc
had all sorts of surprises in the way of dynamite and men widi
instruments along it.
One of these nearly cost me and my mule our lives as we
rode near an edge of cliff above the river. A navvy came
along with two iron bars under his arm, and as they were long
and not well under control, the point of one of them prodded
my animal as we passed. Shikar the mule had already been
showing a doubtful attitude towards the blessings of civilization
as exhibited in modern road-making; this unprovoked attack
demoralized him altogether; he turned at a gallop down the
small strip of scree which separated us and the river, three
hundred feet or so below. No one is more helpless than a
rider on a pack-saddle: seated as on a platform, without either
rein or stirrup, suicidal mania in his mount is a contingency
not provided for. But luckily The Refuge of Allah happened
at the moment to be walking ahead with the halter in his hand.
He pulled with all his might and said soothing tilings at the
same time: the mule paused; I slipped off, and rescued my
camera which had got caught at the very lip of the abyss.
" Thank God it is not broken," said I, with the single-
mindedness of the photographer. The Refuge of Allah said
nothing for a long time.
" If you had got killed," he remarked at last in a reproachful
tone, " what should we have said when we got to Teheran
without you?"
After this, Shikar the mule showed a natural dislike for any-
one who was carrying anything, and tried to shy on every
narrow place we came to, so that we were glad when finally
[354] " .