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tenth of the total when they see the rest. Morocco wavers. Their real hope is
the Shiite ruler of Azgar, in whom they put all their trust. It is reported on
very good authority that the gold has been promised and that messengers are to
be sent - perhaps have been sent - to arrange the transport, probably from Algiers.’
    ‘I speak as a man wholly ignorant of
money-matters,’ said Stephen. ‘Yet I had always supposed that even moderately
flourishing states like Turkey, Tunis, Tripoli and the like, or the bankers of
Cairo and a dozen other cities could at any time raise a million or so without
difficulty. Am I perhaps mistaken?’
    ‘Wholly mistaken, my dear
sir, if you will forgive me: wholly mistaken where the present juncture is
concerned.
You must understand that several of my cousins are bankers in the City - one of
them is associated with Nathan Rothschild - and that I act as their consultant
where eastern affairs are concerned. So I think I may confidently assert that
at this point no bank in those parts could without long notice raise so much -
let alone advance a single maravedi on such security. While as for the
governments...’ Leaning forward  and
speaking in a much clearer, younger voice, his eyes full of life, he launched
into an account of the economic basis of each Muslim country from the Persian
Gulf to the Atlantic, its income and liabilities, its banking practice and
forms of credit: he gave the impression of immense competence and authority -
the old man’s quavering prolixity of earlier on disappeared entirely, and when
he ended ‘... their only hope is Ibn Hazm of Azgar,’ Stephen cried, ‘I am sure
of it, sir: would you have the great kindness to tell us something of the place
and its ruler? For I blush to say that I know nothing of
either.’
    ‘To be sure, it is small, and it has almost no
history: but it is happily placed at the junction of three caravan routes,
where one of the very few springs in that vast area rises pure and cool from
the rock, watering a remarkable grove of date-palms. It is defended by its
position, by the shrines of three universally-acknowledged Muslim saints, by
the aridity of the surrounding country, and by the sagacity of a long-continued
series of rulers. By immemorial custom the little state is run on lines not
wholly unlike those I have observed in a well-run man-of-war: every man has his
place and his duty; the day is divided by the blast of a ram’s horn, signifying
assembly, prayers, meals, diversion, and the rest, while except in Ramadan
there is daily exercise with cannon or small-arms. Furthermore, you must know
that the customary dues and tolls levied on all caravans are paid, and always
have been paid, in the form of very small ingots of pure gold. These are
publicly weighed and publicly divided according to established shares, often
being cut or reduced to powder and weighed again with extraordinary precision
to the required amount. Clearly the ruler gets most, and in the course of
several generations this must amount to a very great deal, in spite of the
family’s proverbial charity. Where it is kept there is no telling - curiosity
in Azgar would be sadly out of place - but since the Sheikh spends most of his
time in the wilderness with the famous herds of Azgar camels
     he may have banks of an impregnable security in any one of
the innumerable caverns that are to be found where the limestone rises above
the sand. At all events he possesses the means and the zeal to carry out this
operation.’
    ‘In economies of this kind, would letters of credit,
drafts on a banking-house or the like have any existence, sir?’
    ‘They are not unknown, as between merchants in high
credit who have dealt with one another for many years: but in the present case
the gold itself would have to travel to the coast and then take ship - no great
matter, with a well armed troop of Azgar camels and the swift Algerine xebecs
or galleys. But with the pace at which the