Of all this it was quite evident that they understood nothing except the fact that I needed help.

The moment that they comprehended this they took me in tow and rowed back to the galley.
I found the galley to be about one hundred and fifty feet in length.
For about two thirds of this length forward it was open and filled with seats, where there were about a hundred rowers, who all looked like those that I had first seen, all being of small stature, slender frames, and, moreover, all being apparently distressed by the sunlight.

There was in all of them the same mild and gentle expression.

In complexion and general outline of features they were not unlike Arabs, but they were entirely destitute of that hardness and austerity which the latter have.

They all had beards, which were dressed in a peculiar way in plaits.