had brought from Aden for him, as the best method
of showing our feelings to one another. This was not
so easily concluded. I portioned out the things that
were intended for him, and wished he would take
them at once away and clear the room, thinking, in
my inexperience of savages, I had only to give, and it
would be received with a hearty Bism-illah ; but I
was soon undeceived : the things were taken with a
grunt of discontentment ; all looked over one by one.
If a cloth was soiled, it must be changed ; and then
the measurements began by cubits = 1 8 inches, or
from the point of the elbow to the tip of the middle
finger, just as Noah must have done when he built the
ark. But as all forearms are not of equal length, much
delay was occasioned by the sultan trying the length
of his forearm against everybody’s in the room, and
then by measuring every cloth by turn, and remeasuring
them again for fear of mistake ; then they were
divided into lots, to be disposed of to his wives, and
children and Akils and servants, and, of course, found
insufficient to meet everybody’s expectations, and I
must give more.
Tedious hours passed in this way ; as a final petition,
the sultan said I must give him for himself a
gun and my silk turban, as I had given up wearing
anything on my head, and did not require it : these
were, after a certain amount of haggling, surrendered,
on condition that the sultan would exert himself a
little more energetically on my account. The way he
handled the musket was very amusing : he had never
had one in his hands before, arid could not get it to
sit against his shoulder; and when his people placed
it for him, he persisted in always cocking the wrong
eye, which tickled Farhan’s fancy so much, that he
burst into loud roars of laughter. Nevertheless, the
sultan took things quietly, and would not allow himself
to be discomposed, but coolly said the gun would
be of no use unless I gave him some powder to feed it
with. This last straw broke the camel’s b ack ; all
things must have an end, and I promised I would
give him some after he procured enough camels for
my wants, but not before. This settled the matter,
and he walked off, with all the things I had given
him, as sulkily as if he had been injured.
Camels were then brought for sale, and purchasing
commenced. When the sultan was present, he had
to determine if the prices asked by the sellers were
reasonable or not, and took for his office as mediator a
tithe on all purchases; but in his absence, Akils were
appointed to officiate on the same conditions. This
system of robbing, I was assured, was the custom of
the country, and if I wanted to buy at all I must abide
by it. Cloth was at a great discount on the coast, for
the men there had, by their dealings with Aden, become
accustomed to handle dollars, and were in consequence
inspired with that superior innate love for the
precious metal over all other materials, with which all
men, and especially those newly acquainted with it,
become unaccountably possessed. No one would believe
that my boxes could be made for any other pur