his fiddle, which he held downwards like a violin-
cello : during the whole of his song he continued in
movement, marching with a sliding step to the front,
and gliding to the right and left in a manner that,
if intended to be graceful, was extremely comic. The
substance of this minstrelsy was explained to me
by Taher Noor, who listened eagerly to the words,
which he translated with evident satisfaction. Of
course, like all minstrels, he was an absurd flatterer,
and, having gathered a few facts for his theme, he
wandered slightly from the truth in his poetical
description of .my deeds.
He sang of me as though I had been Richard Coeur
de Lion, and recounted, before an admiring throng of
listeners, how “ I had wandered with a young wife
from m y own distant country to fight the terrible
Rasé ; how I had slain them in single combat, and
how elephants and lions were struck down like lambs
and kids by my hands ; that during my absence in
the hunt, my wife had been carried off by the Basé ;
that I had, on my return to my pillaged camp, galloped
off in chase, and, overtaking the enemy, hundreds
had fallen by my rifle and sword, and I had
liberated and recovered the lady, who now had
arrived safe with her lord in the country of the great
Mek Nimmur,” &c. &c. &c.
This was all very pretty, no doubt, and as true as
most poetical and musical descriptions, but I felt
certain that there must be something to pay for this
flattering entertainment ; if you are considered to be
a great man, a present is invariably expected in proportion
to your importance. I suggested to Taher
Noor that I must give him a couple of dollars.
“What!” said Taher Noor, “ a couple, of dollars?
Impossible ! a musician of his Standing is accustomed
to receive thirty and forty dollars from great people,
for so beautiful and honourable a song.”
This was somewhat startling; I began to reflect
upon the price of a box at Her Majesty s Theatre in
London; but there I was not the hero of the opera;
this minstrel combined the whole affair in a most
simple manner ; he was Verdi,- Costa, and orchestra
all in one ; he was a thorough Macaulay as historian,
therefore I had to pay the composer as well as the
fiddler. I compromised the matter, and gave him a
few dollars, as I understood that he was Mek Nimmur’s
private minstrel, but I never parted with my
dear Maria Theresa * with so much regret as upon
that occasion, and I begged him not to incommode
himself by paying us another visit, or, should he be
obliged to do so, I trusted he O 7 would not think it necessary to bring h« violin.
The minstrel retired in the same order that he had
arrived, and I watched his retreating figure with
unpleasant reflections, that were suggested by doubts
as to whether I had paid him too little or too much ;
Taher Noor thought that he was underpaid ; my own
opinion was, that I had brought a curse upon myself
* The Austrian dollar, that is the only large current coin in that
country.