of the operations to which he had recourse at once delighted and
astonished the . Arabs.
> A man much emaciated, who had been long afflicted with the
dropsy, was persuaded to submit to the operation of tapping ; and
when his numerous Arab friends, who had assembled to witness the
ceremony, saw the water streaming out from the abdomen, they
were unable to restrain the loud expression of their surprise at the
sig h t; and lifting up their hands and eyes to Heaven, called Allah
to witness that the fiieei * was a most extraordinary man f ! .
Dysentery and liver complaints were very common in Bengazi, but
we did not observe so many cases of ophthalmia as we had found at
Tripoly and Mesurata. Cutaneous diseases of the most virulent kind
were very prevalent, as well among the people of the town, as among
the Bedouin tribes in the neighbourhood; indeed, we found that
these disorders prevailed more or less in every part of the northern
coast of-Africa which we visited. T h e . inhabitants of the Cyrenaica
suppose them to be chiefly occasioned by handling their cattle, but it
is probable that unwholesome food and water, to which they may be
occasionally subjected, and the little use which they make of the
latter for external purposes, contribute more effectually to engender
* Tibeeb is the common Arab term for a doctor.
rfci Several quarts of water were, taken from this poor man, who, when he left our
house, was scarcely distinguishable as the same person who had entered it, having
diminished so much in size after the operation.” He was, in fact, materially relieved,
and continued to improve daily in health ; till one day,, after washing his shirt, he put
it on, as the quickest way of drying it, a custom not uncommon among the Arabs, and
caught so bad a cold inconsequence, that all the doctor’s exertions were afterwards
unable to save him.
and encourage these diseases, than the circumstances to which they
attribute; them.
iAmong the numerous instances, which we observed during our
stay, at-Bengazi, illustrative of Arab character-and prejudices,; we
may notice one which occurred in th'e;skeefa i('®r entrance-hall). of
our house, .where a select party of .the inhabitants-of the: town
usually assembled themselves when the weather.' permitted. On
this occasion, the women of England formed the'principal subject
o f$ conversation, and the reports of their beauty, which had
reached some of our visitors, appeared to have made a great impression
in their favour. One of our party then produced a miniature
from his pocket, which chanced to be the resemblance of a very
pretty girl; and he roundly asserted, as he handed it to the company,
that , every woman in England was: as handsome. We have
already observed, that the subject was a very pretty girl;. -and they
who are unacquainted with the. force of custom and prejudice, will
hardly conceive that an object so pleasing could'be the cause of a
moment’s alarm. But ¡truth obliges us to add, that the first Arab of
our party, who Was' favoured with a sight of the! lady in question,
started back in dismay and confusion,; and all his ¡worthy countrymen
who cast their eyes upon the picture, withdrew them, on the
instant, in the greatest alarm," exhibiting the strongest symptoms of
astonishment and shame. The feet was, that the young lady who
had caused so much confusion, was unluckily painted in a low evening
dress ; and her face was only shaded by the luxuriant auburn
curls, which fell in ringlets over her forehead and temples.