ENTERTAINING VARIETIES. 831 



but his shoulders were covered with a mantle of hairy or bristly 

 leather, and his feet with a sort of leathern boxes, apparently of con- 

 siderable weight. The vessels and implements of his camp were equally 

 curious. He was roasting a fowl by means of a fork-spit, and at his 

 side lay a large goat-skin that seemed to contain a combustible fluid, 

 for whenever he placed it to his lips a rill of drops trickled down his 

 face into the fire, where it flared up like camphor-powder.* But the 

 strangest thing was a small iron pot, at the foot of the tree. It was 

 stuffed with smoldering weeds, emitting a sort of yellowish smoke, 

 and this vapor which almost overpowered me with nausea he seemed 

 to inhale with a peculiar relish, for every now and then he would bend 

 his head over the pot and utter a complacent grunt as the reek entered 

 his nostrils. I do not think that he suspected my presence, though his 

 eyes peered around furtively ; but he appeared to be uneasy for some 

 reason or other, and, as he listened to the rustling of the night-wind, 

 he had a curious way of inclining his head sidewise, after the manner 

 of a wary hog. I had watched him nearly half an hour, when I heard 

 behind me the cracking of a dry twig, and, at the same time, the 

 baboon-man suddenly snatched his fowl from the spit and hid it behind 

 the tree. I, too, now heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and, 

 turning round, I recognized the Karman, who had become uneasy at 

 my long absence, and seemed surprised to find me here behind the 

 trees. The man-ape had not seen us yet, for he glared about in every 

 direction ; but, when we stepped from behind the bushes, he rose to 

 his feet a fat, stout fellow, more than five feet to the top of his un- 

 turbaned head and, in an almost human voice, uttered something that 

 sounded like a question, though I did not understand him. 



" What does he say ? " I asked the Karman ; but I had hardly 

 spoken those words when the baboon-man again lifted his voice, and 

 who shall describe my astonishment to hear that brute address me in 

 fluent speech, in the language of the Khundi- Arabs ! " Have pity on 

 me, Aboo-Kunts," said he, joining his hands in a deprecatory way ; 

 "do not drive me from this grove. I am a virtuous pauper, perform- 

 ing a pilgrimage for the benefit of my soul, and hope to meet friends 

 at Beth-Raka." 



" Peace be with thee, brother," I replied, as one would answer the 

 appeal of a human being. " Salem Kehamad ! We, too, are strangers 

 and travelers. Eat thy meal in peace ; but, if thou canst spare a cup 

 of drinking-water, I beseech thee to exchange it for our abundant 

 thanks, for we are famished with thirst." 



He glared at us in silence. "^Strangers ? Then Yesha is merciful," 

 said he, at last, and resumed his seat at the fire. I thought he had not 

 understood me, and asked the Karman to repeat my question. 



" Water ! What water ? " said he, looking up with an expression 

 of great surprise. Yesha Ben Allah ! Are you blind, O brother of 

 * Yed-el-Kafoor, camphor-dust, a sort of fumigating powder. 



