1829. J Nubia, and Palestine. I7I 



should be so cleverly devised, and involved in such impenetrable secrecy, that 

 it was impossible it could fail of success. 



" He had in the Imperial Harem a beautiful Georgian slave, whose inno- 

 cence and beauty fitted her^ in the Sultan's eyes, for the atrocious act of perfidy 

 of which she was to be the unsuspecting agent. 



The belief in talismans is still prevalent throughout the East : and perhaps 

 even the enlightened Malimoud himself is not superior to the rest of his nation 

 in matters of traditionary superstition. 



" He sent one day for the fair Georgian, and afFecting a great love for her 

 person, and desire to advance her interests, told her, that it was his imperial 

 will to send her to Egypt, as a present to Mehmet Ali, whose power and 

 riches were as unbounded as the regions over which he held the sway of a 

 sovereign Prince, second to no one in the universe but himself, the great 

 Padisha. 



" He obser^'ed to her, how much happiness would fall to her lot, if she 

 could contrive to captivate the affections of the master for whom he designed 

 her ; that she would become, as it were, the Queen of Egypt, and would 

 reign over boundless empires. 



_" But, in order to insure to her so desirable a consunnr.ation of his imperial 

 wishes for her welfare and happiness, he would present her with a talisman, 

 which he then placed upon her finger. ' Aratch,' said he ' a favourable mo- 

 ment, when the Pasha is lying on your bosom, to drop this ring into a glass of 

 w^ater ; which, when he shall have drunk, will give you the full possession of 

 his affections, and render him your captive for ever.' 



" The unsuspecthig Georgian eagerly accepted the lot which was offered 

 to her, and, dazzled by its promised splendour, determined upon following the 

 instructions of the Sultan to the very letter. 



" In the due course of time she arrived at Cairo, with a splendid suite, and 

 many slaves, bearing rich presents. 



" Mehmet All's spies, had, however, contrived to put him on his guard. Such 

 a splendid demonstration of esteem from his imperial master alarmed him for 

 his safety. 



" He would not suffer the fair Georgian to see the light of his countenance ; 

 but after some detention in Cairo, made a present of her to his intimate friend, 

 Billel Aga, the Governor of Alexandria, of whom, by the bye, the Pasha had 

 long been jealous. 



" The poor Georgian having lost a Pasha, thought she must do her best to 

 captivate her Aga, and administered to him the fatal draught, in the manner 

 Sultan Mahmoud had designed for Mehmet Ali. The Aga fell dead upon the 

 floor. The Georgian shrieked and clapped her hands : in rushed the eunuchs 

 of the harem, and bore out the dead body of their master. 



" When the Georgian v.'as accused of poisoning the Aga, she calmly denied 

 the fact. ' What did you to do him ?' was the question. ' I gave him a glass 

 of water, into which I had dropped a talisman. See, there is the glass, and 

 there is the ring.' 



" The ring, it was true, remained; but the stone, which it had encircled, was 

 melted in the water." 



We have occasionally an amusing anecdote about Ponto, the Captain's 

 do|]f, who seems to have been very expert at swallowing horse-leeches, 

 •which his master, not quite so adroitly, pulls out, and occasionally gets 

 his fingers bitten. He is a great dress-fancier, and descants with all the 

 eloquence of an artist, upon the costumes he saw. He liked some of 

 them so well, that he had one of his own made, the history of which he 

 gives thus : — 



" After breakfast my tailor brought me my Mameluke dress, which is very 

 handsome, and, I think, becoming. It consists of a silk shirt, loose vest of 

 pink and white striped Damascus stufi' with wide open sleeves, braided all 



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