20 ARABIAN ANE3D0TE. May II, 



*' Judge of the town, before whom they were brought, 

 " not being able to determine the caufe, fent them to the 

 " prince of the country, who, perceiving by their be- 

 *' haviour," that they were perfons of diftinftion, fet 

 " them at liberty, lodged them in his palace, and treat- 

 " ed them with all imaginable refpe(5l. After fome days, 

 '* he took, an occalion of politely rcquefting, that they 

 " would clear up the myftery of the camel, and ex- 

 *' plain how they could poflibly hit upon fa many par- 

 *' ticulars, without ever having feen it. The young 

 '* men fmiled at the importunity of the prince; and af- 

 " ter having returned him abundance of thanks for the 

 *' civilities they had received, the fenior of the bre- 

 " thren thus fpoke : JVe are neither deceivers nor ne- 

 " cromancers; neither did we ufe any other inftruments 

 " of divination than our fenfes and reafon : for my part, 

 " I judged it was blind, becaufe, as we went along, I 

 ** obferved the grafs eaten up on one fide of the road, 

 •' and not on the other. And I, faidthe fecond, gueffed. 

 " it had loft a tooth before, as where the grafs was 

 " cropped clofeft, thtre was conftantly a little tuft left 

 " behind. And I, added tlie third, concluded it was 

 '* lame, becaufe the prints of three feet were diftinft in 

 " the road,whereas the impreffion of the fourth wasblur- 

 '" red ; whence I concluded, that the animal bad dragged 

 " it, and did not fet it to the ground. All this I appre- 

 " hend, faid the King ; but how in the name of won- 

 " der, could you difcover that oil and honey made a 

 " part of its loading ? Why, rejoined the travellers; 

 " This, upon finding our firft furmife was right, we 

 " afterwards conjeftured, from remembering we had 

 •' feen, on one fide of the path, little troops of ants 

 "ferreting the grafs; and on the other, the flies 

 " aflembled here and there in groups, infomuch that 

 " few or none were on the wing." 



Whether, Sir, this eaftern anecdote be true or fslfe, 



matters not much, fince, in either cafe, it exaftly re- 



^prefents vvh.;t it was meant to exprefs, the quick 



