COMPLIMENTS AND PRESENTS 



When I had finished I went out again, and 

 Mohammed Ali, having presented me with a really 

 magnificent ox, spoke for a long time. He began 

 with the usual flowery compliments of the East, and 

 spoke of the friendship he professed for the Govern- 

 ment, of which he had hitherto been unable to offer 

 tangible proof, since no officer had previously visited 

 his country ; he hoped, however, that I should carry 

 away with me pleasant memories of my stay there. 

 He told me that little was known about the roads 

 from here to Lorian, since it was a country that was 

 reputed waterless and inhospitable, and had therefore 

 been avoided by his tribes ; he would return, he said, 

 the followingf morninof, and if he could find two men 

 who knew the road he would see that they should 

 guide me thither. 



His news was not very satisfactory, but I had 

 perforce to be contented. 



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