186 OIL OF SESAME. 



rity of the pasha, and which we carried with us. 

 He, however, took very good care to open his 

 eyes wide enough when we were about to depart, 

 and, with a due regard to his own interest, 

 affected to consider the present we gave him as 

 backshish as scarcely worthy his acceptance. Of 

 course he was not satisfied, and, as usual, wanted 

 more, although it was a piece of gratuitous ge- 

 nerosity on our part the giving him any thing 

 at all. 



In the neighbourhood of Caterina there are no 

 olives, and a good deal of the oil which they use 

 is extracted from a grain called sesame. This 

 grain, the same we have been accustomed to hear 

 of in the Forty Thieves, is a good deal used by 

 Greeks to ornament the bread on festivals, a few 

 grains being scattered over the tops of the loaves. 

 The flavour of the grain is peculiar, and, in my 

 opinion, any thing but agreeable ; it has a hot, 

 parched kind of taste, and on this account I 

 found some of the oil which I had procured at 

 Caterina to grease my face and lips produce a 

 very disagreeable effect, and so far from softening, 

 as I had intended, it served rather to dry and 

 parch them. I have always found the best remedy 



