THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 255 



I was putting my telefcopes and time-keeper in order, 

 and had forbid admittance to any one ; but this was fo holy 

 and fo dignified a perfon, that all doors were open to him. 

 He obferved me working about the great telefcope and 

 quadrant in my fhirt, for it was hot beyond conception upon 

 the fmalleft exertion. Without making any apology for the 

 intrufion at all, he broke out into exclamation, how lucky 

 he was ! and, without regarding me, he went from telefcope 

 to clock, from clock to quadrant, and from that to die ther- 

 mometer, crying, Ah tibe, ah tlbe ! This is fine, this is fine ! 

 He fcarcely looked upon me, or feemed to think I was worth 

 his attention, but touched every thing fo carefully, and 

 handled fo properly the brafs cover of the alidade, which 

 inclofed the horfe-hair with the plummet, that he feemed 

 to be a man more than ordinarily verfed in the ufe of aftro- 

 nomical inftruments. In fhort, not to repeat ufelefs matter 

 to the reader, I found he had ftudied at Conftantinople, un- 

 derftood the principles of geometry very tolerably, was ma- 

 iler of Euclid fo far as it regarded plain trigonometry ; the 

 demonftrations of which he rattled off fo rapidly, that it 

 was impoffible to follow, or to underftand him. He knew 

 nothing of fpherics, and all his aftronomy refolved itfelf at 

 laft into maxims of judicial aftrology, firft and fecond houfes 

 of the planets and afcendancies, very much in the ftvle of 

 common almanacks. 



He defired that my door might be open to him at all 

 times, efpecially when I made obfervations ; he alio knew 

 perfectly the diviiion of our clocks, and begged he might 

 count time for me. All this was eafily granted, and I had 

 from him, what was mod ufeful, a hiftory of the fituation 

 ©£ the government of the place, by which I learned, 



3 that. 



