244 TRAVELS IN UPPER 



precious stones. Among persons less opulent, the 

 place of this is supplied by faucets. What goes into 

 the mouth is a morsel of yellow amber, the mild 

 and sweet savour of which, when it is heated or 

 lightly pressed, contributes toward correcting the 

 pungent flavour of the tobacco. To the other ex- 

 tremity of those tubes are adapted very handsome 

 cups of baked clay, and which are commonly de- 

 nominated the nuts of the pipes. Some of them are 

 marbled with various colours, and plated over with" 

 gold-leaf. You find them of various sizes : those 

 in most general use through Egypt are more capa- 

 cious ; they are, at the same time, of greater dis- 

 tention. Almost all of them are imported from 

 Turkey, and the reddish clay of which they are 

 formed is found in the environs of Constantinople. 

 There was a Turk at Rossetta who excelled in this 

 species of manufacture. I took great pleasure 

 sometimes to look over him while at work : a great 

 diversity of small sharp-pointed tools served him to 

 impress, with exquisite delicacy, various designs on 

 the clay in its state of softness ; but the process 

 was long and tedious : his pipe-nuts accordingly 

 sold very dear. I had some from him which cost 

 me so high as 'six franks (five shillings) apiece. 

 Some of them were covered with a capital pierced 

 full of holes, in form of a per fuming- pan f This 

 Turk, who had lived a good deal at Constantino- 

 ple, was not destitute of address ; his shop was the 



resort 



