360 TRAVELS IN UPPER 



twomedinas* was enough to satisfy them. The 

 old ones perceiving that these trifling presents were 

 bestowed more willingly on the young, took care to 

 employ them as their solicitors, in order to awaken 

 our interest and our benevolence. They laughed 

 outright when they found that this attention had 

 good success, and above all when they remarked 

 that the young girls became the objects of some 

 tender glances. Whilst my companions were hold- 

 ing a pretty lively conversation with the youthful 

 Arabs, I was surrounded by a group of old women 

 horribly ugly ; they had, to appearance, judged 

 me to be more generous than the others ; they 

 obliged me to remain in the midst of them, and 

 would not permit me to proceed. I had a thou- 

 sand difficulties to make my escape, and I congra- 

 tulated m} self sincerely on getting out of this circle 

 of importunate old women, whose decrepit and 

 blackish figures were rendered still more hideous 

 by several black compartments which they had 

 formed on the chin by pricking the skin of it. 



There were in these gardens turtle-doves, 

 thrushes, blackbirds, and upon the date-trees 

 some large beaks -j~. I saw here also two birds of 

 prey, of the species formerly described as a species 



* The medina in Turkey, parat, is a piece in which there 

 is a small portion of silver, and is worth rather more than a 

 halfpenny. 



f Gios bee. Buffon, Hist. Nat. des Ois. et pi. enlijm. No. 

 99. — Loxia coccothaustes. Lin. 



Of 



