158 TKAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPOET. 



us to follow him, which we did without the least idea 

 of whither it was that we were bound. He led us 

 right across the parade-ground, and into the grand 

 entrance of the barracks. Here we were received by 

 a gentleman who addressed us in Italian, and in- 

 formed us that he was the head physician to the 

 regiment, and the particular friend of the colonel, 

 who was waiting up-stairs to receive us. Up-stairs 

 we went, the doctor preceding us, and volunteering 

 to interpret. The room was a most delightful retreat 

 from the glaring heat of the day. The floor was coolly 

 matted, the walls were nearly bare, the sun was ex- 

 cluded, and nothing hot met the eye. The colonel 

 was sitting on the divan at the upper end of the 

 room. He rose as we entered, and received us most 

 politely. I call him colonel to express the fact of his 

 being at the head of a regiment. But in truth he 

 was a much greater man than such a title is wont to 

 describe. Not only was his regiment so strong in 

 numbers, but he was the military governor of the 

 town ; his correct style in their own language is 

 Miralahi 



"We could see plainly enough that he was a person 

 of some consequence, but the Italian doctor was de- 

 termined to leave us, if possible, no chance of a mis- 

 take in this matter. He interlarded his internunciary 

 discourse with a continual annotation of asides, which 

 became monstrously amusing, seeing that they were 

 spoken in full audience of the individual who was 



