166 TKAVEL, ADVENTUEE, AND SPORT. 



hot. Cool mats covered the tesselated floor within, 

 and without the eye was refreshed by gushing water, 

 and by the deep green of the orange and lemon trees. 

 Truly, one might be in a worse billet on a hot day ! 



But nothing edible appeared, nor any table, nor 

 other appliance whose presence we are wont to asso- 

 ciate with the idea of dinner. One might almost 

 have supposed the kiosk to be the drawing-room 

 reserved for the collecting together of the guests 

 before their proceeding to the banquet. Our host 

 had picked up another friend in the course of the 

 morning, so that, with ourselves and the doctor, he 

 had a very respectable party. 



We had been but a short time sitting in that state 

 of palpable waiting for dinner, which from St James's 

 to Otaheite is one and the same recognised misery, 

 when our host propounded to us, through the doctor, 

 the following thesis : 



" There are different modes of dining, according to 

 different nations." The proposition was axiomatic : 

 we looked assent, and waited for what was to come 

 next. 



"The English have their way, the French theirs, 

 and the Turks theirs. How will you dine to-day ? " 



" Like true Osmanlis," we cried, emphatically and 

 enthusiastically. " Truly, mine host, we have capital 

 appetites, and, moreover, an old proverb on our side." 



Now, it is not to be supposed that this worthy 

 gentleman could really have given us an entertain- 



