﻿82 REMARKS ON THE ISLAND 



of civilization in Il'mzuan would have appeared 

 at its lowest ebb. The worst English hacknev in the 

 worst stable is better lodged, and looks more princely 

 than this heir apparent ; but though his mien and 

 apparel were extremely savage, yet allowance should 

 have been made for his illness; which, as we after- 

 wards learned, was an abscess in the spleen: a disor- 

 der not uncommon in that country, and frequently 

 Cured, agreeably to the Arabian practice, by the actual 

 cautery. He was incessantly chewing pieces of the 

 Areca-nnt with shell-lime : a custom borrowed, I sup- 

 pose, from the Indians, who greatly improve the 

 composition with spices and betel-leaves, to which 

 they formerly added camphor: all the natives of 

 rank chewed it, but not, 1 think, to so great an ex- 

 cess. Prince Salim from time to time gazed at him- 

 self with complacency in a piece of broken looking- 

 glass, which was glued on a small board : a specimen 

 of wretchedness, which we observed in no other 

 house; but many circumstances convinced us that 

 the apparently low condition of his royal highness, 

 who was not on bad terms with his father, and seem- 

 ed not to want authority, proceeded wholly from his 

 avarice. His brother Hamdullah, who generally re- 

 sides in the town of Domoni, has a very different cha- 

 racter, being esteemed a man of worth, good sense, 

 and learning : he had come, the day before, to Mai- 

 samudo, on hearing that an English frigate was in the 

 road ; and I, having gone out for a few minutes to 

 read an Arabic inscription, found him on my return 

 devouring a manuscript which I had left with some of 

 the company. He is a Kadi or Mohammedan judge ; 

 and as he seemed to have more knowledge than his 

 countrymen, I was extremely concerned that I had so 

 little conversation with him. The king, Shaikh Ah- 

 med, has a younger son, named Abdullah, whose usual 

 residence is in the town of JVani, which he seldom 

 leaves, as the state of his health is very infirm. 

 Since the succession to the title and authority of Suh 



