8 THE WALLASMAH MAHOMED. 



lie thought I was not looking at him. Perhaps his 

 fleshy turned up nose might be termed by some 

 physiognomists an aspiring feature, and his chubby 

 mouth, from having lost all his teeth, or nearly so, 

 was continually mumbling something or other, or 

 else munching a little branch of wormwood. I will 

 not charge him with being actually sober, nor 

 would he, I think, have sworn upon the Koran 

 that he was so himself; but a bad headache was 

 pleaded for the narrow rag of blue cotton that 

 bound a large fresh green leaf upon his forehead. 

 This application, I was told, was to produce a 

 sense of coolness in the part affected, and to aid 

 its effects it was frequently wetted by an attendant 

 with water from a gourd shell, carried for this 

 purpose. 



On my going up to speak to the old gentleman, 

 who had already seated himself upon a mat in the 

 round shade of one of the trees, he very politely 

 drew up his legs more under him, and invited me 

 with a wave of his hand to be seated by his side. 

 An inspection of my carabine immediately followed 

 this ; putting it up to his shoulder he glanced 

 his eye along the barrels, and then turned round, 

 with a nod and a sly wink, as if he wished me 

 to believe that he knew all about it. He now 

 asked, through Ohmed Medina, if I had any letters, 

 and never supposing that they would be taken 

 from me, I told him there were two packets which 

 I must deliver to the British Embassy at Ankobar 



