314 THE GENERAL USE 



mander in Shoa (the British Ambassador) at the 

 price of three dollars each tobe, and of ten dollars 

 the piece of bine sood, much to his great gain and 

 emolument. At the same time, the cunning fellow 

 expected at the end of our journey, to have given 

 to him all the original and much more valuable 

 presents, as a kind of perquisite belonging to his 

 office as Has ul Kafilah. 



Tobacco, in all its forms, is eagerly sought for 

 by the Dankalli ; their constant asking for it is 

 one of the principal annoyances a traveller experi- 

 ences in passing through Adal. A very little, 

 however, sends the sturdy beggars away quite 

 satisfied, and if it were not for the numbers of them, 

 their moderate expectations would be a source of 

 amusement, for a thimbleful is received with a 

 great deal more thankfulness than a handful, which, 

 if bestowed, they look at with a kind of feeling, 

 that if you can afford to give so much, there is no 

 harm done in asking you for a little more. 



The sort of tobacco I saw most general among these 

 people was the dried leaf, unprepared in any other 

 manner than by mere exposure to the sun after 

 being gathered. The Bedouins used it rudely 

 crushed between the fingers, and well mixed up 

 with an equal quantity of fine wood ashes. This 

 rough powder is placed between the cheek and the 

 lower jaw, where it forms a large lump, which is 

 allowed to remain until all the bitter or active prin- 

 ciple of the mass is extracted. It makes a most 



