330 OFFER OF MARRIAGE. 



ship ; and to induce them to accompany us for the 

 next two or three days, until we were out of that 

 part of the country through which the Wahama 

 people commanded the road, he promised each of 

 the four men half a dollar. The youngest of the 

 women it was proposed should live with me, but 

 I was ungallant enough to object to this, for, 

 although I did not mind her sitting in the hut 

 during the day, I would insist on her not remaining 

 there for the night. She did not seem to under- 

 stand this at all, and I could not explain to her 

 a morality of which she had no idea, so I gave 

 Zaido a piece of sood to free me from the lady's 

 presence. He, however, mistook my meaning 

 altogether, and, being a stingy kind of a character, 

 intimated with some dumby kind of antics, that 

 it was all right without such a sacrifice as 

 that. I could not stand this, so hurried off to 

 Ohmed Medina, and explained to him that as I 

 was a Christian it was not exactly right for me to 

 take a Mahomedan wife, especially as I was not 

 going to become a settler in these parts. He very 

 good-naturedly came and relieved me i from my 

 dilemma, by saying I was an invalid, and the 

 woman taking the hint, instead of sleeping in my 

 hut, laid down her mat, like Ruth at the feet of 

 Boaz, and slept across the entrance. 



