THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 599: 
fays he, I am an afs; | fhould know well enough what 
they faid if they fpoke Greek.”—“ Come, faid I, take a 
draught of this excellent water, and drink with mea health 
to his majefty king George II. anda long line of princes.” I 
had in my hand a large cup made of a cocoa-nut fhell, 
which I procured in Arabia, and Which was brim:full. He 
drank to the king fpeedily and chearfully, with the addition 
of, “ Confufion to his enemies,” and toffed up his cap with a 
loud huzza. “ Now friend, faid I, here is to a more humble, 
but ftilla facred name, here is to—Maria!” He afked if that 
was the Virgin Mary? | anfwered, “ In faith, I believe fo, Stra- 
tes.” He did noc {peak, but only gave a humph of difappro- 
bation... 
Tue day had been very hot, and the altercation I had 
with Woldo had occafioned me to {peak fo much that my 
thirft, without any help from curiofity, led me to thefe fre- 
quent libations at this long fought-for fpring, the mip tt an- 
cient of all altars, “ Strates, {aid I, here is to our happy re- 
turn. Come, friend, you are yet two toafts behind me; can 
you ever be fatiated with this excellent water?’ —“Look you, 
Sir, fays he very gravely, as for king George I drank to him 
with all- my heart, to his wife, to his children, to his bro- 
thers and fifters, God blefs them all! Amen;—but as for the 
Virgin Mary, as lam no Papiit, I beg to be excufed from 
drinking healths which my church does not drink. As.for our. 
happy return, God knows, there is no one wifhes it more 
fincerely than I do, for [ have been long weary of this beg- 
garly country. But you muft forgive me if I refufe to drink 
any more water. They fay thefe favages pray over that 
hole every morning to the devil, and I am afraid I feel 
his horns in my belly already, from. the great draught o: 
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