SAYYID SAID. 



301 



the latter was also said to have done in his 

 younger days. The Arab prince had lowered 

 himself in the eyes of his subjects by represent- 

 ing himself to be a Shiah. She called him a 

 dog-Sunni, and upon this ground she demanded 

 instant divorce. The Sayyid despatched two 

 confidential elders with orders to represent that 

 his spouse could not legally claim such indulg- 

 ence : a singular bastinado upon the soles of 

 their feet soon made the venerable learned dis- 

 cover that divine right was upon the lady's side. 

 Her next exploit was to bowstring, in jealousy, a 

 Katirchi (muleteer) with whom she had in- 

 trigued ; and, driven from Shiraz by the fame of 

 this exploit, she died at Kazimayn, in child-bed, 

 her lover being this time a Hammamchi, or 

 bath- servant. 



In a.d. 1833, four years after the death of 

 Hadama I., the Sayyid formed matrimonial de- 

 signs upon the person of Ranavola Manjaka, 

 Queen of the Hovas, and a personage somewhat 

 more redoubtable than our good Queen Bess. 

 Amongst his envoys on this occasion was one 

 Khamisi wa Tani, who, under the Arabized name 

 Khamis bin Osman, presently played some 

 notable tricks upon the credulous ' compara- 

 tive geographer,' Mr W. D. Cooley. The envoys 



