CiiAr. LXVIL PRESENTS TO SI'dI A'LAWA'tE. 439 
had undertaken to protect me : but my feeling of se- 
curity was soon destroyed, this very man turning out 
my greatest tormentor. I had destined for him a 
very handsome gift, consisting of a fine cloth berniis, 
a cloth kaftan, and two tobes, one of silk and the 
other of indigo-dyed cotton, besides some smaller 
articles ; but he was by no means satisfied with these, 
and peremptorily raised the present to the following 
formidable proportions : — 
Shells. 
Two blue bernuses of the best quality, worth - 100,000 
One kaftan - 40,000 
Two waistcoats ; one red and one blue - - 15,000 
Two silk tobes - 35,500 
Two Nupe tobes ------ 30,000 
A pair of small pistols, with 7 lbs. of fine powder 
Ten Spanish dollars - 
Two English razors, and many other articles 
While levying this heavy contribution upon me, in 
order to take from the affair its vexatious character, 
my host stated, that as their house and their whole esta- 
blishment were at my disposal, so my property ought 
to be at theirs. But even this amount of property did 
not satisfy him, nor were his pretensions limited to 
this ; for, the following day, he exacted an almost 
equal amount of considerable presents from me, such 
as two cloth kaftans, two silk hamail, or sword belts, 
three other silk tobes, one of the species called jelkibi, 
one of that called harir, and the third of the kind 
called filfil, one Niipe tobe, three turkedis, a small 
six-barrelled pistol, and many other things. He pro- 
F F 4 
