Chap. XLII. FRIENDLY SERVICES. 
145 
drawers ; for they began to feel the cold at night very 
severely, and on these occasions the very respectable 
Haj Edris had to play the part of a royal laundress. 
Already, during our hibernal stay in the country 
of Air, we had been obliged to accommodate our old 
and austere friend A'nnur and his numerous relatives 
with our Turkish waistcoats : but we had not yet 
condescended to give away our under-clothing; and 
being ourselves extremely poor and destitute in every 
respect, it was certainly not a little privation we 
imposed upon ourselves. The clothes of the sheikh 
and his vizier were all very wide, and not fit for 
keeping out the cold. I have repeatedly had occa- 
sion to mention how sensitive the Africans are to 
cold ; and 1 am persuaded that, in the burning regions 
of Central Africa, a good cargo of warm under- 
clothing would find a ready sale, especially if it 
should arrive in the months of December and 
January. But neither did our noble hosts, on their 
part, fail to do everything in their power to render 
our situation as comfortable as possible; and it was 
very satisfactory to see how anxious the vizier was to 
supply us with all desirable information. 
One evening at a late hour, when I was reposing 
in my tent and about to go to bed, he sent for me 
in the greatest hurry, as if my life or death were at 
stake ; and upon hastening thither, anxious to hear 
what was the matter, I was told that the vizier had 
been informed of a person being in the encampment 
VOL. III. L 
