Chap. XXXVII. 
be'lem. 
523 
reached Belem at about two o'clock ; but before we 
arrived there a circumstance happened which I must 
not omit to mention, as it is rather characteristic : 
for suddenly two of Mohammed Lowel's servants ap- 
peared with the horse which Billama had sold to the 
governor for the price of twenty slaves, returning it 
under some pretext, but in reality for no other reason 
than because he was afraid lest it might operate by 
way of charm, and injure him. Billama was to have 
received the slaves in the towns still before us. 
We stayed in Belem this day and the following ; and 
I was pestered a little by the family of old Mallem 
Delil, but particularly by his daughter, rather a hand- 
some person, who had been divorced from her former 
husband (I think Mansur, the younger brother of 
Mohammed Lowel), and wanted me by all means to 
write her a charm to get her another husband after 
her heart's desire. She was a very passionate sort of 
woman, and when smelling, against my wish, from 
my phial of hartshorn, was seized with such violent 
convulsions, that she was carried senseless out of my 
tent, and remained in this state for nearly an hour. 
The stay here was the more disagreeable to me as it 
was caused partly by the trading propensities of my 
servant Bii-Sad ; and not only did he buy ivory, which 
he had the insolence to add to the loads of my weak 
camels, but even three slaves, so that I was obliged 
to dismiss him instantly from my service, although 
I had nothing wherewith to pay him off. It is 
extremely difficult for a single European to proceed 
