152 
A MOORISH BEAUTY. 
increasing her complaint ; it was necessary however to 
satisfy her, under penalty of being considered disobliging. 
Convinced that cleanliness was the best remedy I could pre- 
scribe, to force her to it, I diluted with a considerable quan- 
tity of water a sniall portion of sulphat of quinine, and de- 
sired her to wash her eyes with it ; she insisted that I should 
perform this operation myself, unfortunately the water, pene- 
trating to her eyes, made them smart a little : upon which 
she flew into a rage, loaded me with abuse, and in conclu- 
sion, cursed both the doctor and his medicines. From that 
time she gave me no more sangleh. 
This incident did not destroy their confidence in my 
saphies, to the credit of which moreover old Aly had con- 
tributed by a falsehood ; having asserted that when I left 
Timbuctoo my abdomen was much swelled, and that I wrote 
in a book, washed my writing in water, and drank this 
liquor, which cured me. 
An old woman long tormented me to procure a husband 
for her daughter ; she dragged me, at length, against my 
will into her tent, which belonged to a neighbouring camp, 
promising me a draught of cheni in recompense. Here I 
saw the object of her maternal solicitude ; a girl about 
twenty years of age, repulsively ugly, clothed in rags, the 
filthiness of which could only be equalled by that of her 
person. Her left cheek was covered by a scar, and she had 
sore eyes. Her whole figure presented the most revolting 
appearance imaginable ; and I perceived at a glance the 
cause of her mother's anxiety to get her married by 
means of a charm. 1 felt that it was quite beyond my art to 
accomplish such a prodigy. To induce me however to 
exert all my skill, the old woman offered me a piece of dried 
meat, which she took out of a large leathern sack, where^ 
from its state of putrefaction, it might have been deposited 
on the day that her amiable daughter was born. Notwith- 
standing the repugnance which I manifested, the mother in- 
