THE AUTHOR TURNED PHYSICIAN. 49 
CHAPTER II. 
The author is forced to turn physician. — Distrust of the Moors. — Descrip- 
tion of the camp of King Lam Khate, — Schools. — Amusement of the 
women. 
On the 16th the king was indisposed; he sent for me and 
inquired if I could tell him of any herb which would ease 
him. I promised to make an excursion to look for some ; 
and accordingly I ranged the neighbourhood, and found 
abundance of sweet basil, a plant which grows spontaneously 
in a rich soil ; I gathered also a number of seeds, which I 
concealed with care in a corner of my pagne. When I re- 
turned, I gave the sweet basil to the king, and advised him 
to make tea of it ; he drank it and found himself better. 
The properties of this plant are entirely unknown to the 
Moors, and the circumstance made a great noise in the 
camp. All the princes sent for me to their tents, to consult 
me on their various complaints, and to ask me for remedies. 
A quack would have taken advantage of this event to levy 
contributions upon their credulity, and I do not doubt that 
one of their own marabouts would have played them this 
game ; but I gave them simply the most innocent remedies, 
things indeed which I knew to be harmless, whenever I was 
compelled to prescribe. I was not ill-pleased with this 
transient celebrity, for it procured me the advantage of ram- 
bling about in the country without exciting suspicion, under 
pretence of collecting medicinal herbs. 
On the 20th of September, before sun-rise, I set off to visit 
the chain of hills two miles east of our camp. 1 crossed, on 
my way, a plain of rich black sand, intersected by ravines 
covered with luxuriant vegetation. I made my way to the 
VOL. I. fj 
