CHAP. Y. 
ZUELA. 
213 
phosphoric match-box, were the most admired, and of course in 
great danger of being broken. A venerable Shreef, named Moham- 
med Ali, came late, and it was therefore necessary to go through 
my exhibition a second time, at which he seemed highly gratified. 
He paid me great compUments on my sagacity in having turned 
Moslem, and invited me to an assembly at the great Mosque on the 
Friday following. 
The inhabitants of Zuela are nearly all white, and Shreefs, and 
they are particularly careful about intermarriages with other Arabs, 
priding themselves much on their immediate descent from Moham- 
med. They are certainly the most respectable, hospitable, and 
quiet people in Fezzan, and their whole appearance (for they are 
handsome and very neatly dressed) bespeaks something superior to 
the other whites. I observed this evening that these people, as well 
as all other Arabs and Negroes, invariably express admiration by 
laughter, which is generally accompanied by holding the open hand 
with the back towards the forehead. The more they are surprised 
or amused, the more boisterous and loud they become. 
December 23rd. Thermometer 9°, wind easterly. This morning 
my curiosity was much excited respecting a very extraordinary 
fowl, of which the Shreef, Mohammed el Dthabi, last night told me 
some wonderful stories. He described it as being almost white, 
and above a foot and a half in height ; very stately and dignified 
in its gait. He had brought a cock and a hen from Egypt, and 
what was most remarkable, though the cock crowed very loud, and 
unhke other cocks, the hen crowed also, and nearly as well as her 
mate. The eggs were very large, and an omelette, which he brought 
me, was composed of five of them, though, from its size, I really 
thought twenty would have been requisite. A very large crowd 
assembled to witness what would be my surprise at the sight of 
this creature, and while the Sidi went out to fetch it, each told me 
