THE OLD SULTANA. 
97 
hoe ! To get rid of the subject, I asked him to sell me 
his forefinger, and said that twenty cows wouldn't buy 
my umbrella, which at last made him understand my 
meaning, as they value everything by cattle. The 
natives had great faith in the "Wazoongoo," white 
men. Our very paper, which they called "pupolo," 
was considered by some to have virtues ; but we hadn't 
much of it to give, having had no communication with 
England for nearly a year. 
The custom of the Arab in this country is to take 
presents for everything he does, and the same idea was 
formed of us. For instance, if a gun had to be re- 
paired, a bullet to be extracted, an old sultan to be 
cured of dimness of vision, or the split lobe of an ear 
to be mended, for any of these services a cow or cows 
were at hand to be paid when the task was finished. 
When slaves were brought us for sale and declined, 
they could not understand our indifference to such 
traffic, but would turn from us with a significant shrug, 
as much as to say, "Why are you here, then V 
Every morning the sultana and myself met, cordially 
shaking hands and asking how the night had been 
passed ; previously to this her grandchildren had been 
in to her bedside, bidding good-morning. Every re- 
spect was paid the old lady by her family and by the 
lower classes, who stooped, knelt, or twice clapped 
their hands as they met her. She was active like her 
husband, an excellent housewife, gave herself no airs, 
but still maintained her dignity. She might be seen 
nursing an infant, kindly carrying it about on her 
back, or at times shouldering a log of firewood. If I 
had refused pombe from her husband and son, she 
would bring me a cupful, put it to her lips, and with 
G 
