TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 
167 
ward, must have been canvassed among them for many months 
afterwards. 
Why a man or a camel coidd be seen distinctly through a tube, 
when they could scarcely be seen at all, at the same distance, with- 
out it, will afford equal matter for speculation : and the next Euro- 
pean who may visit the tents of our friends will probably hear an 
account of these wonders so much disfigured by misrepresentation, 
and so much exaggerated by the enthusiasm of Arab fancy, as will 
lead him to doubt whether they ever saw what they are describing, 
or to believe that they are telling him some whimsical story which 
has no better foundation than those of the Hundred and one Nights 
or the description of a Mahommedan Paradise. 
W e found the men of Zaffran active, healthy, and well made, and 
the women pretty and well-behaved ; the dress of the former consists 
merely of a coarse baracan, with a red cap, and sandals of earners 
hide. 
The women wore a loose cotton shirt under the baracan, and 
instead of the sandals were furnished with laced boots. They had 
as usual a profusion of rude ornaments, and charms to avert the evil 
eye, and were not at all anxious to keep their faces veiled or to avoid 
the society of strangers. A small looking-glass and a few strings of 
beads were received with delight by the fairer part of this com- 
munity, and a knife, with a few flints, and some powder, were 
accepted very thankfully by the men. 
Our Chaous, who sometimes attended on these occasions, never 
omitted an opportunity of displaying his own knowledge, and took 
