400 ALEXANDRIA. 
CHAP, near to the place •where the sluices were cut 
. through the Canal of Alexandria, for inundating 
the old bed of the Lake Mareotis. The Pasha 
was out on horseback ; and the officers of the 
pavilion, drawn up in two lines, from the en- 
trance of the tent to the rich cushions placed 
for the Pasha at the upper extremity, were 
amusing themselves with the tricks of a buffoon 
kept by the Pasha, who was mimicking the 
state ceremonies of his master when giving 
audience ; consequently, one of his frolics was 
to receive the author as if the Pasha had been 
present. This unusual facetiousness on the 
part of the Turks was soon put to flight by the 
arrival of the great man himself, with his Inter- 
preter ; who no sooner heard the answer to his 
message, than, acting with much less dignity 
than his buffoon, he spat on the ground', 
stamped, and, abruptly quitting the tent. 
(I) The malediction of the Turks, as of other Orieutnl nations, is 
frequently expressed in no other way than by spitlim on the ground, 
of which an instance will he related in the next Chapter. IMay not 
this explain the reason why our Saviour, (who taught to " bless, and 
curse not," and who, in the annihilation of Heathen superstitious, 
frequently uiade the outward sign subservient to opposite purposes of 
grace and benevolence,) when he healed the blind and the deaf, is said 
to have " spat on the ground." See John ix. 6. Mark vii. 33. and 
viii. 23. See also a Note in Chap. IX. f'ol. I. of these Travels, 
where allusion is made to this custom, as practised at a Russian 
Christeuinr. 
