320 
THE kihge apology. 
[chap. XI. 
him on the spot. At the same time I explained to 
him that in my country such insolence would entail 
bloodshed, and that I looked upon him as an ignorant 
ox who knew no better, and that this excuse alone 
could save him. My wife, naturally indignant, had 
risen from her seat, and maddened with the excitement 
of the moment, she made him a little speech in Arabic 
(not a word of which he understood), with a counte¬ 
nance almost as amiable as the head of Medusa. Alto¬ 
gether the mise en scene utterly astonished him; the 
woman Bacheeta, although savage, had appropriated 
the insult to her mistress, and she also fearlessly let fly 
at Kamrasi, translating as nearly as she could the 
complimentary address that “ Medusa” had just de¬ 
livered. 
Whether this little coup de theatre had so im¬ 
pressed Kamrasi with British female independence that 
he wished to be off his bargain, I cannot say, but with 
an air of complete astonishment, he said, “ Don’t be 
angry ! I had no intention of offending you by asking 
for your wife; I will give you a wife, if you want one, 
and I thought you might have no objection to give me 
yours ; it is my custom to give my visitors pretty 
wives, and I thought you might exchange. Don’t 
make a fuss about it; if you don’t like it, there’s an end 
of it; I will never mention it again.” This very prac¬ 
tical apology I received very sternly, and merely insisted 
upon starting. He seemed rather confused at having 
committed himself, and to make amends he called his 
people and ordered them to carry our loads. His men 
ordered a number of women who had assembled out of 
curiosity, to shoulder the luggage and to carry it to 
the next village where they would be relieved. I 
assisted my wife upon her ox, and with a very cold 
adieu to Kamrasi, I turned my back most gladly on 
M’rooli. 
The country was a vast flat of grass land inter¬ 
spersed with small villages and. patches of sweet pota¬ 
toes ; these were very inferior, owing to the want of 
