RISE, DECLINE, AND FALL OF YUSEF BADRA. 411 
fering himself to be caught by their snares; he declared that 
they were as cunning as so many devils, and that a man might 
as well undertake to live without eating or drinking, as to 
avoid the snares of woman; in short, as he had often said 
before, that the female sex was the root of all evil. 
Scarcely a town on the coast, as we drew near Beirut, was 
free from these temptations. At xAcre, we slept in a very fine 
house, owned by the husband of Yusef’s most beautiful niece. 
This one he hated more than all the rest, because she was 
more malicious. She made him drunk so soon, that when he 
brought us in our supper, it was with difficulty he could stand 
upright; and all the English he remembered was the burden 
of a song which I had taught him on the road, in the hope of 
overcoming his absurd prejudice against womankind. Even 
that he was puzzled to get exactly right. At first he had it: 
c£ Oh, believe me, if all those endearing young arms, 
Which are twined round me fondly to-day, 
Were to change by to-morrow, and lose all their charms—” 
And then finding himself at a loss for what was to follow, he 
began again: 
“ Oh, endear me, if all those believing young arms 
Were to twine round me fondly to-day, 
I’d change by to-morrow, and fleet in those charms—” 
But that was not right; he thought he must have been right 
at first: 
u Oh, gaze on me fondly, if all those young charms, 
Which are twined round my arms to-day—” 
And so on, till I was forced in self-defense to request silence, 
and sing the song myself, which so inspired Yusef that he 
danced all around the room; then made a fierce and sudden 
attack upon Francesco, the boy, whom he conquered in a mo¬ 
ment ; and finally declared he loved his glorious General, he 
loved the tall Southerner, and he loved Francesco, and he 
loved Syed Sulemin, and he loved Tokina the ass; nay, by 
heavens ! he almost loved his niece ! In this happy frame of 
mind, he retired to remote and unknown parts of the house, 
