416 
A CRUSADE IN THE EAST. 
had an indescribably pleasant effect. It seemed quite like 
returning home, after a long absence. I thought, when we 
drew up in the neat front yard of Demetrie’s Hotel, that it 
was the cleanest and most pleasant-looking place I had ever 
seen ; that the Arabs lounging about were all dandies of the 
first rank in the world of fashion; that Demetrie was the 
finest-looking man, with his splendid mustache and Albanian 
costume, that could be found in the whole East; and, in 
short, that every thing and every body looked wonderfully 
new and civilized. 
Yusef was not there. He had arrived ; had embraced his 
friend Demetrie, who admitted that he was a little under the 
influence of arrack; and, as well as we could understand 
from the drift of Demetrie’s hints, had gone off to see one of 
his nieces, to whom he had a letter from another niece in 
Jerusalem. 
It was not until after breakfast the next morning, that we 
enjoyed the pleasure of seeing Yusef. He was standing out 
in the front yard, dressed in the most gorgeous of Oriental 
costumes. His turban was of the richest texture and most 
flashing colors ; his vest actually glittered with gilded em¬ 
broidery and silver buttons ; his sash was of flaming vermil¬ 
ion ; his sword and atagar of Damascus, dazzled the eye as 
they swung by his side in the morning sun-beams; his legs 
were swathed in crimson velvet; and his feet seemed to spurn 
the earth in the glory of yellow embroidered slippers, the 
richest productions of Aleppo. I declare, without exaggera¬ 
tion, when I saw him thus encircled by an admiring crowd, 
rolling out torrents of rich Arabic, as he gracefully waved his 
hands in the air, showing with what ease he had encountered 
the Bedouins from Damascus to the Dead Sea, I thought he 
was the most graceful, warlike, and distinguished-looking man 
the world had ever produced. When I approached and said: 
“ Good-morning, Yusef; how do you do ?” it was really flat¬ 
tering to my feelings, the mingled dignity and deference with 
which he bowed to me, and the Oriental richness of the fig¬ 
ures of speech which he made use of in returning the compli¬ 
ments of the morning. 
