250 
THE PASHA OF BAGDAD. 
the pasha commanded, that several of the best should be 
brought before him ; out of which, at his request, I chose 
what I esteemed the most valuable, and that was one of little 
exterior ornament, but with a blade well adapted to a soldier’s 
hand. Its temper and beauty could not be exceeded in any 
country.* Our entertainment in the saloon of this Turkish 
chief, differed in some respects from the like hospitable cere¬ 
monies in the courts of Persia. Soon after taking our seats, 
which we did on our entrance, and opposite to the pasha, small 
portions of sweetmeats were presented to us on the end of a 
gold spoon ; which was replenished from a golden saucer, held 
by an attendant in one hand, while he thus appeared to feed us 
with the other. That over, silken towels were spread on our 
knees, and coffee served. These napkins were then changed for 
muslin finely embroidered, and sherbet in costly little cups given 
us to drink. This light regale being finished, our right hands 
received from a silver ewer, a profuse ablution of rose-water, 
which his highness set us the example of bestowing plentifully 
on the beard and mustachios. In order to accomplish our per¬ 
fect fragrance, a kind of censer, filled with all sorts of aromatic 
gums, was held by another attendant for a few seconds near our 
chins; the exquisite exhalations of which were carefully wafted 
by our hands over our faces, till the perfume, uniting itself with 
the essence of rose, insinuated its delightful odours through all 
the rough appendages of our unshaven visages. Here was the 
actual ceremony performed upon us, after eating, which I have 
* In the course of a few days after I had made the selection, the present and the 
pasha’s letter, were dispatched under the charge of one of his highness’s confidential 
servants to Georgia; but unfortunately they never arrived, the messenger having 
been robbed by the Courds near Merdin. 
