And the natives could not deceive us." This parrot was
exceedingly tame, and was never confined. It was now walking about the
deck, and while its extraordinary powers were being described by my Bari
interpreter, Morgian, to the amazement and fear of the natives, it
advanced stoutly to the sheik Bedden, and would have bitten his big toe
had he not quickly jumped up and taken leave.
The magnetic battery and the large musical box were also believed to be
magic.
At sunset, the great sheik departed in the best of spirits, with all his
people, as he had drunk a tumbler of Marsala before he started, in order
to try the quality of our merissa.
The population of this country is very large, and the natives are good
agriculturists. Although the soil is stony, it is very productive, as
the cultivation is carefully attended to. Dhurra, sesame, dochan, and
beans, in addition to a species of Hibiscus which produces an edible
seed and also a fine fibre, are sown in exact oblongs or squares
resembling the plots in allotment-grounds in England. Near the villages
are large heaps of manure, collected from the cattle zareebas. These are
mixed with the sweepings of the stations, and the ashes from the
cattle-fires, and are divided when required among the proprietors of the
herds.
