We Reached At Length The King's Tent,
Where We Found A Great Number Of People, Men And Women, Assembled.
Ali
was sitting upon a black leather cushion, clipping a few hairs from his
upper lip; a female attendant holding up a looking-glass before him.
He
appeared to be an old man, of the Arab cast, with a long white beard; and
he had a sullen and indignant aspect. He surveyed me with attention, and
inquired of the Moors if I could speak Arabic: being answered in the
negative, he appeared much surprised, and continued silent. The
surrounding attendants, and especially the ladies, were abundantly more
inquisitive: they asked a thousand questions, inspected every part of my
apparel, searched my pockets, and obliged me to unbutton my waistcoat,
and display the whiteness of my skin: they even counted my toes and
fingers, as if they doubted whether I was in truth a human being. In a
little time the priest announced evening prayers; but before the people
departed, the Moor, who had acted as interpreter, informed me that Ali
was about to present me with something to eat; and looking round, I
observed some boys bringing a wild hog, which they tied to one of the
tent strings, and Ali made signs to me to kill and dress it for supper.
Though I was very hungry, I did not think it prudent to eat any part of
an animal so much detested by the Moors, and therefore told him that I
never eat such food. They then untied the hog in hopes that it would run
immediately at me; for they believe that a great enmity subsists between
hogs and Christians; but in this they were disappointed, for the animal
no sooner regained his liberty, than he began to attack indiscriminately
every person that came in his way, and at last took shelter under the
couch upon which the king was sitting. The assembly being thus dissolved,
I was conducted to the tent of Ali's chief slave, but was not permitted
to enter, nor allowed to touch any thing belonging to it. I requested
something to eat, and a little boiled corn, with salt and water, was at
length sent me in a wooden bowl; and a mat was spread upon the sand
before the tent, on which I passed the night, surrounded by the curious
multitude.
[10] See page 87 [Footnote 9. Transcriber.].
At sunrise, Ali, with a few attendants, came on horseback to visit me,
and signified that he had provided a hut for me, where I would be
sheltered from the sun. I was accordingly conducted thither, and found
the hut comparatively cool and pleasant. It was constructed of corn
stalks set up on end, in the form of a square, with a flat roof of the
same materials, supported by forked sticks; to one of which was tied the
wild hog before mentioned. This animal had certainly been placed there by
Ali's order, out of derision to a Christian; and I found it a very
disagreeable inmate, as it drew together a number of boys, who amused
themselves by beating it with sticks, until they had so irritated the hog
that it ran and bit at every person within its reach.
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