Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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It Was Very Proper That Lander Should Make A Return To The Sultan's
Wives For Their Rumps Of Beef, And, Therefore, He Presented Them With
One Or Two Gilt Buttons From His Jacket, And They, Imagining Them To
Be Pure Gold, Fastened Them To Their Ears.
Little, however, did the
Birmingham manufacturer suppose, when he issued these buttons from
his warehouse, that they were destined one day to glitter as pendants
in the ears of the wives of the sultan of Cuttup, in the heart of
Africa; truly may it be said with Shakespeare,
"To what vile uses may we come at last!"
It is very possible, from some cause not worthy here of
investigation, that one of the wives of the sultan had contrived to
obtain a higher place in the estimation of Lander, than any of her
other compeers; but, as a proof that great events from trivial causes
flow, it happened that Lander set the whole court of Cuttup in a
hubbub and confusion by a very simple act, to which no premeditated
sin could be attached, and this act was no other, than presenting one
of the wives of the sultan secretly, clandestinely, and covertly,
with a most valuable article, in the shape of a large darning needle,
which he carried about with him, for the purpose of repairing any
sudden detriment, that might happen to any part of his habiliments. A
female, whether European or African, generally takes a pride in
displaying the presents that have been made her; and the favoured
wife of the sultan no sooner displayed the present which she had
received, than the spirit of jealousy and envy burst forth in the
breast of all the remaining wives.
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