He Was As Clever In Lashing Up
A Van With Raw Hide As In Preparing A Dinner At The Shortest Notice, And
His Mayonnaise Would Have Raised The Envy Of Many A Professor In
England.
His English varied like his dishes, and upon certain days there
was a considerable vagueness in his language, while at other times he
expressed himself clearly.
Upon one of these foggy intervals I asked him
"Why the people had made so much noise during the night?" and he
replied, that "A little hen-horse had made one child in the stable!" He
intended to explain that a pony had foaled in the stable. When he first
joined us he frequently rambled and confused his genders, and termed all
females "hens," which at times had almost as ludicrous an effect as the
mistakes of my African cook, who invariably called "cocks and hens"--
"bulls and women." I never had so useful a man in travelling, as he
excelled at tent pitching and arranging the luggage on pack-animals, and
took the lead in everything; in addition to which he showed a great
interest in interpreting, which is a rare quality in a dragoman.
We selected a road upon higher ground for our return to Lefkosia, and
thus avoided the watercourses which had caused so much vexation and
delay upon our former journey. The first night's halt was at the long
stone bridge across the Pedias river, about twenty miles from Kuklia,
opposite the village of Kythrea at four miles distance--this was only
constructed eight years ago, and it was already rendered impassable by
the overflow of the torrent, which had carried away a considerable
portion.
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