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"What is written in the perspicuous volume of truth," replied the priest, "admits neither of doubt nor disputation; there is not a word in the Koran concerning the days of six months' duration, neither of the nights, therefore I disbelieve it, because it is impossible."

Kaif," said the Levantine, " do as you please, but truth is one:"-a very common expression of the Arabs, and is generally the ne plus ultra in an argument.

The host was a merry sort of fellow, who made a jest of every subject, and a butt of every man, even of the priest: the guests dropped off one by one the Levantine and myself got a nod to remain; and when we were quite alone the rakee bottle was produced, it circulated briskly; and the politicians who had just departed were turned into ridicule by the host.

"You might as well talk to a gamous, a buffalo," said he, "as to that lawyer, of any thing except bribery: it was a folly, hakkim, to contradict him about the geography of England, you might as well reason with a pastek, a watermelon, for he has no more brains."

I left my worthy host singing an interminable

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Arab ditty to the air of Malbrook, over the second bottle of rakee, and I could not help observing, what I had often done before in Turkey, that the winebibber was seldom a fanatic; from what cause I know not, unless it was from his loving what the Christian liked, and that being sympathy.

I am, dear Sir,

Yours very truly,

R. R. M.

LETTER XLI.

TO MRS. E. FORDE.

MY DEAR MADAM,

Alexandria, Nov. 6, 1827.

THIS is the last time I am likely to have the pleasure of addressing you from the shores of Egypt. The lengthening chain which I have been dragging for some years now only attaches me to "the land of bondage" by the last link, and in a few days it shall be broken.

I embarked on board an English brig at Sour for Damietta, congratulating myself on my escape from many perils which I fondly hoped were all at an end; but the evening of our departure we observed a suspicious looking vessel hovering about us for some hours; she stood in for Sour at nightfall, and we saw nothing of her till the following morning. She did not keep us long in suspense; her boats were soon out, and in the

course of a quarter of an hour we were the lawful prize of a Greek pirate, having a cargo of Turkish tobacco on board, with false papers from the Consul, purporting the cargo to be his property; while in a private letter the Greek Captain discovered the real Arab papers of the Syrian merchants. A strong rope was fastened to our bows, and we were towed in the wake of the Greek brig, which mounted eighteen guns and was manned by ninety men. In the evening the Captain sent us the pleasing information that we were bound for Napoli di Romania, and directed us to follow all his movements.

My first interview with him was any thing but agreeable, he insisted that I was a Turk, one of Mohammed Ali's people, who had been in England; no Englishman, he said, could have so long a beard or brown a complexion; I showed him my passport, but he threw it on the deck; I then took some pearl crosses from my pocket, which I had purchased in Bethlehem, and asked him if Turks were in the habit of carrying Christian emblems? this staggered him a little, but I thoroughly convinced him I was an Englishman by ordering up some wine, and plying him with

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potations pottle deep." I became quite a favourite, and the following day he sent his boat for me to go aboard his brig to dinner. I found him in the cabin already half drunk with rosoglio, several bottles of which I observed about the cabin, which he told me he had taken from a Genoese vessel. While we were at dinner, word was brought to him that a Turkish ship of war was in sight; he ordered the decks to be cleared and the guns run out, and gave me my choice of remaining on board, or going back to my own vessel, I chose the latter. The Turkish vessel was at a great distance; we could plainly see she was pressing all sail to get clear of us; but the Greek chased her, and in about two hours she was boarded instead of being a vessel of war, she turned out to be an Arab schooner, bound for Syria, freighted with rice and corn, and carrying twenty Turkish passengers, most of whom were Turks from Damascus and Tripoly, and richly dressed; she was soon laid along-side of us, towed as we were; and in the course of an hour I saw the Captain armed with a yatican, and a dozen of his people going on board her. It