THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 525
made at Tunis, about five yards long, with a filk fringe of the fame colour; it was as beautiful a web of (ilk as ever I faw ; it had a fmall waved pattern wrought in it ; the nexr was a yellow, with a red narrow border, or flripe, and a filver- wrought fringe, but neither fo long nor fo thick as the other; the next were two Cyprus manufactured fames, filk and cotton, with a fattin flripe, the one broader than the other, but five yards long each ; the next was a Perfian pipe, with a long pliable tube, or worm, covered with Turkey lea- ther, with an amber mouth- piece, and a chryftal vale for fmoking tobacco through water, a great luxury in the eaft- ern countries ; the next were two blue bowls, as fine as the one he had juft then broken, and of the fame fort. He moved them from him, laughing, and faid, " I will not take them from you, Yagoube ; this is downright robbery; I have done nothing for this, which is a prefent for a king."—" It is a prefent to a friend, faid I, often of more confequence to a ftranger than a king; I always except your king, who is the ftranger's beft friend."—" Though he was not eafily difcon- certed, he feemed, at this time, to be very nearly fo."— " If you will not receive them, continued I, fuch as they arc of- fered, it is the greater! affront ever was put upon me; I can never, you know, receive them again."
By this he was convinced. More feeble arguments would indeed have fatisfied him, and he folded up the napkin with all the articles, and gave them to an officer ; after which the tent was again cleared for confultation ; and, during this time, he had called his man of confidence, whom he -was to fend with us, and inftrucled him properly. I faw plainly that I had gained the afcendant ; and, in the expectation of Bias Michael's fpeedily coming to Gondar, he was as willing
to
