dim, and pressing that hand he was to
press no more, he expired without a groan.

"Having performed the last office of friendship, Omar pursued his way:
but, a few days after, lost in devout contemplation, or overwhelmed with
sorrow, he wandered from his associates in the caravan, and was not
sensible of his situation, till involved in one of those whirlwinds,
which, raising into the air the sandy soil of that country, generally
prove destructive. Falling on his face, the fury of the blast, and the
thick cloud of sand passed over him: almost suffocated with dust,
notwithstanding the precaution he had taken, separated from the
companions of his journey, without water to moisten his parched mouth,
and fainting for want of sustenance, he gave himself up for a lost man,
the stream of life was propelled with difficulty, perception and
sensation began to fail, and believing himself in the agonies of death,
he poured forth a mental ejaculation to Allah.

"An angel of light immediately stood before him, waving his hand thrice
towards the holy city, and pronouncing deliberately three mysterious
words; a limpid stream suddenly gushed from the ground, and a luxuriant
shrub sprung forth from the barren sand of the desert; bathing the
temples, the eyes, and the lips of Omar, with the refreshing fluid, the
celestial messenger disappeared.

"The cool stream, and the berries plucked from the miraculous tree, soon
recovered the sinking man; he poured forth his soul in thanksgiving, and
sunk into a deep sleep, from which he awoke in full vigour and spirits.

"Omar, with renewed strength, soon rejoined the caravan, and relating
the supernatural circumstance, a mosque was erected on the spot, by the
zeal and contributions of true believers; coffee, that wonderful shrub,
the peculiar gift of our prophet, and more particularly the produce of
his favourite country, still continues the solace, cordial, and
comforter of his devoted followers."

This singular specimen of Turkish superstition, in which the Mahometan
appears to have encroached on the prerogatives of the Vatican, is taken
from a curious book, which, previous to the Gallic revolution, was in
the library of the king of France, and presented to Louis the fifteenth,
by Said, an ambassador from the Porte to the court of Versailles.

It is called in the title page, Dgihan Numa, that is, a description of
the world, and was printed at Constantinople, in seventeen hundred and
thirty-