ctitious joy; and
although I was vexed at heart, and wished them, all at the bottom of
the Red Sea, or somewhere else, I have every reason to believe that
my forced attempts to please the natives have so far been successful,
and that I have obtained the reputation, which I certainly do not
deserve, of being one of the pleasantest and best-tempered persons in
the world."

This candid exposition, which Lander gives of his own character is
fully borne out by our own personal observation. On no occasion do we
remember that we ever saw a smile sit upon his countenance, and as to
a laugh, it appeared to be an act which he dreaded to commit. He
seemed always to be brooding over some great and commanding idea,
which absorbed the whole of his mind, and which he felt a
consciousness within him, that he had not the ability to carry into
execution, at the same time that he feared to let a word escape him,
which could give a clue to the subject, which was then working within
him. In this respect, he was not well fitted for a traveller in a
country where, if his nature would not allow him, it became a matter
of policy, if not of necessity, to appear high-hearted and gay, and
frequently to join in the amusements of the people amongst whom he
might be residing. Lander himself was not ignorant of the Arab adage,
"Beware of the man who never laughs;" and, therefore, as he was
likely to be thrown amongst those very people, he ought to have
practised himself in the art of laughing, so as not to rouse their
suspicions, which, it is well known, if once roused, are not again
easily allayed.

To return to the narrative, one of the fetishmen sent them a present
of a duck, almost as large as an English goose; but as the fellow
expected ten times its value in return, it was no great proof of the
benevolence of his disposition. They were now obliged to station
armed men around their house, for the purpose of protecting their
goods from the rapacity of a multitude of thieves that infested this
place, and who displayed the greatest cunning imaginable to
ingratiate themselves with the travellers. On the following morning,
they awoke unrefreshed at daybreak; the noise of children crying, the
firing of guns, and the discordant sound of drums and horns,
preventing them from enjoying the sweetness of repose, so infinitely
desirable, after a long day spent in a routine or tiresome ceremony
and etiquette.

On the 24th March, one of the chief messenger