ngevity."

"And also of intoxication," replied the princess. "They will be
produced at the banquet of the king; and, O sir! be temperate, very
temperate, in the use of them."

I promised that I would, and we continued our walk to the porticos of
the palace, where I pointed to the statues of blue chalcedony, and
begged her to inform me by whom they had been executed, and why they
were all in such grotesque and absurd positions.

"That is a question which I cannot answer, further than that they were
made in the island. We must now return, as the king's banquet will be
ready."

We sat down at the table of the king, that is to say, I and my
companions; for no courtiers, male or female, were permitted to have the
same honour. Each lady stood behind the person who had been intrusted
to her charge, and waited upon him. My gallantry, as a Frenchman, was
sorely wounded at the idea of my charming princess performing the duties
of a menial, and I expressed my feelings to her in a low tone of voice.
She shook her head, as if to rebuke me, and I said no more. When we had
finished the banquet, his majesty ordered the water of the golden
fountain to be produced, which it immediately was, by those in
attendance, and extolling its virtues, desired a cup to be filled for
each guest, which was handed to him by the attendant ladies.

As the princess presented the cup, she contrived to press one of her
fingers against mine, before she removed them, to remind me of my
promise. I drank but sparingly, but the effects were instantaneous--my
spirits rose buoyant, and I felt a sort of intellectual intoxication.
At a sign made by the king, the ladies now took their seats beside us,
and by their attention and caresses increased the desire for the water,
which they supplied in abundance. I must confess that at each sip that
I took, the princess, who had taken her seat by me, appeared so much
more charming in my eyes, that notwithstanding the repeated pressure of
her foot to remind me of my promise, I could not resist the impulse to
drink.

The boatswain and one of the seamen were very drunken characters, and
had very soon poured down so much of the water, that they dropped off
their stools on the marble pavement, without sense or motion. This
recalled me to my senses, which were rapidly stealing away; I rose from
my seat, and pointing out to my companions that it would ill become them
to intoxicate themselves in the presence of his ma