e, to interpret for the captain in all matters connected with the
sale of the cargo; but he used to take every opportunity of going on
shore to try and gain information about Captain Stenning or any of his
companions.

I had few opportunities of making remarks about the people of this
place, but Sidy corrected some of the notions I had first formed. The
boys all go bare-headed; the men wear red caps. They have their hair
shaved off their heads, with the exception of a tuft on the top, by
which they expect Mohammed will draw them up to paradise. I have seen
it remarked that Mohammed, who had very erroneous notions on scientific
subjects, fixed the articles for the religious belief of his followers
according to them, thereby entirely disproving their divine origin;
whereas the writers of the Bible, guided by inspiration, made numerous
statements which, with the knowledge then possessed by mankind, would
have been impossible for them to understand clearly unless explained to
them by the Holy Spirit, but which subsequent discoveries in science
have shown to be beautifully and exactly correct.

Mohammed thought that the world was flat, and so placed his paradise in
an atmosphere above it.

To return to the dress of the Moors. They wear long beards and large
whiskers, but shave their upper lip and directly under the chin. A
gentleman of the upper class wears a long shirt without a collar, and
over it a sort of spencer or waistcoat, joined before and behind.
Again, over this he puts a very large coat, ornamented with numberless
buttons, and with sleeves reaching only to his elbows. His coat, which
he folds round him, is secured by a thick coloured sash or girdle, into
which he sticks a very long knife or dagger, and where he carries his
money, supposing he has any. He wears only a pair of linen drawers
reaching to the ankle. His shoes are of goat-skin, very well-dressed,
the sole being but of one thickness. He wears over his dress a fine
white blanket, with which he can completely shroud himself, leaving only
his right arm exposed. It is called a haik. Some of these haiks are
very fine and transparent, while others are thicker and more fit for
general use. In cold weather he puts on a bournous or capote, with a
hood such as the Greek fishermen and sailors wear. A labouring man does
not wear a shirt, and his drawers come only as far as his knee, leaving
the rest of his leg exposed.

The women's clothes are cut