T RAV

306 Tll.AVELS IN AFlnCA.mind. Tt is the misfortune of strangers,.and perhaps more particularJyof such as come in a public situation, that they must. he chiefly conversantwith the worst samples of the nations they visit; the dignifiedand respectable characters reserve themselves in the hack ground,the worthless protrude themselves. How unjust, then" to judge anation under such circumstances ! Such as present themselves for hireand reward, it may he supposed, have very fewscrupIes. It. is theirbusiness to crave and to ask. They can haye neither pride nor shameon these points. A gift to them is ouly an incitement to a new de~mand. The circuitous or decorous way of asking a present is to sendone. This is usuallya blmquet. But the' return must be more substantiaI;ofless transient value; more. commodious too to conveyance, andperhaps, for l'easons that may he guessed, concealmeht, than that of theJews hefore mentioned. A hundred oxen roal'ing af tne levée of.aMoorish courtier would excite a degree of attention that he could. weIldispense with. AIl decorum, however, on such points is occasionallythl'own away. Thus, an English gentleman unadvisedly showed a penknifeofcurions workmahship to a Moor in rather a conspicuous situa~tion oflife, who immediately, on a slight inspection, pocketed it. Afterseveral delicate hints for the article to he returned, such, for instance,as the cutting of love, and the like, whichpassed unheeded, the 'guropeanwas under the necessity of telling the other "he wanted it.""Oh," replied the Moor, "as to that,-I 'lRJant' it too." The suitorcertainly took the weaker purchase of .the argument, and he failedac~eordingly. In regard to general intercourse or dealings with these people,however, it is to be ohserved,' here is no very exaIted idea entertainedamong them of Europe~n talent. And as to principle, that part ofthe na~tion with whom strangers unfortunately have to aet, the instruments of adepiaved system ofgovernment, the morality confiQed to a rigid~onformitywith the exterior forms of religion, a Pharisean exhibition of long