surprised
when he came to judge of the wealth of the whole kingdom, by
considering, that except the brahmins, and ministers of the
idols, who profess a life retired from worldly vanity, there was
not an Indian, man or woman, through the extent of the kingdom,
but wore necklaces, bracelets, and ornaments about their legs and
feet, made of pearls, and precious stones, which appeared with
the greater lustre, as they were blacks, which colour admirably
set off their brilliancy.

Another object which prince Houssain particularly admired was the
great number of flower-sellers who crowded the streets; for the
Indians are such great lovers of flowers that not one will stir
without a nosegay of them in his hand, or a garland of them on
his head; and the merchants keep them in pots in their shops, so
that the air of the whole quarter, however extensive, is
perfectly perfumed.

After prince Houssain had passed through that quarter, street by
street, his thoughts fully employed on the riches he had seen, he
was much fatigued; which a merchant perceiving, civilly invited
him to sit down in his shop. He accepted his offer; but had not
been seated long, before he saw a crier pass with a piece of
carpeting on his arm, about six feet square, and crying it at
thirty purses. The prince called to the crier, and asked to see
the carpeting, which seemed to him to be valued at an exorbitant
price, not only for the size of it, but the meanness of the
materials. When he had examined it well, he told the crier that
he could not comprehend how so small a piece of carpeting, and of
so indifferent an appearance, could be set at so high a price.

The crier, who took him for a merchant, replied, "Sir, if this
price seems so extravagant to you, your amazement will be greater
when I tell you, I have orders to raise it to forty purses, and
not to part with it under." "Certainly," answered prince
Houssain, "it must have something very extraordinary in it, which
I know nothing of." "You have guessed right, sir," replied the
crier, "and will own it when you come to know, that whoever sits
on this piece of carpeting may be transported in an instant
wherever he desires to be, without being stopped by any
obstacle."

At this account, the prince of the Indies, considering that the
principal motive of his tour was to carry the sultan his father
home some singular rarity, thought that he could not meet with
any which would afford him more satisfaction. "