es him. Two days ago, who should come down upon us but
Rabassu, his lieutenant, the Rabassu whom my uncle has always called his
"murderer." He has brought home "La Belle Virginie" from Zanzibar with a
cargo of cinnamon; for, as you are aware, we (or rather _I_) still trade
in spices. Being now the head of the firm, I have to sell off the last
consignments. Rabassu heard of the resurrection of Barbassou-Pasha
directly he arrived at Toulon. He hurried off to us quite crestfallen,
and when he met the captain literally trembled at the thought of the
hurricane he would now have to face. But everything passed off very
satisfactorily. My uncle interrupted his first mutterings of apology
with a gentle growl, and contented himself with chaffing him for his
infantine credulity.

However, this incident has revived the vexed question of the camels.
"Where are they?" asks the captain. Having promised to send them to the
Zoological Gardens at Marseilles, he feels his honour is at stake; they
must be found. I support him in this view; my inherited property is of
course incomplete without them. Urgent letters on the subject have just
been despatched to his friend Picklock, and to the officer in command at
Aden. If necessary, a claim will be lodged against England; she is
undoubtedly responsible for them.

In my next letter I will tell you all the news relating to El-Nouzha
from the time when I last interrupted this interesting part of my
narrative. My houris are making progress, and their education is
improving. We are going on swimmingly.

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[Illustration]

CHAPTER V.

The Turks are calumniated, my friend, there's no doubt about it. It is
not enough for us to say and to believe, with the vulgar herd, that
these turbaned people are wallowing in materialism and are not
civilised; we must do more than this, and convict them of their errors.
We, fortified with a singular infatuation in our ideas, our habits, and
our personal associations, venture to settle by our sovereign decrees
the loftiest questions of sentiment. The rules to be observed by the
perfect lover in the courtship and treatment of his lady-love, have been
settled at tournaments, by the Courts of Love of Isaure, and by the
College of the Gay Science. Our pretensions to troubadourism have never
been abandoned. The affectations of "L'Astree" have been erected into a
code of Love, and we have succeeded in establishing the French cavalier
as the par