now
posed as an Afghan doctor, and by giving his patients plenty for their
money and by prescribing rough measures which acted beneficially upon
their imaginations, he gained a coveted reputation. He always
commenced his prescriptions piously with: "In the name of Allah, the
compassionate, the merciful, and blessings and peace be upon our
Lord the Apostle"; and Haji Wali vaunted him as "the very phoenix of
physicians." According to his wont, he never lost an opportunity of
learning the ways and customs of the various people among whom he was
thrown, or of foisting himself on any company in which he thought he
could increase his knowledge. His whole life indeed was a preparation
for "The Arabian Nights." Thus at Cairo he had the good fortune to
cure some Abyssinian slave-girls of various complaints, including the
"price-lowering habit of snoring," and in return he made the slave
dealer take him about the town and unfold the mysteries of his craft. He
also visited the resting-place of his hero, Burckhardt; [110] indeed, in
whatever town he sojourned, he sought out the places associated with the
illustrious dead. It was now the Ramazan, and he observed it by fasting,
reading the Koran, and saying countless prayers with his face turned
devoutly to the Kiblah. [111] He heartily rejoiced, however, with
the multitude when the dreary month was over, and he describes [112]
amusingly the scenes on the first day following it: "Most people," he
says, "were in fresh suits of finery; and so strong is personal vanity
in the breast of Orientals... that from Cairo to Calcutta it would be
difficult to find a sad heart under a handsome coat. The men swaggered,
the women minced their steps, rolled their eyes, and were eternally
arranging, and coquetting with their head-veils." In the house of a
friend he saw an Armenian wedding. For servant he now took a cowardly
and thievish lad named Nur, and, subsequently, he made the acquaintance
of a Meccan youth, Mohammed, who was to become his companion throughout
the pilgrimage. Mohammed was 18, chocolate brown, short, obese,
hypocritical, cowardly, astute, selfish and affectionate. Burton
not only purchased the ordinary pilgrim garb, but he also took the
precaution to attach to his person "a star sapphire," the sight of which
inspired his companions with "an almost reverential awe," and even
led them to ascribe to him thaumaturgic power. [113] His further
preparations for the sacred pilgrimage read