_katib_, or scribe, attached
to the then Reis Effendi, and with whom, during the short gleam of
splendour and riches which had shone upon me, I had formed a great
intimacy. I knew the coffee-house he frequented, and the hour he was
most likely to be found there; and although he was not much addicted
to talking, yet I hoped, as he sipped his coffee and smoked his pipe
(particularly if I treated him), his heart might expand, and I might
obtain his real opinion.

Full of this idea, I immediately imparted it to the ambassador, who
seemed so delighted, that he at once did me the honour to take all the
merit of it to himself.

'Did not I tell you so?' exclaimed he; 'did I not say that you were a
man of ingenuity? Acknowledge, then, that I am not without penetration;
own, that it requires a sharp discernment to discover at once where
abilities lie; and that had it not been for me, we should never have
discovered this katib, who is to tell us everything, and thus fulfil the
instructions of the Asylum of the Universe.'

He then empowered me, if I found it necessary, to promise him a present,
by which means, should there be any deficiency in his information, he
might perhaps succeed in obtaining it from the fountain head, namely,
the Reis Effendi himself.

I went to the coffee-house at the proper time, and there found my
friend. I approached him with great demonstrations of friendship; and
calling to the waiting man, ordered some best Yemen coffee, which
was served up as we sat one opposite the other. In the course of
conversation he pulled out his watch, when I seized the opportunity of
introducing my subject.

'That is an European watch,' said I, 'is it not?'

'Yes, truly,' said he; 'there are none in the world beside.'

'Wonderful,' answered I,--'those Franks must be an extraordinary
people.'

'Yes,' said he, 'but they are kafirs' (infidels).

'In the name of Allah,' taking my pipe from my mouth and putting it into
his, 'tell me something respecting them. This Frangistan, is it a large
country? Where does its king reside?'

'What say you, friend?' answered he; 'a large country, do you ask?
A large country indeed, not governed by one king alone, but by many
kings.'

'But I have heard,' said I, 'it is composed of many tribes, all having
different names and different chiefs; still begin, in fact, but one
nation.'

'You may call them one nation if you choose,' said he, 'and perhaps such
is the case, for they all s