ss, plantains, and other Indian
productions, with thick leaves of a metallic green, arranged in clusters
in this conservatory, formed, as it were, the background to two large
variegated bushes of exotic flowers, which were separated by a narrow
path, paved with yellow and blue Japanese tiles, running to the foot of
the glass. The daylight, already much dimmed by the leaves through which
it passed, took a hue of singular mildness as it mingled with the azure
lustre of the perfumed lamps, and the crimson brightness of the fire in
the tall chimney of oriental porphyry. In the obscurity of this
apartment, impregnated with sweet odors and the aromatic vapor of Persian
tobacco, a man with brown, hanging locks, dressed in a long robe of dark
green, fastened round the waist by a parti-colored sash, was kneeling
upon a magnificent Turkey carpet, filling the golden bowl of a hookah;
the long, flexible tube of this pipe, after rolling its folds upon the
carpet, like a scarlet serpent with silver scales, rested between the
slender fingers of Djalma, who was reclining negligently on a divan. The
young prince was bareheaded; his jet-black hair, parted on the middle of
his forehead, streamed waving about his face and neck of antique
beauty--their warm transparent colors resembling amber or topaz. Leaning
his elbow on a cushion, he supported his chin with the palm of his right
hand. The flowing sleeve of his robe, falling back from his arm, which
was round as that of a woman, revealed mysterious signs formerly tattooed
there in India by a Thug's needle. The son of Radja-sing held in his left
hand the amber mouthpiece of his pipe. His robe of magnificent cashmere,
with a border of a thousand hues, reaching to his knee, was fastened
about his slim and well-formed figure by the large folds of an
orange-colored shawl. This robe was half withdrawn from one of the
elegant legs of this Asiatic Antinous, clad in a kind of very close
fitting gaiter of crimson velvet, embroidered with silver, and
terminating in a small white morocco slipper, with a scarlet heel. At
once mild and manly, the countenance of Djalma was expressive of that
melancholy and contemplative calmness habitual to the Indian and the
Arab, who possess the happy privilege of uniting, by a rare combination,
the meditative indolence of the dreamer with the fiery energy of the man
of action--now delicate, nervous, impressionable as women--now
determined, ferocious, and sanguinary as