'Personal Narrative of a pilgrimmage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. Vol. I' [‎136] (191/564)

136 Pilgrimage to A Meccah.
perfume. Both were wrapped up in wet rags, the usual rally
refrigerator. i
Ah Agha welcomed me politely, and seeing me filled tl
admire the preparations, bade me beware how I suspected faee; I
an Albanian of not knowing how to drink; he made me nofurtl
sit by him on the bed, threw his dagger to a handy dis- Ft
tance, signalled me to do the same, and prepared to begin namelj
the bout Taking up a little tumbler, in shape like those into tli
from which French postilions used to drink la goutte, he ideaw:
inspected it narrowly, wiped out the interior with his tratep
forefinger, filled it to the brim, and offered it to his guest' when .
with a bow. I received it with a low salam, swallowed stage
its contents at once, turned it upside down in proof of twigu
fair play, replaced it upon the floor, with a jaunty move- of w;
ment of the arm, somewhat like a pugilist delivering a strean
" rounder," bowed again, and requested him to help him- menta
self. The same ceremony followed on his part. Im- tender
mediately after each glass,—and rapidly the cup went fatherl
about,—we swallowed a draught of water, and ate a "youn
spoonful of the meat or the Salatah in order to cool our tear"
palates. Then we re-applied ourselves to our pipes, hissto
emitting huge puffs, a sign of being " fast " men, and Tl
looked facetiously at each other,—drinking being con- scene,
sidered by Moslems a funny and pleasant sort of sin. should
The Albanian captain was at least half seas over theolc
when we began the bout, yet he continued to fill and to with tl
drain without showing the least progress towards ebriety. drunk
I in vain for a time expected the (as the Persians it to h
call it,) the horse play, and the gross facetiae, which gene- reproa
—— —— smoke
i These Albanians are at most half Asiatic as regards manner.
In the East generally, the host drinks of the cup, and dips his hand • 1
into the dish before his guest, for the same reason that the master of ^ 01 €
the house precedes his visitor over the threshold. Both actions 1
denote that no treachery is fvuended, and to reverse them, as amongst ^Itern
us, would be a gross breach of custom, likely to excite the liveliest were i
suspicions* and r