I afterwards saw the
burial of an old lady, which ceremony set the whole town in motion. The
women screamed in crowds, and a great number of men went outside the
walls to see the body consigned to its last resting-place. Yusuf
pretends that the burial took place two hours after decease, which is
the ordinary practice here, although thirty-two hours are said to be the
proper time.
To the 21st of May I was occupied in preparing a short report on Fezzan,
with statements of the expedition and other necessary documents.
We have had a grand dinner at the house of the Greek doctor Paniotti.
The Bey, Bim Bashaw, his adjutant, the treasurer, and others were
invited. The French have boasted of the number of their dishes, but I
think the Turks beat them hollow in this particular. Besides two whole
lambs, fowls, pigeons, there were at least twenty made dishes, with
every variety of rich sweetmeat. Amongst the early fruits of the season
we had figs and apples. The dinner was not quite so merry as
Gagliuffi's, the champagne being absent.
We had a smart rain-shower in the morning, and in the evening also there
was a tempest of wind and lightning, and a little rain. The flashes were
very vivid, and lighted up the whole firmament.
The Tibboos persist in saying that there is plenty of water in their
country, abundance of rain, frequent springs; and some go so far as to
describe their streams as running a distance of from one to eight days'
journey.
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