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213.
Hambro had recently returned from India where he had
been travelling for over a year, and when we were in the baz-
aar looking on at the motley crowd who were going both ways
and astonished at the number of camels who, as they marched
along, held their heads high above the human ones, apparently
absorbed in thought, he remarked that there were one or two
cities in India, where he had been, where the elephants passing
through the thoroughfares were almost as numerous.
After the visit to Abdel Kader we called on the British
consul whom Hambro wished to see about some matter, and
we were handed the usual pipes and coffee by a servant. the
tobacco was of excellent quality and I smoked the entire
contents of my pipe. The consul was a gentleman who received
us courteously, but when Hambro asked him some questions about
the business which took him there, his replies were short and
showed plainly that he was not going to allow himself to be
concerned in any researches or inquiries that might be wanted
of him. Hambro was quite provoked by the manner of the con-
sul, and, later in the day, when we had visited the American
consul, whose manner and offers of assistance in carrying
out any wishes were equally pleasant, he remarked to me
how different were the ways of the different officials. The Bri-
tisher was the servant of the Queen, and could afford to snap
his finger at any importunate fellow subject, while the Am-
erican was the servant of the people, and knew the importance
of being civil and obliging to every fellow countryman.
The American consul was familiar with my name in consequence
of having attended Joseph Manigault during a short illness
which retained him in Damascus a few years before. He had
taken his degree in medicine and I think practised the pro-
fession among the well-to-do of the place more than he was wil-
ling should be known, as it might have interfered with his
continuing to represent America. When told of our visit to
Ab-del Kader, he mentioned that he had recently been sent
for by him to extract a tooth, and that, while talking with
him afterwards, he was very abusive of the French Emperor
Napoleon III, who, he said, did not allow him a sufficiency
such as a man of his rank and eminence was entitled to.
Our day was ended by a visit to one of the most elegant
and well appointed private residences of the city, which hap-
pened in this instance to be the home of a Jewish family. There
was nothing outside to indicate what existed within, and as
we passed through a narrow doorway, in a mud wall,
opening on a narrow alley, we found ourselves after a few steps
in a large paved court, with rooms of one story forming a
square all around. There was also a so called fountain in
the centre of the inclosure which consisted of a basin about
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