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have always been your friends?" He replied, "I know how to treat you Franks as you ought to be treated." The Makhram again said that I must go with him. I said, "No ;" and saying this, I ran out of the garden over a low part of the wall, when Behadur followed me, and said, "Now I will let you escape."

He brought me, first of all, to the garden belonging to the Nayeb's son, Abdullah, which garden is not yet quite finished; where, on a former occasion, the Nayeb told me that he intended to construct a fortress, to defend himself, in case of need, against the Ameer; when, quite against all expectation, Ameer Abool Kasem was brought to me by the Nayeb's order. He informed me that he was the intended Ambassador for England. [Note. I have forgotten to mention above, that the Nayeb advised me, when an Ambassador was first proposed, and the proposal accepted, that I should administer poison to him on the road, which, of course, I rejected with horror.] I said to Ameer Abool Kasem, "I know that the Ameer intends to kill me ;" and as I had a little paper and ink with me, I wrote a note to the Nayeb, saying, "Now I know that you are a traitor and a liar, and that you will kill me as you have killed Stoddart and Conolly;" and I gave the note to Ameer Abool Kasem, who gave it to the Nayeb.

Behadur then brought me, through a water-hole, to the house of the Yawer, ("Major,") situated about three hundred feet distance from the Nayeb's house, whence Behadur and the Yawer promised to let me escape that very evening. The evening approached, when the Yawer came, and said that the Ameer, under the supposition that I had escaped, had sent soldiers on all the different roads to pursue me: it would be therefore better for me to stay there until the troops of the Ameer had come back, and after they had given up pursuing me. He (the Yawer) and Behadur would accompany me to Shahr Sabz, Khoollom, and even as far as India. I told them that I was convinced that the Nayeb was a traitor and a liar, in whose words, in future, I should place no reliance, and that I expected my fate with patience and resignation.

Both Behadur and the Yawer went out of the room; when a female, in the most coquettish manner, and unveiled, entered it. I at once observed the trap; and exclaimed, in a loud voice, and with great apparent rage, "Go to h-1!" The Yawer and Behadur immediately entered, and asked what was the matter. I explained the whole. It was the same trick which the rascally Nayeb tried to play to Stoddart and Conolly; for I heard, from different people, that the same stratagem had been practised on them, with a view to forcing them to become Muhammedans, but in vain. To this he compels every slave he takes, in order to sell the issue from them as slaves.

I slept at night in the house of the Yawer,-Behadur and Hussein Ali, both servants of the Nayeb, near me; and when I told them that they should sleep at a greater distance from me, they objected that the Nayeb had ordered them to do so; but I pushed them away by force.

The next morning, one of the King's head officers came, and ordered me, in the name of the King, to go to town, and that I should instantly receive leave for my departure. I obeyed; but, previous to this, I was brought to the Nayeb, where the rascal told me that he had given twenty tillahs to the head officer, that he should treat me with respect, and that I should get leave to depart after twenty days.

I left the horrid garden of that bloodhound, and rode to the town. It was on a Friday. I was first ordered to make my salaam to the King;

but was not brought, as usual previously, to a decent room of the palace, but was obliged to wait outside the gate until the Ameer appeared, which he soon did. He looked sternly at me, and evidently displeased. I was then ordered by His Majesty to accompany the Makhram, and two other guards, to my old quarters in the Toora Khane, where now, also, Abbas Kouli Khan was residing; and that I should not stir out of the house without especial order from His Majesty. I came to the Toora Khane, and occupied the same room which Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly had previous to their execution.

I called on Abbas Kouli Khan, who fortunately lived in the same house; so that he did not come under the prohibition, I considered; at least, I was determined not to understand the order in that sense. He immediately told me, “I swear to you, by God and the Koran, that I will not leave Bokhara without you." I told him that Nayeb Abdul Samut Khan had told me that he had been ordered by Muhammed Shah to effect my detention and death at Bokhara. He in a most dignified manner denied the charge, and produced his instruction from Haje Mirza Agasee, Prime Minister to the King of Persia, in which he was distinctly ordered to effect my release from Bokhara.

Towards the evening, the Ameer sent to me the following message :"There were people at Bokhara from Khokand and Organtsh, whose inhabitants were guilty of blood ; and beside them, people from Cabal, Cashmeer, and Hindustaun. None of them had been molested by him: all of them enjoyed his protection. He (His Majesty) therefore felt greatly incensed that I had openly declared at Bokhara, that His Majesty's intention was to put me to death; that His Majesty had been red in his face from anger. He therefore now asked me whether I would leave Bokhara without honour and in disgrace, or with honour and filled with favour. In the first case, His Majesty would furnish me with a simple passport; in the second case, he would, after his return from Samarcand, adorn me with a robe of honour, and send an Ambassador with me to England."

I sent as an answer, that I repented having given cause to His Majesty to be angry with me; and with respect to the mode of my going from Bokhara, I left that entirely to His Majesty's choice.

The next day he set out for Samarcand, with the intention of re-conquering Khokand and Tashkand.

What I suffered all the time of the King's absence, I cannot describe. The good Abbas Kouli Khan, the Persian Ambassador, sent me victuals constantly from his table, in order that I might not be poisoned by Abdullah. In the night-time he took possession of the key of my room, in order that I might not be murdered; and kept his servant in my room to protect me, as I have mentioned. Every moment a spy from the King came to ask me what I did. The Jews, however, had the courage to come; and I advised them to come when the King's Makhrams were with me; when each of us looked in a Hebrew Bible, as if we were reading; and thus carried on our conversation in Hebrew, in the presence of the Usbecks, who all the time believed that we were reading in the book by turn, whilst I learnt every particular of the conduct of the King and the Nayeb towards Stoddart and Conolly,-particulars of the death of the latter, and of the licentious and tyrannical proceedings of the King. Conversations not political we carried on in Persian.

Forty or fifty days (for I lost all certainty of date) after His Majesty's departure, the King and Abdul Samut Khan returned to Bokhara. My

servant, Abdullah, immediately, without asking leave of me, ran to the Nayeb, who sent me word by him, as also by Mirza Abdul Wehab, that the King had said, after he had perused Lord Ellenborough's letter, "Now it is proper that I should kill Joseph Wolff." But I was informed by others, who were present when the King had read the letter, that the Nayeb said to the King, "Now it is proper that Your Majesty should kill Joseph Wolff, as the Governor-General tries to frighten Your Majesty." A fortnight before the King's arrival, Abdul Samut Khan had written to me from the camp, that His Majesty had been well-pleased with the letter, and had said, that he would soon send me to my country. Abbas Kouli Khan, Dil Assa Khan, and myself, went to meet the King near the palace. He looked away from me. The crowd observed, "It will not go well with that Englishman."

In this hour of deep distress and despondency, I sent through Sir Charles Napier, via India, the following letter:

"MY DEAREST WIFE AND CHILD,-Never, never, never for a moment lose your love and obedience and faith in Jesus Christ; and pray for me, that I may remain faithful to him in the hour of trial. Entreat the churches in England to pray for me to our most blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Give my regards to all my friends.

"Your most loving husband and father,
"JOSEPH WOLFF."

I sent all letters from Bokhara open, even that to the Sovereigns of Europe; and this latter letter was forwarded by the King himself. Had they been able to read them, no doubt I should have died.

The day following, a Mullah came, and asked me, in His Majesty's name, whether I would turn Mussulman. I replied, "Tell the King, Never, never, never!" He asked me, "Have you not a more polite answer for the King?" I said, "I beg you to tell His Majesty, that you asked me whether I had not a more polite answer for His Majesty; and I said, 'Decidedly not.""

A few hours after, the executioner came,-the same who had put to death Stoddart and Conolly,-and said, "Joseph Wolff, to thee it shall happen as it did to Stoddart and Conolly," and made a sign at my throat with his hand. I prepared for death, and carried opium about with me, that, in case my throat should be cut, I might not feel the pain. However, at last I cast away the opium, and prayed, and wrote in my Bible these words:

"MY DEAREST GEORGIANA AND HENRY,-I have loved both of you unto death. "Your affectionate husband and father,

Bokhara, 1844.

J. WOLFF."

But, that very same day, Abbas Kouli Khan sent word to the Ameer, that he had received a letter for His Majesty from Muhammed Shah. The Ameer sent word that Abbas Kouli Khan should send the letter by the Shekhawl; but Abbas Kouli Khan replied, that he had received orders from his court to deliver the letter in person. The Ameer sent word again that he should send the letter; but Abbas Kouli Khan protested against it; when His Majesty at last consented to his coming to the palace. Abbas

Kouli Khan delivered the letter to the Ameer: after having perused it, he said, “Well, I make a present to you of Joseph Wolff: he may go with you."

We set out from Bokhara on the 3d of August.

THE TAINT OF BLOOD.*

"It is the taint of blood," suggested Miss Pyemont.

"That term should be used sparingly," said that lady's uncle, who happened to be present,— —an old military man, who had seen life under various aspects, and was always more ready to listen than to condemn : we cannot measure our expressions too carefully; and the taint of blood

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"Is one," interrupted the lady, " of which I know the meaning, and am prepared to defend it. You, Sir, have witnessed the withering traces it leaves behind it."

The old man sighed, and attempted no reply.

"A relative of mine," continued the lady," his name is immaterial,”. (this was said somewhat significantly,) " served in India, in the 12th Foot. The Colonel of the regiment, Sir Henry Harvey Aston, an admirable disciplinarian, had the misfortune to become embroiled with his own nephew, a Major in the same corps; went out with him, and fell. If ever man was beloved in a regiment, liked by his brother officers, and confided in by the troops, Major Allen was that man. There was a frankness and cordiality of manner, a mirth and gaiety of temperament and address, that rendered him, as a companion, universally popular. Immediately after the duel, he was put under arrest, sent down to Madras, subjected to court-martial, and acquitted. He was released from arrest, and ordered to return to his duty. He did so, an altered man. His spirits were gone; the cheerfulness which no difficulties could ruffle, and the pleasantry which no annoyances could check, had wholly disappeared. The taint of blood was upon him; and he vainly struggled to emerge from the gloom with which, for him, life was henceforth clouded. Active hostilities were expected. The regiment lay before Seringapatam, and there he died,-of no wound, no disease, unless you include among the catalogue of human maladies, quenchless regrets and ever-goading remorse."

"He died a broken-hearted man," said the old soldier, in a subdued tone.

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"Much the same sort of feeling," resumed the lady, seems to have overshadowed another successful duellist. I allude to the well-known Captain Best, the antagonist of Lord Camelford. The duel was forced upon him,—an abandoned woman promoted it; and Lord Camelford, before he went to the ground, told his second that he himself was in the wrong, that Best was a man of honour; but that he could not bring himself to retract words which he had once used. He fell, at once the aggressor and sufferer. But Captain Best was never his own man afterwards. He died at the early age of eight-and-forty, at a boarding-house, called the Blanquetts,' near Worcester. Sorrow and remorse had done on him the work of years. In his closing hours he is said to have told those who were in his confidence, that the duel and its results had embittered every moment of his life; that

*From "The Bishop's Daughter," by the author of "The Life-Book of a Labourer." Dalton, 1842.

the whole scene was as fresh in his memory as if it had happened yesterday; and that there were times when Lord Camelford seemed to stand before him, and gaze on him with an earnestness and tenacity that rendered life a burden. In consequence of some embarrassments,-whence contracted I know not, for he inherited West-India property to a considerable amount, he was for some time within the rules of the King's Bench. In his domestic arrangements, too, he was unfortunate. His marriage proved disastrous, and was dissolved by Act of Parliament. But he once and again declared that every sorrow would have sat lightly upon him, could he but have succeeded in wiping the stain of homicide from his brow."

The lady ceased; but the veteran mused on,

"Did he," thought the latter, "use his leisure and retirement well, and repent him truly of the past? The Blanquetts, with its lonely walks and shady groves, did they witness heart-felt contrition, and earnest cries for pardon? Did these avail? The great day alone can decide. When will man see that the Supreme has placed high and startling value on human life? that he has guarded it, by the most solemn denunciations, from all violent waste and outrage? and that thrilling will be the account hereafter to be rendered by the homicide to Him who has declared, 'At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man?""

ORIENTAL SCENES.*

V.-ARAB LIFE.

THE Arab is the hero of romantic history; little is known of him but by glimpses; he sets statistics at defiance, and the political economist has no share in him.

Since Abraham drove forth Hagar to the desert, he has clung to the barren inheritance of his forefathers with a fierce fidelity. While his brother, the Jew, has tasted the luxury and the bitterness of all nations, and triumphed and been trampled on in turn, the Ishmaelite has gone down to his desert grave, generation after generation, unchanging and unsubdued.

It is of the Bedawee Arab, or of the Bedouin, as they are called in the plural, that I speak more especially. The dwellers in cities soon become corrupt, and lose the characteristics of their race.

Who knows where the Arab dwells, or who has marked out the bound. aries of his people? We are told that Arabia is enclosed by the Euphrates, Ormuz, and the Persian Gulf; by Diarbekir, Irak, and Khuzestan; but that renders it scarcely less vague.

The Bedawee roams as freely over his boundless deserts as the winds that sweep them: the only barriers he knows are civilization, and its settled habitations. Tribes sunder and join, as pastures become scarce or abundant: an oasis is to-day peopled with thousands, and covered with flocks and herds; to-morrow it is as lonely as the sea.

And thus it has been with the Arab for three thousand years.

The Arab is so reverential towards antiquity of descent, that he sacrifices his own pride of birth to the abstract principle. He admits that he is but

* "The Crescent and the Cross; or, Romance and Realities of Eastern Travel. By Eliot Warburton, Esq. In two Volumes." 12mo. London. Colburn.

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