[50]Pieces of the Korán are used by the Moorish doctors as charms—a superstition that Mr. D. probably adopted to humour his patients, but which the minister was surprised to find an English physician resorting to. Knowing how acceptable verses from the Korán are to Mussulmans, Mr. Davidson had a selection printed on slips of coloured paper before he left London.
[51]Mr. D. is here speaking metaphorically. He conceived that the Kaid of Mogador wished to get at his motive for visiting Timbuctoo; he therefore gave him no clue, by saying nothing on the subject. It is a slang metaphor.
[52]So in the original MS., with a blank.
[53]This was taken by the French during their attack on Algiers.
[54]Took a pill and a draught.
[55]These letters make the nearest approach to the marks in the MS.
[56]These are dresses worn by the Jewish priests; they were sent to London.
[57]So in the MS.
[58]These were two medicine chests sent to the Emperor of Morocco from London.
[59]Eunuch.