. Travels and researches in Chaldæa and Susiana; with an account of excavations at Warka, the "Erech" of Nimrod, and Shúsh, "Shushan the Palace" of Esther, in 1849-52 .. . he little eunuch and buffoon,of whom I have abeady spoken as possessing the confi-dence of the governor. His purpose, no doubt, was tosatisfy himself on the objects of our journey, and thecause of our visit to the pasha, Mulla Ali was originally a slave of a former pasha,but his antics and jokes were so efiective that he obtainedhis freedom, and subse-quently rose high in favourwith All and Nedjib Pa-shas. It was impossiblet
. Travels and researches in Chaldæa and Susiana; with an account of excavations at Warka, the "Erech" of Nimrod, and Shúsh, "Shushan the Palace" of Esther, in 1849-52 .. . he little eunuch and buffoon,of whom I have abeady spoken as possessing the confi-dence of the governor. His purpose, no doubt, was tosatisfy himself on the objects of our journey, and thecause of our visit to the pasha, Mulla Ali was originally a slave of a former pasha,but his antics and jokes were so efiective that he obtainedhis freedom, and subse-quently rose high in favourwith All and Nedjib Pa-shas. It was impossibleto guess his age, but, as hesat doubled up on a carpet,covered with a huge furredcloth tunic and an enor-mous dark-green turban,he was one of the mostrepulsive creatures whichthe eye could well encoun-ter. His face more resem-bled that of the monkeytribe than anything elseI can conceive. His mouth stretched nearly from ear to ear, and the latter append-aoes stood out from each side like those of an he had none, so that his tongue, as if too large forhis mouth, frequently lolled out, giving him the appear-ance of an idiot. His face, thin in the extreme, was. Mulla AH. 108 THE FAVOURITE EUNUCH. puckered into a thousand wrinkles, the bones projecting,and the skin of the colour and consistency of hard whole of his features were condensed into an expres-sion of low cunning, cupidity, cruelty, and lust, which noone could behold without shuddering. His character didnot belie his appearance. He was at one time made chiefover certain Khuzeyl tribes, but his conduct was such thatit was found necessary to remove him. Money was object, and he extorted it without scruple. Whenhe failed by the usual means, he tried torture, and tookas much delight in the sufferings of his unfortunate vic-tims as either Nero or Caligula, His favourite punishmentwas to bury an offender alive with his hands tied, leavingonly his shaven head above ground, but this was smearedover
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidtravelsresea, bookyear1857
