Pasha.--I know it--I know all--the particulars have been faithfully
related to me, and my mind comprehends locomotives. The armies of
the English ride upon the vapours of boiling caldrons, and their
horses are flaming coals!--whirr! whirr! all by wheels!--whiz!
whiz! all by steam!
Traveller (to his dragoman).--I wish to have the opinion of an
unprejudiced Ottoman gentleman as to the prospects of our English
commerce and manufactures; just ask the Pasha to give me his views
on the subject.
Pasha (after having received the communication of the dragoman).--
The ships of the English swarm like flies; their printed calicoes
cover the whole earth; and by the side of their swords the blades
of Damascus are blades of grass. All India is but an item in the
ledger-books of the merchants, whose lumber-rooms are filled with
ancient thrones!--whirr! whirr! all by wheels!--whiz! whiz! all by
steam.
Dragoman.--The Pasha compliments the cutlery of England, and also
the East India Company.
Traveller.--The Pasha's right about the cutlery (I tried my
scimitar with the common officers' swords belonging to our fellows
at Malta, and they cut it like the leaf of a novel).
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