The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-11 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

I ERIDAL SUPPER.
After another half-hour of grim anecdote we descended
en masse to the courtyard and ranged ourselves round one
kng supper table, my friend and self being placed in the
seats of honour, opposite the bride. In deference to our
European tastes (as our Jewish friend informed us) a knife
and fork had been placed for each of us, the rest of the
' company not caring for superfluities of the sort. Them
commenced the repast. Olives stewed in a peculiar manner,
whereby the original villainy of their taste was much en-
hanced, were handed round, and a few dozens heaped on
my plate by the assiduity of ray hospitable friend. The
flavour of the first I tasted had a striking resemblance to
bad sea. water, and to swallow another seemed to be a hope-
less idea—so I had nothing to do but to stare hard at my
plate and lift my fork occasionally to my mouth as though
I were enjoying them beyond measure. However, my en.
tertainer saw through the shallowness of the artifice, and
asked me rather sharply if I considered the olives unclean.
I assured him that I had no such prejudice, but on
the contrary was merely refraining from indulging
!coo much in them lest they might spoil my appetite
for another course. He looked dubiously at rue, and
dishes of boiled fish being placed on the table, seemed
determined to test the truth of my assertions by setting
about half a pound thereof before me. The flavour—if
flavour there had ever been—was entirely boiled ont, and at;
there was neither sauce nor bread I doubt whether it were
even preferable to those disgusting olives. However I set
to with a good grace and devoured at least half the plate-
ful, and immediately after that a fabulous quantity of fowl
stewed literally to rags. The ladies seemed to enjoy the
meal uncommonly, taking huge pieces of fish with the
henna'd tips of their bejewelled fingers, and tearing the
flesh of the fowls from the bones with their teeth as raven •
ously as a set of half • starved cats. The bride herself seized
a leg, gnawed it a little, and finding it not to her taste
handed it to a younger sister who sat next her, and wile
was already busy over a wing. The morsel, however, not
appearing remarkably tempting to the latter young lady she
threw it back to the bride, and a prettylit tle altercation er.
sued, the result of which was that the mutilated reLmber
was jerked across the table towards my plate,
there left
for the remainder of the repast—an
oUject, as may be
imagined, by no means provocative of further appetite.
After the fowls I entirely lost my reckoning among the
weird dishes which were placed one after the other with
terrible swiftness on the table, and found it impossible to
tell at length whether it was of flesh or fish that I was the
unhappy partaker. How truly fortunate was Sancho Panza
as the dishes were snatched away one by one ere he
had time to taste of them. Oh, for a medical attend..
ant such as his, behind me ! A peculiar kind of herb
soup concluded . the entertainment, and I rose to take
my leave—convinced by the symptoms of indigestion
which hunverer, the g about !me days afterwards that, like Lord
my system."
Maule terrible supper had compretely " got into

A JEW OI .
It was in one of these bazaarsTWITTED that a Jew out-Jewed
himself, and got "sold" in so delicious a manner that I
cannot help giving the benefit of it to the courteous reader.
Not very long ago, a tough old Zouave stalked along be-
tween the rows of opposition "stalls" with a face indicative
of unusual distress and anxiety. He jingled thirty francs
in his hand, and eyed the faces of the merchants in the
same manner in which Uncle Toni was supposed to have
scrutinised the countenance of his probable master at the
slave auction. At length he announced in a loud tone of
voice that he had borrowed some money of some one in the
bazaar, whose face he could not recollect, and was anxioas to
identify the lender in order that he might pay him his due.
No one put forward a claim, and a second time he repeated
the announcement. At length a Jew, issuing from the re-
cesses of a dark shop, approached him, and represented him-
self as having advanced the money, the circumstance
having escaped his memory till that moment. The Zouave,
poor fellow I seemed perfectly overcome with the idea of
being honest for once in his life, and immediately trans-
ferred the " vital metal" into the palm of the Israelite, who
passed a high eulogium on his probity. When he had
fairly pocketted it, in the presence of the crowd, which of
course assembled at so unusual an occurrence, the Zouave
coolly asked for the watch which he alleged to have given
in pawn for the money. The Jew, wrapt in ecstac y most
an in
probably at the idea of finding one righteous
m this
dishonest world, appeared not to heed the last demand, and turned slowly on his heel. But the Zouave repeated it
with rather a menacing gesture, and the crowd, too, joined
in the debate. The descendant of the Patriarchs changed
colour, and stammered mostdolefully—a defect which is no
joke in Arabic—attempting, at the same time, to slink bade
again into his shop. But the Zouave was no man of straw,
and the Jew, finding himself the centre of a very unpleasant
circle, begged of the soldier to accompany him to a spot
where they could be alone and adjust matters. " I should
be sorry," said he, " to dvrive
you of your watch, as your
intentions seem to be so honourable, but, at the same time,
it is difficult during the multifarious transactions in which
I am generally engaged to lay my hand on it at once."
Quid multa ? The Zouave walked away with hush-money
that jingled to the tune of a couple of hundred francs, aea won besides a large
bet which he had offerel to a comrade
, who never suspected that a Jew could be such a fool as to
claim a fictitious debt in full brunt of the public gaze. Alas,
poor Levi

TIIIS DAY'S 11LAREETS.

HAY MARKETS.

SMITHFIELD.—Meadiew hay, £2loe to 41151s6sOdpe;
rellooyaz
Td or .a,
d£e3
flirt to £6 Os ; and straw, £1 lOs tol
CUMBERLAND.* Meadow hay, £2 lOs to £5 15s ;
clover, £3 lOs to £6 Os Od ; and straw, £1 103 to £1 18s
per load. A steady demand.
WHITECRAPEL.—Meadow hay, £2 103 to £5 12s Od;
per
clove, , lOs
to
£steady ,6 s Od; and straw, £1 lOs to £1 163
l ,ad. Trad

COLONIAL.
TEA--
The market continues very inactive, with no
of importance to note in values.
A moderate business has been done, but with-
out material change in prices; and in the Refined Market
steady rates have been current.
COFFEE.—Native Ceylon has been in fair demand, and
at fully late quotations. Other descriptions have also sold
readily at former prices.
changesuGA
R._
RICE.—The market has shown very little animation, no
alteration of importance having been apparent in values.
ALTPETThe dealings have been limited, and
s'ightly reduced rates are now current.
TALLOW.—The market closed steadily, and a fair amount
of business has been transacted, for present delivery, at 525;
last three months, 535; and spring delivery, 52s 94 per
cwt.

The Chevaliers : a Tale. With a True Account of
an American Revival. By Maria 'Louisa Birkin•
shave. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.
This is an amusing tale, which presents many
interesting features of American life, and which
will be a change for those who are tired of stories
of home. The description of the revival will be found
very entertaining, and it is remarkably well done.
It is satisfactory to find that William Vaughan
spoke against such absurdity, which, carried on in
such a manner, became almost profane. There is
nothing more extraordinary and extravagant than
the manner in which those meetings are carried on.
The tale itself is not pleasing, but it represents the
folly of people acting on impulse, like Mary when
she married William. As might have been ex-
pected from such a beginning, the marriage turned
out most unhappily. Leila is a very charming
girl, and in George Singleton she met one in every
way worthy of her. The misfortunes she and her
widowed mother underwent are most affectingly
described. It was an imprudent thing for two
females to attempt arranging a complicated law-
suit by themselves, and had -it not been for the
opportune arrival of Singleton the consequences
might have been very serious. This book is worth
perusing by those who wish for an entertaining
narrative which gives on the whole a. fair view of
many important transactions of life, and which
affords a great variety in its descriptions.

The Corsair and his Conqueror. By H. E. Pope,
Bentley.
The author of this pleasant book of travels was
induced to spend a winter in Algiers for the benefit
of his health, and the particulars he gives as to
climate, epidemics, &c., will be of service to those
who propose visiting Africa on a similar errand.
His work consists rather of sketches of Algerine
life and habits than of a description of the country,
and aims more at being a pleasant and readable
volume than a dry record of facts and journeys.
He gives numerous amusing anecdotes and enlivens
his pages by frequent quotations, though the in-
flated style•of a young writer is sometimes percep-
tible. At the conclusion of the book we find a
brief outline of the history of Algiers, from the
days when its corsairs were the terror of Chris-
tendom down to its present occupation by the
French. We subjoin a few extracts as fair
samples of the style and character of the book :

THE CHAMELEON.
I hat singular reptile, the Chameleon, may be purchased
occasionally in the market. It has a long thin body and a
large head, with the most hideous mouth that can well be
conceived, while its eyes—like diminutive brilliants set in
globes of green leather—protrude from their sockets, and
and have the singular power of looking different ways at
once, so that while one optic may be apparently directed to
an object in front, the other turns slyly to see that no trea-
son is going on behind. Its four feet • are jointed in the
manner of the human arm, each foot being terminated with
three long claws, like fingers, with which it slowly picks its
journey. Its method of locomotion is extremely quaint and
amusing, especially in climbing trees. First it gives a
careful glance round to see that all is safe, and then slowly
advances its front leg, opening the claws like an elderly
gentleman about to shake hands. Having grasped a twig,
it pauses for another moment, looks round again, and then
seizes the twig with the other claw. The same operation
is performed with the two hind legs, till it rests altogether
on the twig, around which it curls its tail, as it looks care-
fully about for another step in its singular progress. The
original idea of its subsisting entirely on air has now given
place to the more rational theory of small flies or aerial ani-
maculm, which, by quickly darting out its long tongue, it
is enabled to entrap. That it has the power of changing
to blue or white is also an undoubted exaggeration, but, at
the same time, it is capable of materially altering its shade
from a greenish yellow to a dark green, according to the
dark or light colour of the object which it may wish to
resemble. I placed a chamelon, one day, on a table strewn
with pale coloured leaves, and remarked, as it picked its
way along, that it was of a colour almost similar to the
vegetation. I produced a red silk handkerchief, with which
I partially covered it, and was surprised to see that in an
instant it had altered its hue to the darkest imaginable
shade, while, on again removing the handkerchief, it im-
mediately assumed its former pale yellow tinge. It is clearly
apparent, therefore, that this wondrous gift is bestowed on,
it (like the foetid stench the "skunk" is said to emit, or
the inky fluid of the scuttle fish) for the purpose of self-pro-
tection, in order that by assuming as nearly as possible
the shade of surrounding objects it might thus be enabled,
in almost every instance, to bailie the pursuit and escape
the detection of an enemy, however powerful and vigb‘
lant.