and imperfect in those parts of theology that should have caused him to
feel alarm. His native nurse first taught him to kiss his hand to the
moon walking in brightness; which, being especially reprobated in the
book of Job, we persuaded him to renounce. We next found him making
salams as he passed the fat old gentleman with an elephant's head, and
other foul idolatries bedaubed with rose-pink and butter, that show
themselves on various milestone-like appurtenances to an Indian road.
After his visit to the Persian Gulph he leaned more towards monotheism;
and I once found him seated between two guns on the quarter-deck of an
Arab frigate, in the midst of a fry of devotees of little more than his
own age, busily engaged in chanting canticles in praise of Mohammed the
"amber-_ee_." His early leaning towards the ugly gods of Hindoston, had
made it a delicate matter to introduce him to our Evil Principle; and
the fact was, that when he afterwards saw the Freischutz in England, we
had no means of making him comprehend the nature of the crimson fiend,
but by telling him he was a relation of his old elephant-headed friend
Gunputty. On the whole I imagine there never was a better subject to
cope with a sorcerer; and when he asked the cause of the immediate
preparations we told him the man was going to show some feats of
legerdemain such as he used to see in India. The magician began by
throwing grains of incense upon the fire, bowing with a seesaw motion
and repeating "_Heyya hadji Capitân, Heyya hadji Capitân;_" which being
interpreted, if it was intended to have any meaning, would appear to
imply "_Hurra, pilgrim Captain!_" being, as I understood it at the time,
an invocation by his style and title, of the spirit he wished to see.
When nothing came, he increased his zeal after the manner of a priest of
Baal, and seemed determined that if the "Captain" was sleeping or on a
journey, he should not be missed for want of calling. One slight
_variorum_ reading I observed. Instead of saying to the boy "What do you
see?" as had been reported--he said "_Do you see a little man?_" which,