To remain for any length of time at Tayf, in a sort of polite
imprisonment, was little to my taste; yet I could not press my departure
without increasing his suspicions. This was manifest after my first
interview with the Pasha and the Kadhy, and I knew that the reports of
Bosari might considerably influence the mind of Mohammed. Under these
circumstances, I thought the best course was to make Bosari tired of me,
and thus induce him
[p.75] involuntarily to forward my views. I therefore began to act at
his house with all the petulance of an Osmanly. It being the Ramadhan, I
fasted during the day, and at night demanded a supper apart; early on
the following morning I called for an abundant breakfast, before the
fast recommenced. I appropriated to myself the best room which his small
house afforded; and his servants were kept in constant attendance upon
me. Eastern hospitality forbids all resentment for such behaviour; I
was, besides, a great man, and on a visit to the Pasha. In my
conversations with Bosari, I assured him that I felt myself most
comfortably situated at Tayf, and that its climate agreed perfectly with
my health; and I betrayed no desire of quitting the place for the
present. To maintain a person in my character for any length of time at
Tayf, where provisions of all kinds were much dearer than in London, was
a matter of no small moment; and a petulant guest is everywhere
disagreeable. The design, I believe, succeeded perfectly; and Bosari
endeavoured to persuade the Pasha that I was a harmless being, in order
that I might be the sooner dismissed.