All the stories of haunted houses, so rife
in the district, were, I was told, " Fause
tales. No ghaist or speret could be; when
we went to our place there we stayed till the
calling."

Magic, natural or supernatural, was not one
of the subjects on which I found the king
disposed to be communicative, but from what I
could gather it would seem that every tribe has
one or more persons who are held to be
extraordinarily gifted; something similar to or equivalent
to mesmerism has been practised amongst
them from time immemorial, but the faculty has
always been confined to but few individuals, not
necessarily on that account qualified to rank as
wise men, since women were as often possessed
of the power as the other sex. The principal
occupation of the wise man would appear to be
confined to divination and the conduct of
ceremonies, in fact, a sort of compound between
high priest and garter king at arms; probably,
also, he is a depositary of their ancient
language, but it is admitted that they are now
much inferior to those of their predecessors that
existed before the people left their native
country; indeed, the wonders performed by
the magicians before Moses and Aaron were
but a poor exhibition to what was afterwards
attained to, and is even now practised in the
depths of Africa, where the Egyptians who
sought refuge from their invaders, the
undegenerate descendants of the old magicians
—the wise men par excellence— are still to be
found.

There can be no doubt but that (whatever the
king stated to the contrary) the gipsy tribes at
Yetholm, like their brethren on the Continent,
possess a distinctive language, and, from its
affinity to those now spoken in parts of the
north of India, it has been assumed that the
people originally migrated from that country;
but it is no stretch of probability to suppose,
in absence of proof to the contrary, that the
speech of ancient Egypt might have borne such
an affinity to that prolific mother of languages
—the Sanscrit, as to make it a cognate tongue
with the various dialects of Central Asia; but
whatever language the gipsies may possess, it
would appear from an incident I am going to
relate, that the knowledge of it is confined in most
cases to a few individuals. I am afraid that my
fair reader will be somewhat disillusioned with
respect to the Egyptian Princess Royal, when I
state that like other regal ladies that could be
named, Cleopatra smoked: as on proceeding to
light the calumet of peace with Pharaoh, I was
interested in no small degree at the lady
producing from the recesses of her robe a clay
pipe, that, from its colour, had evidently seen
much service, and prepare to join in the
same indulgence. I kept my own tobacco
in a small bag that had been brought by a
friend from Persia; round the edge of it was
an elaborate arabesque ornament that might
have been the characters of an Eastern
language.

The lady appeared to take a fancy to the
pouch, and wishing to leave her some memento
of our visit, I begged her acceptance of it. She
was pleased to receive the gift, at first most
graciously, but after a time some misgiving
seemed to take possession of her, and she re-
turned it to me under the pretence of not
understanding it to be a present. I explained that I
hoped she would keep it as a souvenir, on which
it was again accepted, but apparently with some
reluctance. On the next morning, just as I was
taking my departure from the inn, she made her
appearance at the door, not to bid me a final
adieu, as I had at first fondly imagined, but to
ask me to resume the gift. She had
submitted it to the wise man, who had read the
mysterious characters, and had no hesitation
in pronouncing them to be an enchantment
of the enemy, and consequently impossible of
acceptance.

Like many other potentates, Pharaoh's exchequer
was liable to fluctuations, and its replenishment
depended on tribute received from the
tribe at Yetholm, and occasionally from such
others in England and elsewhere as recognised
his kingly title. Her Most Gracious Majesty
Queen Victoria is also a tributary, but it is
found most convenient as well as dignified to
remit the amount through the agency of the
Poor Law Board, and with that punctuality for
which her Majesty is conspicuous, the tribute
is made payable in weekly instalments. At the
time of our visit Pharaoh was (true kaiser
like) rather " au sec," in consequence of the
greater part of the tribe being absent on their
summer peregrinations, and till their return in
October the revenue accounts would not be
adjusted.

It is, however, right to say that this fact
was not obtruded on my notice, but came to
my knowledge after some questioning, and just
before I took my leave.

NEW WORK
BY SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON.
NEXT WEEK
Will be continued (to be completed next March)
A STRANGE STORY,
BY THE
AUTHOR OF "MY NOVEL," " RIENZI," &c. &c.

Just published, price 5s. 6d., bound in cloth,
THE FIFTH VOLUME
OF
ALL THE YEAR ROUND.
Containing from Nos. 101 to 126, both inclusive.
The preceding Volumes are always to be had.