ABSTRACT
ON the 16th the king was indisposed; he sent for me and inquired if I could tell him of any herb which would ease him. I promised to make an excursion to look for some; and accordingly I ranged the neighbourhood, and found abundance of sweet basil, a plant which grows spontaneously in a rich soil; I gathered also a number of seeds, which I concealed with care in a corner of my pagne. When I returned, I gave the sweet basil to the king, and advised him to make tea of it; he drank it and found himself better. The properties of this plant are entirely unknown to the Moors, and the circumstance made a great noise in the camp. All the princes sent for me to their tents, to consult me on their various complaints, and to ask me for remedies. A quack would have taken advantage of this event to levy contributions upon their credulity, and I do not doubt that one of their own marabouts would have played them this game; but I gave them simply the most innocent remedies, things indeed which I knew to be harmless, whenever I was compelled to prescribe. I was not ill-pleased with this transient celebrity, for it procured me the advantage of rambling about in the country without exciting suspicion, under pretence of collecting medicinal herbs.
