Mehevi, by the aid of his fingers, went through a long numerical
calculation, as if estimating the number of Frenchmen the
squadron might contain.

It was just after employing his faculties in this way that he
happened to notice the swelling in my limb. He immediately
examined it with the utmost attention, and after doing so,
despatched a boy who happened to be standing by with some
message.

After the lapse of a few moments the stripling re-entered the
house with an aged islander, who might have been taken for old
Hippocrates himself. His head was as bald as the polished
surface of a cocoanut shell, which article it precisely resembled
in smoothness and colour, while a long silvery beard swept almost
to his girdle of bark. Encircling his temples was a bandeau of
the twisted leaves of the Omoo tree, pressed closely over the
brows to shield his feeble vision from the glare of the sun. His
tottering steps were supported by a long slim staff, resembling
the wand with which a theatrical magician appears on the stage,
and in one hand he carried a freshly plaited fan of the green
leaflets of the cocoanut tree. A flowing robe of tappa, knotted
over the shoulder, hung loosely round his stooping form, and
heightened the venerableness of his aspect.

Mehevi, saluting this old gentleman, motioned him to a seat
between us, and then uncovering my limb, desired him to examine
it. The leech gazed intently from me to Toby, and then proceeded
to business. After diligently observing the ailing member, he
commenced manipulating it; and on the supposition probably that