it was in compliance with his wishes that I came to his court, from
which, in obedience to his commands, I should at any time be ready to
withdraw. A youth, who stood at the right hand of Tippoo's throne,
seemed much to approve of this answer, and the sultan, assuming a more
composed and dignified aspect, signified to me that he was satisfied to
await for the sight of the filling of the great bag till the next day;
and that he should, in the mean time, be well pleased to see what I was
now prepared to show.

"The apparatus for freezing, which we then exhibited, seemed to please
him; but I observed that he was, during a great part of the time whilst
I was explaining it, intent upon something else; and no sooner had I
done speaking than he caused to be produced the condensing engines, made
by himself, which he formerly showed to William Smith, and which he said
spouted water higher than any of ours. The sultan, I perceived, was much
more intent upon displaying his small stock of mechanical knowledge than
upon increasing it; and the mixture of vanity and ignorance, which he
displayed upon this and many subsequent occasions, considerably lessened
the awe which his external magnificence at first excited in my mind.
Sometimes he would put himself in competition with me, to show his
courtiers his superiority; but failing in these attempts, he would then
treat me as a species of mechanic juggler, who was fit only to exhibit
for the amusement of his court. When he saw my speaking-trumpet, which
was made of copper, he at first looked at it with great scorn, and
ordered his trumpeters to show me theirs, which were made of silver. As
he had formerly done when my predecessor was at his court, he desired
his trumpeters to sound through these trumpets the words _hauw_ and
_jauw_, i.e. come and go: but, upon trial, mine was found to be far
superior to the sultan's: and I received intimation, through one of his
courtiers, that it would be prudent to offer it immediately to Tippoo.