CAMARALZAMAN AND BADOURA. 281

curious to know what it was, he opened the purse and took out
a cornelian, upon which there were different figures and charac-
ters engraven, all of which were unintelligible to him. In fact,
this cornelian was a talisman, which the queen of China had
given to her daughter to ensure her happiness, which she would
ever enjoy, as long as she wore this about her.

In order to examine this talisman the better, as the tent was
rather dark, Prince Camaralzaman went to the outside; when,
as he was holding it in his hand, a bird made a sudden dart
from the air upon it, and carried it away.

Nothing could exceed the astonishment and grief of the
prince, when he perceived the talisman thus unexpectedly taken
from him by the bird, which having flown away with his prize,
alighted on the ground at a little distance, with the talisman
still in his beak. Prince Camaralzaman went towards him in
the hope of his dropping it ; but as soon as he approached, the
bird flew a little way and then stopped again. The prince con-
tinued to pursue him ; the bird then swallowed the talisman and
took a longer flight. He again followed him, thinking to kill
him with a stone. The farther the bird got from him, the more
was Camaralzaman determined not to lose sight of him, and
obtain the talisman.

Over hills and valleys the bird drew the prince after him for
the whole day, always getting farther from the spot where he
had left the Princess Badoura; and at the close of day, instead
of perching in a bush, in which Camaralzaman might have sur-
prised him during the night, he flew to the top of a high tree,
where he was in safety.

The next morning Camaralzaman was awake before the bird
had quitted the tree, and he no sooner saw him take his flight,
than he got up to pursue him, and followed him the whole of
that day with as little success as he had done on the preceding
one, eating occasionally of the herbs and fruits he met with in
his way. He did the same till the tenth day, always keeping his
eye on the bird, and sleeping at night at the foot of the tree
where it perched on its highest branches.

On the eleventh day, the bird constantly flying on, and Cama-
ralzaman as constantly pursuing, they arrived at a large city.
When the bird was near the walls, he rose very high above