In general, the pipe bowls are of a certain size, so that they may last at least a quarter of an hour, and with slow smoking they will last half an hour, The tobacco does not burn rapidly if the smoker does not pull hard—this quiet kind of smoking generally characterizes the grave orientals. Their pipes are seldom extinguished of themselves unless laid down, because the tobaccos of the East have more body than other tobaccos. Abou Gallioun might then always rest assured that his pipe would never go out, although he held long conversations by day, and rose occasionally at night to take his coffee. Tobacco is stated to have been imported into the Celestial empire by the Mantchoos; and the Chinese were much astonished when they first saw their conquerors inhaling fire through long tubes and “eating smoke.” By a curious coincidence this plant is called by the Mantchoos _tambakou_; but the Chinese designate it simply by the word meaning “smoke.” Thus they say they cultivate in their fields the “smoke-leaf,” they “chew smoke,” and they name their pipe the “smoke-funnel.” The old proverb that “smoke doth follow the fairest,” is thus commented upon:——“Whereof Sir Thomas Brown says, although there seems no natural ground, yet it is the continuation of a very ancient opinion, as Petrus Victorius and Casaubon have observed from a passage in Athenæus, wherein a Parasite thus describes himself— ‘To every table first I come, Whence Porridge I am called by some; Like whips and thongs to all I ply, Like smoak unto the fair I fly.’” There is extant in the East, an Arabian tale concerning the Broken Pipe of Saladin, which is taken from an author named Ali-el-Fakir, who lived in the times of Saladin, a tale which is often repeated among smokers in Syria. The Sultan, Salah-el-Din (called by us Saladin), was a great warrior, a lover of the harem, and at the same time pleasant. His court abounded with officers, servants, and slaves. Among his servants, who could best amuse him in his leisure moments, was a simple man to whom he had confided the care of his pipes, and whom he had made his pipe-bearer. All the Sultan’s pipes were of great value, owing to the oriental luxury which prevails in everything, and especially in everything belonging to the Sultan, who is considered the master of the world. Saladin, in consequence of the climate of the south of Syria, generally passed his time in the gardens of Damascus, luxuriously seated upon rich Persian carpets and soft cushions, under a tree surrounded by his guards, and a numerous band of servants, who promptly obeyed his commands. Under another tree, not far off, was the coffee-maker, ready to serve his master on the instant, for, like all other orientals, he was fond of this beverage; and Ramadan, the pipe-bearer, was commanded to be at hand, that he might execute his sovereign’s orders.