"I cannot understand," he said, "why wine is allowed by all religions, when its use deprives man of his reason."-- "All religions," I answered, "forbid excess in drinking wine, and the crime is only in the abuse." I proved him the truth of what I had said by telling him that opium produced the same results as wine, but more powerfully, and consequently Mahomet ought to have forbidden the use of it.

He observed that he had never taken either wine or opium in the course of his life.
After dinner, pipes were brought in and we filled them ourselves.

I was smoking with pleasure, but, at the same time, was expectorating.

Yusuf, who smoked like a Turk, that is to say, without spitting, said,-- "The tobacco you are now smoking is of a very fine quality, and you ought to swallow its balsam which is mixed with the saliva." "I suppose you are right; smoking cannot be truly enjoyed without the best tobacco." "That is true to a certain extent, but the enjoyment found in smoking good tobacco is not the principal pleasure, because it only pleases our senses; true enjoyment is that which works upon the soul, and is completely independent of the senses." "I cannot realize pleasures enjoyed by the soul without the instrumentality of the senses." "Listen to me.

When you fill your pipe do you feel any pleasure ?" "Yes." "Whence does that pleasure arise, if it is not from your soul?
Let us go further.