Tourmaline

“ Tourmalin had gone out to Australia, had seen something of the country during his stay in the colony, and was now, as we have seen, on his return; and during the whole time his oath, to his great credit, had been literally and faithfully kept.
During the voyage out, he had been too persistently unwell to be inclined to dally with sentiment; but in his subsequent wanderings, he had avoided, or rather escaped, all intercourse with any Colonial ladies who might by any possibility affect his allegiance to Sophia, whose image consequently still held undisputed possession of his heart. ”

“ He could have wished for some indication as to whether she was Lady Tyrrell or Mrs. Davenport; but, as he had none at present, "Oh" seemed the safest remark to make.
"Life on board a large passenger-ship, Mr. Tourmalin," she went on to observe, "though relaxed in some respects, is still not without decencies which a gentleman is bound to respect."
"Quite so," said Peter, unable to discover the bearings which lay in the application of this particular observation.
"You say 'Quite so'; but what has your behavior been, sir?"
"That," said Peter, "is exactly what I should like to know myself!" ”

“ Before the Judge could even express his approbation of Peter's course, Tourmalin was down on the saloon-deck seeking a quiet spot wherein to collect his thoughts.
Before he could find the quiet spot, however, he almost ran into the arms of the matron from Melbourne, whom he had not seen since the episode of the music-room.
"A word with you, Mr. Tourmalin!" she said.
"I—I really can't stop now," stammered Peter. "I—I'm expecting friends!" ”

“ He bustled off, leaving Tourmalin by the davits, quite incapable of action of any kind in the presence of this new and awful dilemma. He had been spreading a cruel and unjustifiable slander against an irreproachable Colonial magnate, whose son was now at hand to demand reparation with a horsewhip. He could only propitiate him by denouncing Perkins as his informant, and if he did that he would be kicked from one end of the ship to the other with a spiked boot! ”

“ Turmeric enters largely into Hindu ceremonial. For example, the practice of smearing the face with it is very widespread among females, and, thinking that it will give their husbands increase of years, women freely bathe themselves with turmeric water. The use of water, in which turmeric has been infused, and by which they give the whole body a bright yellow colour, is prescribed to wives as a mark of the conjugal state, and forbidden to widows.24 To ward off the evil eye, a vessel containing turmeric water and other things is waved in front of the bridal couple at weddings. ”

“ The Tourangeaux themselves will tell you, when speaking of Rabelais and Balzac, that it is the land of "haute graisse, féconde et spirituelle." It is all this, and, besides its spirituelle components, it will supply some very real and substantial comforts. It is the Eden of the gourmandiser of such delicacies as truffes, rilettes, and above all, pruneaux, which you get in one form or another at nearly every meal. Most of the good things of life await one here in abundance, with kitchen-gardens and vineyards at every one's back door. Truly Touraine is a land of good living. ”

“ And on the built-up chimneypiece there was a clock, a small faience affair surmounted by a Japanese monster in peacock-blue. Moreover, by some chance, this clock was actually going—he could hear it ticking as he sat there. Should he present his cheque or not; he was feeling a little aggrieved at Sophia's treatment of him, she had snubbed him so unmercifully over the carpets; it was pleasant to think that, if he chose, he could transport himself that very instant to the society of a sweet and appreciative companion from whom snubbing was the last thing to be apprehended. ”

“ She's going to produce him, sir; and if he dares to stand me out to my face—well, he'll know why I've put on these shoes! Come along; I can't let you off."
Peter dared not refuse, for fear of attracting his friend's suspicions. He could only trust to slipping away in the confusion; and so, unfastening the cabin-door, the Manager caught the unresisting Tourmalin tightly by the arm, and hurried him along the central passage and up the companion.
Even Miss Davenport would have been a welcome diversion at that moment ”

“ Your back will be to the river. Bayezid will turn aside from his hunt, which is meant but to cast dust in your eyes, and set his heavy cavalry against your tired and thirsty followers. By nightfall the riders of Turan will be slain or in the river. Aye, there are war-galleys awaiting you, around the upper bend of the Khabur. Your men have never fought against the Turkish ships.”
At this Tamerlane brushed his hand across his near-sighted eyes, and a hissing breath escaped his hard lips.
“Bayezid revels—to make you the blinder,” concluded Michael bitterly. ”

“ He must be fatally injured, if even the Manager had relented!
"Is—is Alfred there?" asked Tourmalin, anxiously. "Keep him away, if you can!"
"Certainly!" said Mr. Perkins. "Who is Alfred?"
"Why, the—the man with the revolver. ”

“ The subtle scent of the willows by the water's edge was mingled with the damp odor of the breeze from the river. The monotonous chant of a goat-herd added a plaintive note to the sound of birds' songs in a chorus which never ends; the cries of the boatmen brought tidings of distant busy life. Here was Touraine in all its glory, and the very height of the splendor of spring. Here was the one peaceful district in France in those troublous days; for it was so unlikely that a foreign army should trouble its quiet that Touraine might be said to defy invasion. ”

“ But Turpin was on his feet almost instantly; and though he bore four lance-wounds in his body, he raised his sword on high and ran to the side of Roland, crying,—
"I am not defeated! A brave soldier yields with life alone!" Then wreaked he such vengeance upon the heathen hordes that some say God wrought a miracle in his behalf.
If miracle of God there was, it was not granted to save the Christian few from destruction. In the last struggle, the valiant Turpin, wounded and afoot, and the matchless Roland faced the Moslem hosts alone. ”

“ Bazarov was about to take it and go away.
"For God's sake," muttered Vassily Ivanovich, "let me do it myself."
Bazarov smiled.
"What a devoted practitioner you are!"
"Don't laugh, please. Show me your finger. It's a small cut. Am I hurting you?"
"Press harder; don't be afraid."
Vassily Ivanovich stopped.
"What do you think, Evgeny; wouldn't it be better to burn it with a hot iron?"
"That ought to have been done sooner, now really even the silver nitrate is useless. If I've caught the infection, it's too late now."
"How . . . too late . . . ?" murmured Vassily Ivanovich almost inaudibly. ”

“ And, secondly, I had an acquaintance in Tula, a horsedealer; I might buy a horse off him to take the place of the disabled shaft-horse.
'The thing's decided!' I thought; 'I'll drive over myself; I can sleep just as well on the road--luckily, the coach is comfortable.'
'I've brought him!' cried Yermolaï, rushing into the hut a quarter of an hour later. He was followed by a tall peasant in a white shirt, blue breeches, and bast shoes, with white eyebrows and short-sighted eyes, a wedge-shaped red beard, a long swollen nose, and a gaping mouth. ”

“ The turban is the universal head-covering.
The women don loose trousers, and red or yellow iron-heeled boots, like those of the men; but over all they throw a long blue garment, which, if not tucked up under the girdle, would depend some inches below the ankles. A large blue shawl descends below the knee. Round their heads they twist black shawls, turban-wise, or they [Pg 248] wear the red fez, with a small silk handkerchief wound about it; and on the top of this, a kind of wreath made of short black fringe, worn like a diadem, but leaving the forehead free. ”

“ The courtiers wondered at Turpin’s influence. Many of them were quite jealous. As for poor Turpin, he was wearied beyond all expression. He could find no rest either by night or by day. Vainly he sought for some plan by which he might rid himself of the troublesome gem.
At length it happened that Charlemagne and Turpin set out from the palace of Ingelheim on a journey to the north. They camped one night in a great forest. While his master lay asleep Turpin left the camp and wandered out into the moonlight alone. Not once before, since he had found the ring, had he been free from the Emperor. ”

“ This youth, who possessed nothing in the world except his good looks, his sword, and spurs, but whom worn-out old men would have considered very well off, had in his head a firm intention to save his father, and make his fortune at the court, then holden in Touraine. At early dawn this good Tourainian left his lodging, and, enveloped in his mantle, all except his nose, which he left open to the air, and his stomach empty, walked about the town without any trouble of digestion. ”

“ Endowed with extraordinary strength, he did the work of four men; work flew apace under his hands, and it was a pleasant sight to see him when he was ploughing, while, with his huge palms pressing hard upon the plough, he seemed alone, unaided by his poor horse, to cleave the yielding bosom of the earth, or when, about St. Peter’s Day, he plied his scythe with a furious energy that might have mown a young birch copse up by the roots, or swiftly and untiringly wielded a flail over two yards long ”

“ It was fortunate that there was nothing compromising in the few words she had overheard, but he must not allow himself to be caught so near the clock again.
He was not a little disturbed by the tenor of this last interview. It was bad enough that in some way he seemed to have seriously displeased Miss Davenport; but, besides that, he could not contemplate without uneasiness the probable effect which her confidences, whatever their exact purport, might have upon Miss Tyrrell. ”

“ Yermolaï was under orders to provide his master's kitchen with two brace of grouse and partridges once a month. But he might live where and how he pleased. They had given him up as. a man of no use for work of any kind—'bone lazy,' as the expression is among us in Orel. Powder and shot, of course, they did not provide him, following precisely the same principle in virtue of which he did not feed his dog. Yermolaï was a very strange kind of man; heedless as a bird, rather fond of talking, awkward and vacant-looking ”

“ When pure it forms yellow crystals having a vanilla odour and exhibiting a fine blue colour in reflected light. It is soluble in alcohol, in chloroform and in alkaline solutions, but only sparingly in water. Paper tinged with a tincture of turmeric exhibits on the addition of an alkali a reddish brown tint, which becomes violet on drying. This peculiarity was pointed out by H. A. Vogel in 1815, and since that date turmeric has been utilized as a chemical test for detecting alkalinity. It is of no therapeutic value. In Sierra Leone a kind of turmeric is obtained from a species of Canna. ”

“ Could he venture up on deck and inform himself? He tried, but his nerve failed him, and he sank into one of the chairs in a state of almost unbearable suspense.
Just at this moment, he saw the skirts of a muslin gown appear at the head of the broad companion which led to the dining-saloon. Someone, a girl evidently, was descending. Presently he saw her fully revealed—it was Miss Tyrrell. ”

“ It is much more largely employed as a condiment than as a drug.
RHIZOMA CURCUMÆ. Radix Curcumæ; [2365] Turmeric; F. Curcuma; G. Gelbwurzel, Kurkuma.
Botanical Origin—Curcuma longa [2366] L.—Turmeric is indigenous to Southern Asia, and is there largely cultivated both on the continent and in the islands.
History—Dioscorides mentions an Indian plant as a kind of Cyperus (Κύπειρος) resembling ginger, but having when chewed a yellow colour and bitter taste: probably turmeric was intended. Garcia de Orta (1563) , as well as Fragoso (1572) , describe turmeric as Crocus indicus. ”

“ Not only is Ascension a coaling, cable, and health station of considerable importance, but it is also the chief habitat of the sea-turtle, which comes there in thousands between January and May, to lay its eggs in the sand. After having seen the enormous size these creatures attain, it is almost possible to believe some of those fantastic yarns about his trained turtles with which Baron de Rougemont set Europe gasping a few years back. During the year that I visited Ascension more than two hundred turtles were captured, ranging in weight from five hundred to eight hundred pounds apiece. ”

“ Harkness and other of the earliest writers state that the Todas never wear any covering to the head, and there is little doubt that the practice has been adopted during the last century.
At the present time a man always removes his turban when performing any act of reverence (see Fig. 10) and when crossing one of the sacred rivers.
Mr. Thurston mentions that on his first visit, the man whom he chose as his guide adopted the turban in honour of his appointment, and my guide, Kòdrner, although much younger than most of those who wore turbans, also adopted this custom when he was with me. ”