sence, we found His Highness seated, with ail due solemnity, at the
farther end of the apartment, attended by his third son, Sidy Ah, by
Reis Morat *, who acted as interpreter, and by other principal
officers of the Court. A formidable fine of well-armed black soldiers
were ranged along the walls of the room, who stood exactly like so
many statues, each with a loaded blunderbuss, held with the muzzle
pointed downwards; and close to the Bashaw’s person was: a trusty
black slave, who held in readiness His Highness’s pistols. The introduction
of armed soldiers into the presence-chamber of a Sovereign
was rather a novel sight to Europeans, and may be taken as an
example of the extremely barbarous state in which the Regency of
Tripoly, with all its recent improvements, must still be admitted to
remain.
The High Admiral, Reis Morttt, in the name of our party, made
known to the Bashaw the friendly disposition of the King of England
towards His Highness ; in testimony of which he was requested to accept
the present of four brass field-pieces, with their accoutrements,
which we had brought with us on board the Adventure; and he was
then requested to extend his protection to our party in their passage
through his extensive dominions. Every assistance was freely offered
on the part of the Bashaw, who expressed himself, in return, highly
satisfied with the friendly assurances of His Majesty; and the neces*
Reis, Mor&t, we believe, is a Scotchman, and was formerly mate of a merchant vessel ;
but having embraced the Mahometan faith, and entered the service of the Bashaw, has
now, through his navalskill and abilities,.arrived a t the head of his profession, and is
much considered by His Highness.
sary preliminaries being satisfactorily arranged, tea * and lemonade
were served with all due decorum, and our party took' leave of His
Highness. The guns were brought up the same afternoon, close
under the balcony of the palace, and the Bashaw appeared at the
window to inspect them, with some of the officers of his court; various
manoeuvres were gone through to the admiration and astonishment
of the spectators, under the direction of the gunner of the
Adventure, and the cannoniers acquitted themselves, so highly to
the satisfaction of His Highness, that he sent a sword to the gunner,
in token of his approbation, and a bag of dollars to be divided among
the crew.
In our interview with the Bashaw it had been finally arranged
that our party should be escorted as far as Bengazi, by an Arab Shekh
who presided over the district of Syrt, and was called Shekh Mahom-
med el Dubbah; at Bengazi we were to be consigned to Hadood,
Shekh of Barka, who was to conduct us as far as Bomba, beyond
which his authority ceased. As Bomba, or its immediate vicinity,
may be considered as the eastern limit of the Regency, we were
informed that, in our progress from that place to Alexandria, we
must depend upon the protection of the Bashaw of Egypt. We had
foreseen this circumstance before our arrival in Tripoly, and a letter
had been written from Malta to Mr. Salt, His Majesty’s Consul-
General in Egypt, requesting him, in the name of the British Government,
to make the necessary arrangements with His Highness the
* Tea is very generally used by the higher classes throughout the Regency of Tripoly,
and coffee b u t rarely.