to go there and return in six months ; and, at the same time, bring with them all the produce of the East. March 26.—I was much better. Being Friday, the Mahommedan Sabbath, a crowd- of people from the country came to see me, after being at the mosque, and the square in front of my house was completely filled. I was sitting in the shade, on a mat spread on the ground, and Mahomed El Wordee with me : both he and my servants were in great fright at the increasing numbers of country people, and El Wordee begged of me either to have my guns loaded, or to threaten to fire among the multitude, if they did not go away ; or else to send a message to the gadado to have them dispersed. By way of aggravating his alarm, I said to him, with provoking indifference, “ Let them look at me, and welcome ; they are like all other country people, and will do me no harm.” A number of boys squeezing through the crowd, whenever they caught a glimpse of me, called out to their companions, “ Wishoden ila hullah ila hullah wahod Mohamoud wa rhasoul illah, hada el Kaffir or more briefly, “ ila el ullah Mohamoud wa rhasoul illah, hada el Kaffir,” “ I bear witness there is no God but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet ; there is the Infidel,” and immediately took to their heels. At last one of my servants stole through the crowd and informed the gadado, who sent and dispersed the people, to the great satisfaction of El Wordee ; when I was allowed to enjoy thé remainder of the day undisturbed. March 27— Clear and warm. In the morning I was very ill with ague, and at eleven the sultan sent for El Wordee and me, with a request, to bring my English saddle along with me. We were conducted farther into the interior of his residence than I had ever been before : the sultan was sitting reading in one corner of a square tower : on showing him my English saddle, he examined it very minutely, and said it was exactly like the ancient Arab saddle, described in one of his books. It was a second-hand saddle which we bought at Malta, and having often also served myself and my servant for a pillow, I had it re-stuffed at Kano : on seeing the maker’s card, “ Laurie, Oxford-Street, London,” under the saddle lap, the sultan, surmising perhaps that it was a charm, requested me to explain its meaning; upon which I told him, that in England a tradesman generally attached his name to the articles made by him, which, if of superior quality, brought him into notice. He again renewed the subject of the establishment of an English consul and physician at Sackatoo, as well as of the likelihood of receiving guns and rockets from England, which he now recommended to be sent by the way of Tripoli and Bornou, under the escort of El Wordee. To the latter part of this proposal I gave a direct negative: I assured him, that unless he undertook to convey them to Bakah at his own expense, they would not be sent at all, as the expense and delay by the other route were obstacles of too serious a nature to be repeated; besides, should the bashaw of Tripoli even allow the guns to pass, the sheikh of Bornou, who was famed for prudence and foresight, would forfeit all claim to that character, if he did not seize them on reaching his territory. “ O h! no,” said the sultan, “ he will never do th a t; he is my friend.” I again expatiated on the futility of this mistaken confidence, so opposite to sound policy. At this discourse E l Wordee seemed to be quite crest-fallen ; and it plainly appeared that this was his own device, in order that he might be sent by the bashaw along with another English mission; and after fleecing them throughout the route, have another opportunity here of playing the same game over again. All my former suspicions were now confirmed; and I attribute, in a great measure, to his machinations the necessity of abandoning my journey to Youri. I once more assured the sultan, that it was only by the sea-coast he must expect to maintain an intercourse with England. He then promised, that if I would wait till
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