Clapperton was not able: to allay his Feats,: he was only soothed, when I returned. He was quite astonished I had seen nothing, and began relating what had happened to others. ■< On the 26th, about half an hour after sunset, arrived at G hraat; and were soon visited by a number of.Hateeta’s relations, one of. whom,was his sister. Some were much affected, and wept at the sufferings that had detained him so long from them. A number of his male relations soon came, and many of the inhabitants.of the town. The .ladies were a free and lively set. „ They were not a little pleased with the grave manner we uttered the various complimentary expressions. Hateeta was not well pleased with something, that he had heard. He told us,, not to be afraid; for he had numerous relations. We said that fear never entered our breasts, and begged him, not ¡torbe uneasy on our account.-'>h 1 Saturday, July , <37;, Early in the morning numerous visitors paid their respects to Hateeta,., and. were, introduced in due form to us. We Felt, the length of time spent, in-salutations quite fatiguing, and so absurd in our eyes, that, we could„scarcely at „times retain our gravity. Our visitors, were, mostly residents of the city, and all were decorated in their best. There was a sedateness and gravity in the appearance of all, which the dress tended,greatly to augment. There were three natives of Gadames, one, of-whom knew us through our worthy friend Mahomet D ’Ghies; another ,,w;e had seen in the house of Dr. Dickson; and the third was well acquainted with European manners, having been over at Leghorn. , . , , In the afternoon ,we visited the sultan. Mats had been spread in the castle, in a small ante-chamber. The old man was seated, but.rose up to,receive us and welcome us to his city. He apologized for not waiting on u s ; but said he was sick, and had been very little out for some time. He had guinea-worm, and a cataract was forming in his eyes. He was dressed in a nearly worn-out,tobe, and trowsers of the samecolour; and round his head was wrapped am old piece of.yel- low coarse cloth for a turban. Notwithstanding the meanness of the dress, there was something pleasing and prepossessing in his countenance, and such a,freeness as made us soon quite as much at home as if in our tents. We presented him with a sword, with which he was highly pleased. Hateeta wished it had been a bomouse •, but we had none with us we considered sufficiently good. We were led away by the title, sultan. We had no idea the Tuaricks were so vain; for they used to be filling us with,high notions of the wealth and greatness of the people here. Our interview was highly interesting; and every one seemed much pleased with us. The old sultan showed us every kindness ; and we had every reason to believe him sincere in his good wishes. After our visit we called at the house of Lameens, son of the kadi. He is a young man of excellent character, and universally respected. His father is now in Ghadames, arranging with some of the other principal inhabitants the affairs of the community. He had left dhections with his son to show us every attention. His house was neatly fitted up, and carpets spread on a high bed, on which we seated ourselves. Several of the people who were in the castle came along with us, and by the assistance of those that could speak Arabic, we were able to keep up a tolerably good conversation. On inquiring about the Tuarick letters, we found the same sounds given them as we had before heard from others. We were here at the fountain head, but were disappointed in not being able to find a book in the Tuarick language ; they told us there was not one. Some only of the Tuaricks speak the Arabic. We were the more astonished to find this, when we considered the great intercourse between them and nations that speak Arabic only. I t was near sunset before we returned to our tents, which were now tolerably clear of visitors. All had retired to pray and eat. Stewed meat, bread, and soup, were again sent us by the sultan. In the evening Hateeta’s kinswomen returned. They were greatly amused, and laughed heartily at our blundering out a few Tuarick words. I t may be well supposed we were very unfit companions for the ladies, as they could speak no other language than their own, and we knew very little of it. Still, however, we got on well, and were mutually pleased. I could scarcely refrain laughing several times at the grave manner Clapperton assumed. He had been tutored by Hateeta, and fully acted up to his instructions; no Tuarick could have done better. Our friend Hateeta was anxious we should shine, and read a number of lectures to Clapperton. He is naturally lively, and full of humour. He was directed not to laugh or sing, but look as grave as possible, which Hateeta said would be sure to please the grave Tuaricks. As for myself, I had a natural sedateness, which Hateeta thought would do. The liveliness of the women, their freeness with the men, and the marked attention
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