were then conducted to pay our respects to the Sultan, and to be introduced to his son, a boy of about thirteen years of age, born of a slave of Soudan. We, in our turn, were visited by a great number of people ; who had, in the space of a few hours, informed themselves, very sagaciously, that we were great men, and had brought 30,000 dollars with us ; when, in truth, we had only 300 (which were in Mukni’s hands), and knew not where to procure more. Our horses, which were much fatigued and very thin, were fed from the castle. We had been thirty-nine days in coming from Tripoli; the road, with the exception of the immediate vicinity of the towns, was a dreary desert, having but few wells, and those of salt water. Nothing could have been more fortunate than our travelling o © with the Sultan; our difficulties must otherwise have been very great. Mukni, to do him justice, showed us every attention; and we always partook of his meals when in the towns. I was his constant companion, and being of a less sedate disposition than Mr. Kitchie, he always invited me to ride by him, generally treating me with some cakes or dainties, which he carried with him. In return, I allowed him a draught from my water-skin. H e spoke a little Italian, and amused himself much by asking questions about my country, of the wealth and grandeur of which he had formed very exalted ideas; particularly respecting the funds, or banco, as he called it. H e certainly evinced a great desire to lodge some of his property, in this manner, in England, provided he could arrange it privately; it being against the Mahommedan religion to receive interest. When I told him that English women were allowed to have money in their own power, and that some of them had immense fortunes, he seemed scarcely to credit me. H e was much astonished at being told, that young men often did not marry until they had arrived at 25 or 30 years of age : this he considered as highly improper ; but in some degree reconciled it to his way of thinking, by supposing that they must, in that case, have a great number of concubines, and that they only married those who brought them children. He did not find fault with our customs in that respect, as he had, himself, only one wife; but he had 50 Negresses, which was considered a very moderate allowance for a Sultan of Fezzan. He frequently asked me how natural children were disposed of, when it was requisite to conceal their birth from the parents of the offending parties. His pointed manner of questioning me on this subject led me to some suspicion of his motives for the inquiry; and I afterwards discovered, from several of his people, that he invariably caused to be strangled all babes born of his Negresses by other men, and that it was the general custom at Tripoli, to poison illegitimate infants in the womb. The mother of little Yussuf, his son, had a child about a year since, perfectly black. Mukni being satisfied it could not be his, sent for the suspected father, and made him strangle the infant: the mother was allowed to return to her own country, which was considered a great piece of lenity, death being usually the punishment for such an offence. Our travelling pace was a walk of the horses, which generally got considerably in advance of the camels. At noon, or about that time, if we could find a tree, we stopped under i t ; if not, we sat under the shadow of our horses. The Sultan was grand victualler, and generally produced a bag of bread or dates, or the remains of his dinner of the day before. Each one then had a portion, not sufficient to he called a dinner, but to break his fast; and after eating, and drinking a few mouthfuls of wateir, stretched himself out, and slept until the camels came up : the party then mounted and rode on. These rests were very refreshing to the men and horses; but the loaded camels never made any n 2
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