CHAP. LXVII.

PRESENTS.- ILLNESS.

457

forget him, but would request Her Majesty's Government to send him some good fire-arms and some Arabic books; and I considered myself authorised in assuring him, that I had no doubt the English Government would not fail to acknowledge his services, if he acted in a straightforward manner through

out.

Pleasant and cheering as was this whole interview, nevertheless, in consequence of the considerable excitement which it caused me in my weak state, I felt my head greatly affected; and I was seized with a shivering fit about noon the following day, just as I was going to pay another visit to my friend. On the last day of September, I entered into a rather warm dispute with A'lawáte, whom I met at his brother's house, and whose ungenerous conduct I could not forget. My protector not possessing sufficient energy, and, in his position, not feeling independent enough to rebuke his brother for the trouble which he had caused me, begged me repeatedly to bear patiently his importunities, though he was aware of my reasons for disliking him. On another occasion, he made me fire off the six-barrelled pistol in front of his house, before a numerous assemblage of people. This caused extraordinary excitement and astonishment among the people, and exercised a great influence upon my future safety, as it made them believe that I had arms all over my person, and could fire as many times as I liked.

Thus the month of September concluded satisfac

torily and most auspiciously, as it seemed. For I had not only succeeded in reaching in safety this city, but I was also well received on the whole; and the only question seemed to be how I was to return home by the earliest opportunity and the safest route. But all my prospects changed with the first of the ensuing month, when the difficulties of my situation increased, and all hopes of a speedy departure appeared to be at an end. For in the afternoon of the first of October, a considerable troop of armed men, mustering about twenty muskets, arrived from Hamda-Alláhi, the residence of the shekho A'hmedu ben A'hmedu, to whose nominal sway the town of Timbúktu and the whole province has been subjected since the conquest of the town in the beginning of the year 1826. These people brought with them an order from the capital to drive me out of the town; and Hammádi, the nephew and rival of the Sheikh El Bakáy, feeling himself strengthened by the arrival of such a force, availed himself of so excellent an opportunity of enhancing his influence, and, in consequence, issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of the town, commanding them, in stringent terms, to attend to the orders of the emír, and in the event of my offering resistance, not even to spare my life.

There can scarcely be any doubt that my protector, as far as a man of a rather weak character was capable of any firm resolution, had intended to send me off by the very first opportunity that should offer; but the order issued by the emír of Hamda-Alláhi (to

CHAP. LXVII. ORDERS FROM HAMDA ALLA'HI. 459

whose authority, he was vehemently opposed), that I should be forthwith driven out of the town or slain, roused his spirit of opposition. He felt, too, that the difficulties of my leaving this place in safety were thus greatly augmented. All thoughts of my immediate departure were therefore set aside; partly, no doubt, from regard to my security, but much more from an anxious desire to show the Fullán, or Fúlbe, that he was able to keep me here, notwithstanding their hostile disposition and their endeavours to the contrary. There were, besides, the intrigues of the Waláti, my guide on the journey from Yágha, who, finding that the Sheikh did not approve of his dishonest conduct towards me, endeavoured to get me out of his hands, in order that he might deal with me as he liked. My broker, too, 'Alí el A'geren, seeing the difficulties of my situation, gave me entirely up, making his own safety the only object of his thoughts.

The Sheikh, when he had fully understood what I had told him with regard to the power and the political principles of the sovereign of Great Britain, had determined to write a letter with his own hand, expressing his satisfaction that I had come to pay him my compliments, and in order to endeavour to counteract the discouraging effects produced by the account of Major Laing's death, and, if possible, to obtain for himself a few presents. This letter, it was understood in the beginning, I myself should take with me; but, in the evening of the third of October, I suddenly, to my great amazement, re

ceived the intelligence that I was to send my man, 'Alí el A'geren, to Ghadámes or Tripoli with this letter, accompanying it with a note from my own hand, while I myself remained behind, as a kind of hostage, in Timbúktu, until the articles which the Sheikh El Bakáy had written for were received. But I was not to be treated in this way by intrigues of my own people; and the following morning I sent a simple protest to the Sheikh, stating that, as for himself, he might do just as he liked, and if he chose to keep me as a prisoner or hostage, he might do so as long as he thought fit; but that he must not expect to receive so much as a needle from the Government that had sent me until I myself should have returned in safety. My host, too, had just before intimated to me that it would be best to deliver my horse and my gun into his hands; but I sent him an answer, that neither the one nor the other should leave my house until my head had left my shoulders. It was rather remarkable that a person of so mean a character as the Waláti should for a moment gain the upper hand of a man of such an excellent disposition as the Sheikh; but it was quite natural that this clever rogue should continually incite Sídi A'lawáte to make new demands upon my small store of valuable articles.

Meanwhile, while I was thus kept in a constant state of excitement, I was not free from anxiety in other respects. A thunder-storm, accompanied by the most plentiful rain which I experienced during my stay

CHAP. LXVII. INTRIGUES SUCCESSFULLY OVERCOME. 461

in this place, had in the afternoon of the 3rd October inundated my house, and, breaking through the wall of my store-room, had damaged the whole of my luggage, my books, and medicines, as well as my presents and articles of exchange. But my situation was soon to improve, as the Sheikh became aware of the faithless and despicable character of my former companion and guide; and while he ordered the latter to fetch my camels from A'ribínda, which it was now but too apparent he had sold on his own. account instead of having them taken care of for me, he informed me of what had come to his knowledge of the Waláti's previous character and disreputable habits.

The Emír of Hamda-Alláhi's sending a force to Timbúktu in order to dispose of me, with the assistance of the inhabitants of that town, without paying the slightest regard to the opinion of my protector, had caused a considerable reaction in the whole relation of the Sheikh to the towns-people, and he had made up his mind to pitch his camp outside the city, in order to convince the inhabitants, and the Fullán in particular, that he did not depend upon them, but had mightier friends and a more powerful spell upon which he could safely rely. He had even, while still absent in Gúndam, opened communication with A'wáb, the chief of the Tademékket, to this effect.

But all these proceedings required more energy and a more warlike character than, I am sorry to say, my friend and protector actually possessed; and our ad