Soon after we left the coast of Africa, Bey Halil was removed from the government of Bengazi, and it is probable that he had reason to rejoice at his dismissal; for had he remained there much longer than he did, the continued demands for money and cargoes, so unmercifully made upon him by his Highness, could scarcely have failed to ruin him. In addition to these, he had sustained a considerable loss in the capture of one of the vessels which he had freighted, by the Greeks, as we were informed, at Bengazi; and also in the destruction of the jewels and wardrobe of his wife, which the Bashaw had ordered to be burnt (it was said) after the death of that unfortunate princess. In compliance, we presume, with the practice of the court of Tripoly, tea was served to us with the sherbet, instead of coffee, at the interviews we had with Bey Halil; as we have already mentioned it to have been in that with the Shekh of Mesurata. In the course of our first visit, we took occasion to mention to his excellency the careless manner in which Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah had fulfilled the injunctions of the Bashaw; and to enumerate a few of the impositions, the unnecessary delays, and privations, to which we had in consequence been subjected; acquainting him at the same with the loss of property which we had sustained, from the thievish disposition of the Dúbbah’s people. We hoped by this complaint to get back a pocket compass, and some other articles which we could ill spare, which had been stolen from our tents on the journey across the Syrtis. Bey Halil was, however, either unwilling or unable to assist us in the matter; and after shrugging up his shoulders in dignified silence (as if he had expected nothing less), he summed up the whole of his displeasure in the single exclamation of—Arab! By which he seemed to imply, that, as one of that race, the Shekh could not be other than a rogue[3]. Unsatisfactory as this administration of justice may appear, it did not seem probable that we should obtain any other; and having one means of punishment, at least, in our own hands (that of mulcting the Shekh, whom we had not fully paid, to the amount of the property stolen), we did not press the subject any further with his excellency; and after having made known to him our intention of remaining during the rainy season in Bengazi, and of proceeding afterwards to the eastward, we concluded by requesting his assistance and protection, in furtherance of the remaining objects of the mission, and took our leave under the most decided and friendly assurances of having everything arranged as we could wish.