The English Government, after much deliberation, rewarded the enlightened behaviour of the Bey by a present of cotton seed, which was duly delivered to him by Mr. Wood with some statistics concerning the growth of that useful product. In the month of January 1859 Prince Alfred (the Duke of Edinburgh) visited Tunis, and was entertained by Sidi Muhamed. The arrival of the Prince undoubtedly awakened a very unusual amount of enthusiasm at the Tunisian Court, and the Bey himself placed round the neck of his guest the diamond medal worn only by members of the Husseinite family. “I hail the arrival of your Royal Highness,” said Sidi Muhamed, “with a delight which words cannot possibly express. That the son of the Queen of England should be with us, that I should have been afforded the pleasure of beholding him in my own palace is more than I ever hoped to realise. Myself, my family, and my whole people feel highly flattered by your visit, and consider it as being in harmony with the unbounded respect with which your Royal Mother, her Government, and the British nation are looked upon in this country.” Sidi Muhamed, whose state of health had been long very unsatisfactory, died on the 22d September, and two days later his brother Muhamed es Sadek took the oath prescribed by the new constitution in the presence of the whole of his ministers, the civil and ecclesiastical functionaries, and the foreign representatives. CHAPTER XI. MUHAMED ES SADEK.