The most uncomfortable feature in French diplomacy in Tripoli is the undeniable fact that the shadow of zealous Archbishop Lavigérie has already fallen upon the country. His recent attempt to invest M. Roustan’s proceedings with the halo of ecclesiastical respectability gives a colour to the suspicion that he is willing and anxious to aid French views here as he has done elsewhere. Christianity in Tunis has been represented for three centuries by a Franciscan mission, now placed under French protection. In the past they have done an excellent work, and they maintain an hospital in which they dispense medical assistance gratis to sufferers of every creed. Archbishop Lavigérie is at this moment seeking to include Tripoli in his extensive diocese; he has sent a body of Marianists to establish a college in the old slave _bagnio_ of St. Michael; a party of Jesuit Fathers have simultaneously taken up their quarters at Meshiyah, on the southern limits of the oasis, while missionaries have left for Ghat and Ghadames, and it is hinted that it is possible that Ghadames is soon to be claimed as a part of Tunis. Since I left Tripoli two of these emissaries have been killed between Ghat and Ghadames; and although they were warned not to go there, M. Féraud seems anxious to turn the matter into another edition of the Khamír raids. It is unlikely he will be successful, as “burned cats dread the fire,” but be this as it may, after the experience of recent French tactics in the interior of Africa, the fate of these two great centres of Saharian trade must be carefully watched. The archæological interest of Tripoli is also very great. Ahmed Rassim Pasha himself sent a guide to show me over all the mosques in the city, seven in number. The oldest is that of Dragut Pasha, the inscription over its door bearing the date of A.H. 1013. The body of the great corsair lies under an adjoining _kouba_, almost devoid of ornament. The Turkish Pashas of Tripoli have apparently monopolised for themselves and their families the privilege of being buried within its walls. With the exception of a good deal of exquisite carving on the doors of the older mosques, their decoration is very inferior to that found in Kairwán. From the _minár_ of the modern Djama El Gourgi a striking bird’s-eye view of the city may be obtained. Near the Marine Gate is a four-sided Roman triumphal arch, erected by one Orfilus, in honour of the Emperors Aurelius Antoninus and Aurelius Verus. Its interior is now filled up by a tobacco depot and a Maltese tavern.