"We give thanks to the God of the whole world, wishing a good end to those who have good conduct, and the contrary to the unjust. God shall salute the most famous among his creatures and his followers. Next, let this order be obeyed with the assistance of God in all parts, which is written from the Divan of Cairo the fortified, and which contains an agreement with the esteemed Captains and Christian merchants, who are famed for their honesty: may they have a good end! Be it known to you all, as many of you as this reaches, that the honoured Yagoube el Hakim has come to us, and has given us to understand the injustice commonly practised by his majesty the Sherriffe of Mecca, and by his dependants in the place of Jidda, and that you wish to come into the port of Suez, but want security. It is very agreeable that you should enjoy this in the time of our king,[37] servant of the two holy places, and lord of the two lands and the two seas; may God always give him strength and victory! I make you sure, therefore, that you may come to Suez with your ships, with good profit, under the shadow of God and of our Prophet, and under our own both far and near; and that you shall not be molested, neither by us nor our servants, our soldiers nor our subjects; and that you shall not pay aught but eight per cent. of the said merchandise, or its value; and fifty pataka for each ship to the commandant of Suez, in name of anchorage; and that you may come to Cairo itself, and trade for money or barter, as suits you best, without restraint from any one; and if it suits you better to trade at Suez, we will order the merchants thither, without anybody's incommoding or troubling you. So you shall have repose more than you desired; and these promises are good and binding, and will not be changed to the contrary, so that you shall not pay any other expenses to us or to our soldiers. And may the blessing of God rest on him that follows the right way! The 15th of the month Zilkaade, 1186 (February, 1773)." Mohammed Bey being about to leave Cairo to visit his father-in-law in Syria, now pressed Bruce very much to accompany him; but he naturally enough says, "I was sufficiently cured of any more Don Quixote undertakings." He therefore proceeded to Alexandria, where he arrived in the beginning of March. With as little delay as possible, he embarked on board a small vessel, the crew of which, during some heavy weather, proposed to throw his baggage overboard, conceiving that such large cases must contain dead men, which all sailors consider as unlucky guests. Bruce, however, manfully protected his hard-earned treasure, and, after a tedious passage of three weeks, landed safely at Marseilles. FOOTNOTE: [37] The Grand Seignior. CHAPTER XVIII.