I had scarcely taken possession of my quarters, when numbers of people came to salute me on the part of the lieutenant-governor; and a short time afterwards a confidential slave of his made his appearance, to whom I delivered my presents, consisting of a piece of printed Manchester cotton sufficient for a tobe, an Egyptian shawl, several kinds of odoriferous essences, such as “makhbíl,” the fruit of a species of _tilia_, “lubán” or benzoin, and a considerable quantity of sandal-wood, which is greatly esteemed in the countries of Negroland east of Bórnu. While delivering these presents, and presenting my humble compliments, I declared myself unable to pay my respects personally to the lieutenant- governor, unless he restored my pistol, which was all that was wanting of the things which had been taken from me at Mélé; and after some negotiation, it was agreed upon that he should deliver to me the pistol as soon as I presented myself, without my even saying a word about it. I therefore went in the afternoon with Bú-Bakr to see him, and found a rather affable man, a little beyond middle age, simply dressed in a dark-blue tobe, which had lost a good deal of its former lustre. Having saluted him, I explained to him how improper treatment and want of sufficient food had induced me to retrace my steps, after having convinced myself that I was not welcome in the country; for I assured him that it was our utmost desire to be friends with all the princes of the earth, and to make them acquainted with us, and that, although I had known that the ruler of the country himself was absent, I had not hesitated in paying them a visit, as I had been given to understand that it would be possible to join him in the expedition. He excused his countrymen on the ground that they, not being acquainted with our character, had treated me as they would have done a person belonging to their own tribe who had transgressed the rules of the country. He then restored me my pistol before all the people, and desired me to await patiently the arrival of the sultan. The ruler of the country, together with the principal men, being absent, the place presented at that time a more quiet or rather dull appearance than it does in general; and when I took my first walk through the town, I was struck with the aspect of solitude which presented itself to the eye on all sides. Fortunately there was one man in the town whose society and conversation were a relief to my mind.