It was an important interview; for, although this was not the person for whom my visit was specially intended, and whose favourable or unfavourable disposition would influence the whole success of my arduous undertaking, yet for the present I was entirely in his hands, and all depended upon the manner in which he received me. Now my two messengers had only disclosed to himself personally, that I was a Christian, while at the same time they had laid great stress upon the circumstance that, although a Christian, I was under the special protection of the Sultan of Stambúl; and Sídi Álawáte inquired therefore of me, with great earnestness and anxiety, as to the peculiar manner in which I enjoyed the protection of that great Mohammedan sovereign. Now it was most unfortunate for me that I had no direct letter from that quarter. Even the firmán with which we had been provided by the Bashá of Tripoli had been delivered to the governor for whom it was destined, so that at the time I had nothing with me to show but a firmán which I had used on my journey in Egypt, and which of course had no especial relation to the case in question. The want of such a general letter of protection from the Sultan of Constantinople, which I had solicited with so much anxiety to be sent after me, was in the sequel the chief cause of my difficult and dangerous position in Timbúktu; for, furnished with such a letter, it would have been easy to have imposed silence upon my adversaries and enemies there, and especially upon the merchants from Morocco, who were instigated by the most selfish jealousy to raise all sorts of intrigues against me. Having heard my address with attention, although I was not able to establish every point so clearly as I could have wished, the sheikh’s brother promised me protection, and desired me to be without any apprehension with regard to my safety; and thus terminated my first interview with this man, who, on the whole, inspired me with a certain degree of confidence, although I was glad to think that he was not the man upon whom I had to rely for my safety. Having then had a further chat with his telamíd or pupils, with whom I passed for a Mohammedan, I took leave of the party and retired to rest in the close apartments of the lower story of the house. [Sidenote: Wednesday, September 7th.]