Thus approached the 27th of February, when the real character of the mission from Hamda-Alláhi, of which Hámedu had only been the forerunner, was disclosed. Having been in a lazy and rather melancholy mood the whole day, I was reclining on my simple couch in the evening, when I was surprised by the Sheikh’s nephew entering abruptly, and, although betraying by his sad and serious countenance that something very grave oppressed his mind, yet squatting silently down without being able or feeling inclined to say a word. Scarcely had he left me, when my Tawáti friend, Mohammed el ʿAísh, who continued to show me a great deal of kindness and sympathy, called me into the Sheikh’s presence. I was ushered in with great precaution through the hall and up the narrow winding staircase, and found the three brothers in the terrace-room engaged in serious consultation. After I had taken my seat, they informed me that the Fullán were making a last attempt against my safety, and that, together with Kaúri, the former emír, a distinguished nobleman of the name of Mohammed el Férreji, had arrived in Kábara accompanied by a troop of about one hundred men, and that the latter messenger had addressed to my host two letters of very different character and tenour, one being full of manifestations of friendship, and the other couched in most threatening terms, to the effect that something serious would happen if he did not send me off before he (Férreji) entered the town. But, no active course of proceedings was resolved upon, although Mohammed, who was the most energetic of the three, proposed that we should mount on horseback and pass the night on the road to Kábara, partly in order to prevent the inhabitants of the town from joining the Fullán in that place, in conformity with the order which they had received, partly in order to intercept anything that might come from the hostile camp. While proposing this energetic measure, the chief of Ázawád was playing with his four-barreled musket, which, even under these momentous circumstances, excited my curiosity almost more than anything else, as I had never seen anything like it in Europe. It was of excellent workmanship, but I could not say of what peculiar character, as it did not bear any distinct mark of nationality. Of course I suspected, when I first beheld it, that it had belonged to the late unfortunate Major Laing, but I was distinctly assured by all the people, though I would scarcely believe it, that this was not the case, and that it had been purchased from American traders at Portendik. At present it was rather short, the uppermost part having been taken off in consequence of an accident; but it was nevertheless a very useful weapon and not at all heavy. It was made for flints, there being only two cocks, but a cannon to each barrel.