At another of my visits I found him in the interior court, standing, with a long staff tipped with silver in his right hand, on which he leaned, and the sword in his left. He then had chosen to adorn his head with the folds of a red silk turban, composed of the same material as the western Arabs use for a cincture. The Melek Ibrahim presented him, in my name, with a small piece of silk and cotton, of the manufacture of Damascus. He returned answer, _Barak ulla fi!_—May the blessing of God be on him!—a phrase in general use on receiving any favour, and instantly retired, without giving me time to urge the request of which I intended the offering should be the precursor. It is expected of all persons that, on coming to El Fasher, they should bring with them a present of greater or less value, according to the nature of the business in hand. It is no less usual before leaving the royal residence, to ask permission of the Sultan for that purpose. With this latter form, which was to me unpleasant, I sometimes complied, but more frequently omitted it. But on this occasion, having been long resident there, I thought fit to make a last effort to promote my design. The day preceding that which I had fixed for my return happened to be a great public audience. I found the monarch seated on his throne (_cûrsi_), under a lofty canopy, composed not of one material, but of various stuffs of Syrian and even of Indian fabric, hung loosely on a light frame of wood, no two pieces of the same pattern. The place he sat in was spread with small Turkey carpets. The Meleks were seated at some distance on the right and left, and behind them a line of guards, with caps, ornamented in front with a small piece of copper and a black ostrich feather. Each bore a spear in his hand, and a target of the hide of the hippopotamus on the opposite arm. Their dress consisted only of a cotton shirt, of the manufacture of the country. Behind the throne were fourteen or fifteen eunuchs, clothed indeed splendidly in habiliments of cloth or silk, but clumsily adjusted, without any regard to size or colour. The space in front was filled with suitors and spectators, to the number of more than fifteen hundred. A kind of hired encomiast stood on the monarch’s left hand, crying out, _a plein gorge_, during the whole ceremony, “See the buffaloe (جاموس), the offspring of a buffaloe, a bull of bulls, the elephant of superior strength, the powerful Sultan Abd-el-rachmân-el-rashîd! May God prolong thy life!—O Master—May God assist thee, and render thee victorious!”