These words were reported to the Sultan, who called Ali before him, and asked if it were true that he had spoken of a caravan road. He replied that it was, but that he feared to go by it because of the robbers he might meet at the outset of the journey. The Sultan then sent for the Chief of Bidegat, and said to him: “Prepare a caravan with the necessary men and provisions, and go with this Bedawin until he says, ‘I know the place where we are,’ and proves the truth of his words.” The chief Bidegat accordingly departed with Ali and about twenty men on camel-back, and penetrating into the desert, made forced marches for fifteen days. At length Ali cried out, “Good news! there are the palm-trees of Jalou.” “And how dost thou know that this is Jalou?” “In this way. During our expedition we halted at this place, and passed the night there, tying our horses in one direction, and making a fire in another.” Ali pointed out these two spots, and convinced the Bidegat that what he said was true. They returned, therefore, to the Sultan Saboun, and related the result of their journey. He asked them to what distance they had penetrated, and they said, “To reach the place where we halted would require, with camels and slaves, forty days, but in a forced march it might be done in twenty-five.” The Sultan ordered a caravan to be prepared immediately, and caused it to be proclaimed at Hejeir and at Noumro, that whoever desired to undertake a commercial expedition to the Magreb, as far as Derna and Bengazi, should prepare to start with the caravan. He put the expedition under the charge of the Bidegat as far as Jalou, and Ali guided it during the rest of the journey. It arrived safely at its destination and returned. Next year Saboun despatched a second caravan, under the command of the Shereef Ahmed-el-Fasi, that is to say, of Fas or Fez, who had succeeded my father in the functions of Vizier. This Ahmed was remarkable for his instruction, his memory, and his literary erudition; he was a profound jurisconsult, and versed in the sacred traditions; he had some knowledge of anatomy, and even gave lectures on that science. I was present at one of his demonstrations on the construction of the eye, and he acquitted himself in a remarkable manner. God had endowed him with wonderful talents, but he was irascible, and disposed to hate. In the end he alienated all people from him, and became so odious that he was assassinated.