PURCHASE OF CAMELS FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 23 



letta, the port of Tunis, on the afternoon of the 4th August. Calling 

 upon our consul-general, Mr. W. P. Chandler^ he suggested an official 

 visit to the new Bey, Mohammed Pasha. As we were the first officers 

 of our country who had visited Tunis since his accession to the throne, 

 and as, under the circumstances of our presence within his regency, 

 he thought it an act of international courtesy that would contribute 

 to the good impressions of the Bey towards our country. A presen- 

 tation was accordingly arranged, and on the 8lh, accompanied by Dr. 

 Engles, Passed Midshipmen Roney and Blake, officers of the "Sup- 

 ply,'' (Lieutenant Porter being unfortunately detained on shi])board 

 by a slight attack of fever,) I was presented to Mohammed Pasha. 

 On presentation, I requested the consul-general to say to the Bey 

 "that I was glad of the occasion that brought me into the waters of 

 Tunis, as it gave me an opportunity, as an officer of the government 

 of the United States, to pay my respects to him, and to congratulate 

 him, in the name of the President of the United States, upon his ac- 

 cession to the throne ; to assure him of the friendly disposition of the 

 President and the people of the United States towards the regency of 

 Tunis, and to express the desire that the amicable relations hitherto 

 existing between his country and my own might, under his wise reign, 

 be continued and extended." To which the Bey replied, "that he 

 thanked me for my visit, and received with sincere pleasure the con- 

 gratulations of the President ; that he wished well to the President 

 and people of the United States, and he hoped that nothing would 

 occur to disturb the harmony at present existing between the two 

 governments, which it was his desire to continue and cherish." Upon 

 retiring from the interview, the consul-general requested from the 

 minister of state, Count Rafo, a teskorah (permit) for us to bring oif 

 to the ship some live stock for the vessel and the camel I had bought. 

 The Bey, hearing the request, inquired what I wanted with a camel, 

 and if it was a fine one. Upon being informed of the purpose of the 

 purchases, and that I was not yet sufficiently versed in camel knowl- 

 edge to say whether or not he was a fine one, he promptly desired the 

 interpreter to say to me that he would send me a fine one from his 

 own herds. The gift I accepted in the name of the President and 

 people of the United States, and yesterday we received on board, as 

 the accompanying correspondence will show, fivo camels, (instead of 

 one,) presented to our country by the Bey. We have, then, on board 

 three camels, and they have already demonstrated the admirable fit- 

 ness of Lieutenant Porter's arrangements for hoisting them on board 

 and for their transportation. We lay about a mile from shore, in a 

 wide gulf, and although the water was not smooth, the animals were 

 transferred from the Tunisian craft, in which they were brought along- 

 side, to their place between the decks of the " Supply," with expe- 

 dition and without injury. The animals presented by the Bey are 

 both stallions — one grown, the other young — and they are apparently 

 of fine blood. They have been much admired by the resident Ameri- 

 cans and Europeans who have seen them, and I have consequently 

 requested our consul-general to procure their pedigrees for me. From 

 this place we go to Malta for letters, and to learn something of the 



