DEPART UNDER FALSE PASSPORTS. 41 
We pursued our way to the French Consul’s, M. 
Dubois Thainville. He was at his country house. Es- 
corted by the janissary of the consulate, we went off 
towards this country house, one of the ancient residences 
of the Dey, situated not far from the gate of Bab-azoum. 
The consul and his family received us with great amity, 
and offered us hospitality. 
Suddenly transported to a new continent, I-looked for- 
ward anxiously to the rising of the sun to enjoy all that 
Africa might offer of interest to a European, when all at 
once I believed myself to be engaged in a serious adven- 
ture. By the faint light of the dawn, I saw an animal 
moving at the foot of my bed. I gave a kick with my foot : 
all movement ceased. After some time, I felt the same 
movement made under my legs. A sharp jerk made 
this cease quickly. I then heard the fits of laughter of 
the janissary, who lay on the couch in the same room as 
I did ; and I soon saw that he had simply placed on my 
bed a large hedgehog to amuse himself by my uneasi- 
ness. 
The consul occupied himself the next day in procuring 
a passage for us on board a vessel of the Regency which 
was going to Marseilles. M. Ferrier, the Chancellor of 
the French Consulate, was at the same time Consul for 
Austria. He procured for us two false passports, which 
transformed us—M. Berthémie and me—into two stroll- 
ing merchants, the one from Schwekat, in Hungary, the 
other from Leoben. 
The moment of departure had arrived; the 13th of 
August, 1808, we were on board, but our ship’s company 
was not complete. The captain, whose title was Rai 
Braham Ouled Mustapha Goja, having perceived that 
the Dey was on his terrace, and fearing punishment if he 
