r 4 6 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



he was put out to draw his red fez over his eyes, close 

 down upon his nose. He had the blood very much to 

 his head, and his neck and even his lips began to 

 swell, as if he was going to have an attack of apo- 

 plexy. "What, could be the matter? All of a sudden 

 he got up, and unbelting his sword threw it to the 

 end of the long room, exclaiming, " Leave me alone ! 

 Do not ask me what is the matter ! " We all left the 

 room, and he then sent for one of his confidants and 

 said, " Take M. de Lesseps to my room," which was a 

 magnificent one on the upper story ; and I could never 

 understand how at a place like Khartoum such splendid 

 furniture, tapestry, &c., could have been got together. 

 The Ministers were all in a great state of mind, 

 thinking that here, at five or six hundred leagues from 

 the capital, their Sovereign had suddenly gone mad. 

 "We waited till two in the morning, but could get no 

 tidings except that his confidant told us then that he 

 had ordered a bath, no doubt to calm his nerves. I 

 mention this to show what Eastern princes of another 

 age were like. Absolute power has a tendency to drive 

 men mad. At three the following morning he sent for 

 me, and I found him quietly seated on a divan in a small 

 room smoking a pipe. He had calmed down, and he 

 said to me, " You have asked to take a turn upon the 

 White Nile and the Blue Nile. You have two boats and 

 my cook, so you can go on both these excursions." I 

 replied, " In other words, you send me about my 

 "business. What was the matter with you last night, 



