ABD-EL-KADER. 237 



constituted himself the protector of the Christian 

 population of Damascus, and his services were recog- 

 nised with the ribbon of the Legion of Honour. In 

 the year following, while travelling in Syria to get 

 together labourers for the Suez Canal, I sent a mes- 

 sage from Jerusalem to inform the Emir that I pro- 

 posed to come and pay him a visit at Damascus, the 

 inhabitants of which were reported to be still very 

 hostile to Europeans. He came out to meet me as 

 soon as my caravan was within sight, and made me 

 mount beside him in his carriage. We then drove 

 through the city, the inhabitants, who were drawn 

 up in long lines outside their houses, prostrating 

 themselves before him to the ground, and I spent 

 several days there, being treated with great kindness. 



It will be remembered that Abd-el-Kader came to 

 Paris in the Exhibition year (1867), and was, with all 

 the sovereigns of Europe, the guest of the Emperor. 

 In 1869 he left Damascus to greet the Empress at 

 Port Said, and to be present with her at the opening 

 of the Suez Canal, when the French frigate Forbin 

 was placed at his disposal. 



Abd-el-Kader prolonged his stay in the Isthmus, 

 where the Suez Canal Company gave him the use of 

 the domain of Bir-abu-Ballah, at the entrance to the 

 valley of Goshen, near Ismailia. One of our surveyors 

 of works had built a pleasant house there, with 

 gardens and land reclaimed from the desert. This 

 territory formed part of the vast domain of Pithom, 



