62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP FRANCIS ARAGO. 



when the sun rose, cries of " Roumi ! Roumi ! " warned 

 us that we had been discovered. The sailor, Mehemet, 

 he who figured in the scene of the oath at Palamos, 

 entered in a melancholy mood the enclosure where we 

 were together, and made us understand that the cries of 

 " Roumi ! " vociferated under these circumstances, were 

 equivalent to a sentence of death. " Wait," said he ; "a 

 means of saving you has occurred to me." Mehemet 

 entered some moments afterwards, told us that his means 

 had succeeded, and invited me to join the Kabyls, who 

 were going to say prayers. 



I accordingly went out, and prostrated myself towards 

 the East. I imitated minutely the gestures which I 

 saw made around me, pronouncing the sacred words, 

 La elah il Allah ! oua Mahommed ragoul Allah ! It was 

 the scene of Mamamouchi of the " Bourgeois Gentil- 

 homme," which I had so often seen acted by Dugazon, 

 with this one difference, that this time it did not make me 

 laugh. I was, however, ignorant of the consequences it 

 might have brought upon me on my arrival at Algiers. 

 After having made the profession of faith before Mahom- 

 edans There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet, 

 if I had been informed against to the mufti, I must in- 

 evitably have become Mussulman, and they would not 

 have allowed me to go out of the Regency. 



I must not forget to relate by what means Mehemet 

 had saved us from inevitable death. " You have guessed 

 rightly," said he to" the Kabyls ; " there are two Chris- 

 tians in the caravansary, but they are Mahomedans at 

 heart, and are going to Algiers to be adopted by the 

 mufti into our holy religion. You will not doubt this 

 when I tell you that I was myself a slave to some Chris- 

 tians, and that they redeemed me with their money." 



