Chap. LVIII. DIFFICULT TRANSACTIONS. 
199 
were of more value than the whole of the presents 
which Khalilu had received from me, while the em- 
pire of the latter extended over a larger tract of 
country than that of the former ; and I was clearly 
given to understand that it was not in my power 
either to proceed or even to retrace my steps, unless 
I gave much larger presents. After a protracted 
and serious dispute with El Bakay and my broker 
e Ali el A'geren, I came at length to the determina- 
tion of sacrificing the second handsome pair of silver- 
mounted pistols which I possessed, and then at length 
I had some prospect of being allowed to proceed on 
my journey, although the state of the country before 
me was really such as to make progress appear very 
difficult, and it was certainly very doubtful whether 
I should be able to reach the river. After much 
trouble and a great number of presents, however, 
which I had to give to the crafty Arab, I managed 
even to obtain a letter of franchise from Khalilu 
written with his own hand, but in so general a style 
that it had not much the character externally of an 
official document, although its contents were alto- 
gether very satisfactory, guaranteeing full security to 
any Englishmen visiting his territories, and com- 
manding the officers of the various provinces to 
respect their property and to facilitate their pro- 
ceedings. 
Besides the presents to be given to all these people, 
I had also to make a fresh sacrifice to my Arab 
e Ali el A'geren ; for, notwithstanding the arrange- 
o 4 
