Chap. L. 
ESCAPE BY FRANKNESS. 
411 
intention in writing down an account of the country, 
I should endeavour to do all in my power to conceal 
what I had written. 
Thus they departed, carrying with them my jour- 
nal ; and I was informed afterwards that the sultan 
had then sent for all the learned men in the town, in 
order to hear their opinion upon my book. And it was 
perhaps fortunate for me that the principal among 
them was my friend Sambo, who, being well ac- 
quainted with my scientific pursuits, represented my 
notes as a very innocent and merely scientific matter. 
My journal, which no one was able to read, was con- 
sequently returned to me uninjured. In the after- 
noon my friend Sambo called upon me, and related to 
me the whole story : he also informed me that the 
only reason why I had not obtained an audience with 
the sultan this day was the above-mentioned letter of 
the sheikh of Bornu, which had in a certain degree 
offended their feelings of independence ; and in fact I 
did not obtain an audience until the 8th. 
I had just sent word to Sambo, begging 
him to hasten my departure, and had re- Jul} 8th ' 
ceived a visit from some friends of mine, when 
Grema e Abdu came, with a servant of the sultan, in 
order to conduct me into his presence, whereupon I 
sent to Sambo, as well as to my host Bii-Bakr of 
Bakada, who was just then present in the town, inviting 
them to accompany me to the prince. On arriving 
at the palace, I was led into an inner courtyard, 
marked d in the ground-plan, where the courtiers 
