494 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXVI. 
me ; that instead of coming with hostile intentions, as 
was imputed to me, I had come with the friendly- 
design of paying my respects to the governor on 
behalf of the British sovereign, and to present him 
with a few specimens of our products and manufac- 
tures ; that I had, no doubt, at the same time an in- 
tense desire to see their country, as it was the avowed 
purpose of Europeans in general, and of the English 
in particular, to become acquainted, and to open inter- 
course, with all parts of God's creation. 
Mansiir explained to me, in return, that they well 
knew that I had not come to make war upon them, 
although Lowel, in the first fit of his anger, scarcely 
seemed to suspect anything less than that, " but that 
they were vexed because I had come to them under 
the protection of the Bornu people, their enemies." 
A letter from the sultan of Stambul, or even from my 
own sovereign, would have recommended me much 
more advantageously. The sheikh had expressly 
designated me as one recommended and protected by 
the Porte, and Bii-Sad had mentioned, with a slight 
disregard of the real facts, that through inadvertence 
only I had left both letters, as well that from the 
the sultan of Stambui, as from the English sovereign, 
in Kiikawa. Now I certainly had with me a treaty 
written in Arabic, such as it was desirable that the 
governor of A'damawa should subscribe ; but to pro- 
duce this under existing circumstances would have 
been absurd, especially as it did not emanate di- 
rectly from the Government, and was not authen- 
