194 TRAVELS IN AFRICA, 
road fhould prefume to detain me, or to take any thing from 
me, till I came to the houfe of Ibrahim-el-WohaiJJoi, (the name 
of this very agent,) in Cobbe, where I was to reft myfelf, till 
further orders fhould be given for my admifTion to his prefence. 
I was not indeed at that time privy to the plot, yet if I could 
have obtained a knowlege of it, it might not have been eafy 
immediately to counteract its influence ; neverthelefs I fufpefted 
fomething might have been pradifed againft me. 
An order from the defpot, which while it was to prote£l me 
from his officers on the road, obliged me to confine myfelf to 
a particular fpot, was a matter of furprife to me ; but fubmif- 
fion was unavoidable, as I was at that time unprovided even 
with the means of remonftrance. Had the machinations of 
my adverfaries, which went much farther than my confinement, 
having been adually employed againft my life, been at that 
time known to me, this feverity would not have caufed any afto- 
nifhment, and the means of redrefs might have been lefs doubt- 
ful. But fufpenfe filled the void of pofitive fuffering — a fuf- 
penfe to which no apparent remedy fuggefted itfelf. Thofe who 
had known me in Egypt or on the road were difperfed to the 
Eaft and Weft, and the people of the place were ill difpofed to 
form any communication with me, being filled with religious 
horror of one fuppofed an infidel, but of yet undefined impiety, 
and whofe colour, varioufly regarded as the fign of difeafe, the 
mark of divine difpleafiire, or at leaft, the unequivocal proof of 
inferiority of fpecies, had averted their wonted hofpitality, clofed 
their compaffion, and inflamed their perfonal pride and reli- 
gious fury. 
It 
