ai4 TRAVELS IN AFRICA, 
May God prolong thy life !— O Matter — May God affift thee, 
and render thee vi£torious !" 
From this audience, as from thofe which had preceded it, I 
was obliged to retire as I had come, without efFe<3:ing any pur- 
pofe. I was told there were occafions when the Sultan wears a 
kind of crown, as is common with other African monarchs ; but 
of this pradlice I had no opportunity to bear teftimony. "When 
he appeared in public, a number of troops armed with light 
fpears ufually attended him, and feveral of his flaves were em- 
ployed to bear a kind of umbrella over his head, which con- 
cealed his face from the multitude. When he pafles, all the 
fpe£tators are obliged to appear barefooted, and commonly to 
kneel — His fubjed:s bow to the earth, but this compKance is not 
expected from foreigners. Even the Meleks, when they ap- 
proach the throne, creep on their hands and knees, which gave 
occafion to an Egyptian to remark, that the yarca^ in Fur was a 
Melek, and the Melek a Jarea — alluding to the fervile behaviour 
of the minifters, and the publicity of women in the domeftic of- 
fices of the palace. 
The Sultan Abd-el-rachman, foon after he became poflefled 
of fovereign authority, with the oftenfible motive of teftifying 
his attachment to the religion of the Prophet, but more per- 
haps with a view of obtaining greater weight among his fub- ' 
jeds, by fome mark of the confideration of the firft of Mo- 
hammedan princes, thought proper to fend a prefent to Conftan- 
* A female flave. 
tinople. 
