402 
mr Browne's journey. 
to Egypt was equally difficult, as the Sultan de- 
tained the caravans, while he attempted to nego- 
ciate with the Beys of Egypt a monopoly of the 
Soudan trade. The Melek, however, promised to 
Mr Browne to exert his influence in order to ac- 
complish some of his plans, but, dying in a few 
weeks, all hopes from that quarter were frustrated. 
The Sultan still preserved the same aspect of in- 
difference and inattention ; reports were circulated 
that he intended never to permit Mr Browne's de- 
parture from Darfur, and these seemed to be 
countenanced by the imperfect compensation of 
120 piastres, which he received for the value of 
750, the estimated value of the goods that had been 
seized. He sometimes was permitted to see the 
Sultan, but seldom to hold any species of conversa- 
tion with him. He attended, without effect, at a 
great public audience, where the Sultan appeared 
in great magnificence, seated on a splendid throne, 
while an officer proclaimed, from time to time, f*. See 
M the buffaloe, the offspring of a buffaloe, the bull 
" of bulls, the elephant of superior strength, the 
" powerful Sultan Abd-el-rachman-el-rashid. May 
" God preserve thy life ! O master, may God as- 
" sist thee, and render thee victorious !" These 
appellations bestowed on the monarch are similar 
to the titulary epithets claimed by other barba- 
rous princes, and may serve, in some measure, to 
mark the degree of civilization attained at the Fu- 
