344 SUEZ. 
determined to take no notice of his conduct till I should have heard 
from Cairo. 
February ^. — Early in the morning Captain Bartou came off to 
the ship, with answers to my letters. Mr. Aziz had made the ne- 
cessary arrangement for my passing the Desert, and had procured a 
supply of stores for the Panther, which would be sent off by th« 
first caravan. He informed me that Mohammed Ali Pacha had 
issued his orders for my being treated with every mark of respect 
at Suez, and that my baggage should be passed free; I was there- 
fore under no obligation to the Dola for his civility. Major Missett 
very kindly congratulated me on my arrival, and forwarded the 
agreeable news of Lord Nelson's victory at Trafalgar. 
February 4. — I yesterday sent off another express to Mr. Aziz, 
to represent the distress of the Panther for spirits and wine, and to 
desire him to procure either one or the other. The wind had blown 
from the north-west or east, ever since our arrival, and, occasionally, 
in strong puffs : to-day it came round to the southward. Captain 
Bartou informed me, that it had continued in that point for twenty 
days successively since his arrival. 
February 7. — Seeing a caravan approach on the Cairo road, I 
thought it might be the one we expected, and therefore set off to 
meet it. It consisted, however, only of pilgrims, in number about 
six hundred, who were on their way from the coast of Barbary to 
Mecca. A little white man addressed Captain Bartou in Lingua 
Franca, and offered him one thousand dollars for the freight of his 
vessel toJidda ; an offer which he could not accept, as he had neither 
provisions nor men, and both must have been procured from Cairo. 
Had he been ready for sea, he might have made a good speculation, 
