S46 SUEZ. 
which would not be ready for some little time. It was four o'clock 
in the evening when I and my party quitted the vessel, attended by 
Captain Court. It was really not without some regret that I did so. 
She had proved a safe conveyance to me in many perilous moments, 
and the recollection of these, and the idea of the different scenes I 
was going to enter on, excited strong emotions in my mind. I should 
very soon have to bid adieu to Captain Court, whom T could not 
but love and esteem, and to the other officers, whose conduct had 
been certainly meritorious, and, towards me, uniformly kind and 
attentive. It was a painful moment to us all ; and I believe no one 
was rejoiced when my flag was hawled down, after flying for thir- 
teen months, the moment the last gun was fired. The lads cheered 
me as we quitted the vessel. 
We found that the caravan was arrived, consisting of fifteen hun- 
dred camels, three hundred armed Arabs, and about thirty Turks, 
with two officers, who came to guard the mahmal, or sacred co- 
vering for the Kaaba of Mecca. Mr. Thomaso, a native of Surat, 
who had been a Christian, and was employed in the house of Mr. 
Rosetti, arrived to act as interpreter or dragoman. He brought a 
letter from Mr. Rosetti, congratulating me on my arrival, saying, 
that he had received letters from his friend Mr. Tiretta, of Bengal, 
requesting him to pay me every attention ; that he had, therefore, 
sent " his Thomaso," and should feel highly flattered if 1 would ac- 
cept the hospitality of his house at Cairo. I also received a packet 
of the Courier de L'Europe down to August, which afforded many 
details of which we were before ignorant. In the evening the 
Schech visited me. He was a handsome looking man, of about 
fhirty, f^t, with very black hair and beard. He seemed good^ 
4 
