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enquired after, he pleads ignorance, and lays the offence on Elfi 
Bey, who is in great force in the Ac Faiume. At the same time he 
has the highest principle of Arab honour, and told me an anecdote 
of his family, which was confirmed by Thomaso. Osman Bey, 
greatly alarmed at the arrival from England of Elfi Bey, who, since 
the death of Murad Bey, had been his rival, determined to cut him 
off, and for that purpose sent down two boats with troops to inter- 
cept him as he was coming up the Nile. A violent gale of wind, 
accompanied by a cloud of sand, came on ; Elfi sheltered himself 
behind a point of land, on which was a village. The boats with the 
troops of Osman Bey passed without seeing him ; but he perceived 
them, and having some suspicion, immediately landed, and quitting 
his baggage, with live or six followers escaped into the Desert. 
These soon left him, as the way was long and difficult. At length, 
after a tedious march of ten hours on foot, he arrived at the tent of 
Nasr Chedid in the Desert, with whom he was on ill terms, and 
claimed protection. Nasr was himself absent with Osman Bey, 
whom he had joined with all his people at his camp before Cairo, 
where he waited the event of the attack on Elfi. Chedid's wife re- 
ceived and concealed him. Some of Osman's people came there, 
and asked if she had seen Elfi. She said, yes; and that he had 
passed by a way she pointed out to them. As soon as they were 
gone, she told Elfi, and bringing him one of her husband's favourite 
horses, and a dromedary, she desired him to esape to Upper Egypt, 
but to avoid the road which she had directed the troops of Osman to 
take. Elfi hesitated, and told her he was unwilling to endanger her 
husband's safety, who was in the power of Osman. She replied, it 
was no matter; her husband's honour required that she should 
