498 
APPENDIX. 
commercial agents shall meet here the most friendly reception.' I 
proceeded then to the house which the Pacha had prepared for me. 
I received the same day the visits of all the principal men of the 
country, and of the Copt intendants. On the 27 th I again repaired 
to the Pacha, with whom I had a long conference. I spoke to him 
in these words : ' the First Consul takes in you, and the country you 
govern, a very lively interest, and desires to contribute to your 
happiness ; he has charged me therefore to olFer you his mediation, 
in order to make peace between you and the Beys.' 
The Pacha thanked me warmly and sincerely for the interest 
which the First Consul took in his behalf, but he protested to me 
that he had the most positive orders from his Court to make a war 
of extermination upon the Beys, and not to enter into any arrange- 
ment with them. I observed, that the unfortunate circumstances 
which had happened to the Ottoman troops (they had been beaten 
five times successively by the Mamelouks), rendered their position 
very critical, and that obstinacy exposed them to the loss of the 
province. He then communicated to me the order of the Porte, 
and I saw beyond a doubt that it was not possible for him to enter 
into any accommodation. 1 informed him that I intended to visit 
the different Cheiks of Cairo, and also Madame Murad Bey, and to 
inspect the environs and fortifications of the city. He ordered im- 
mediately that the guard which he had sent should accompany 
me wherever I wished to go, informing me, that he would use every 
means in his power to render my stay at Cairo agreeable.- — The 
same day I commenced my visits, beginning with the Cheik Abdal- 
lah el-Sherkowi, of the great mosque. As I was expected by him, he 
had assembled a considerable number of Cheiks. The conversation 
