31 
houses for my reception, and to afford me protection 
in the places where I might stop. 
I left Cairo, accompanied by several Scheiks, on 
Monday the 15th December 1806. I took my leave 
of these good friends at a short distance from the town, 
for I did not caboose that they should advance into the 
desert; and in three hours afterwards we stopped at 
Ahsas, which is half a league north of Matrrieh.* 
We waited at Ahsas two days in our tents for a 
large caravan to join us. During this period, some of 
my Christian and Musselmen friends came to pay me 
a visit from Cairo. Among others that came was the 
French consul, accompanied by a considerable suite, 
and five Mamelukes, who were French renegadoes, in 
the service of Mehemed Ali. Having questioned the 
latter as to their situation, I learnt that, after having 
belonged to the French army, they had taken the 
turban, and that they were well settled with their 
families. They have a Spanish piastre daily for their 
pay, and are almost always in commission in the vil- 
lages, to collect the contributions, and other objects; 
an employment which brings them in a great deal of 
money. They have superb horses, and are richly 
equipped. 
* The journal of the journey from Cairo to Djedda having 
been lost, Ali Bey was obliged to renew it from detached notes 
and astronomical observations, which he had preserved. This 
relation, and that of the short journey from Tangiers to Tetuan, 
are the only two papers which were missing of all his travels in 
Africa and in Asia. Luckily these have been replaced by the 
traveller himself, who, though deprived of the original details, 
was enabled to supply the defect, in consequence of having re- 
turned from Mecca to Cairo almost by the same route. The 
account of his return will be found in its proper place. 
